Chtela bych poprat vsem svym zakaznicim stastne vanoce a vynikajici novy rok 2016. Necht se Vam dari ve Vasem podnikani. Zaroven dekuji za krasny rok 2015. Zdravi CJ Teta Jarmilka. Merry Christmas to all.
Source: Stastne Vanoce
26 years in America
Source: 26 years in America
26 years in America
Celebrating 26th anniversary of arrival in USA
By Emma Palova
Lowell, MI- It’s been 26 years since we’ve landed at JFK on this day, Dec. 22, 1989. The long flight from former Czechoslovakia finally ended. We took the Czechoslovak Airlines flight (CSA). People were still smoking on jets back then.
I was exhausted with two children and from the previous night ride to the Prague airport.
It was a journey into the unknown, although I have lived in the USA in the 70s. My parents were waiting for us at the frozen airport. I only had a Benetton denim jacket on and I was freezing. I was still sporting long hair and jeans from Austria.
We spent the night at a friend’s house in NYC. And then a long trip to Big Rapids, Michigan ensued. Any water tower that we passed, my son Jake wanted to climb on it. Also he insisted on sitting in my lap over and over despite the fact that he had to be buckled up.
“I’ll make you a chock for you to sit on,” said my dad.
The windows of the gray station wagon have frozen up. We were like in an ice cave from the film Elsa. That increased the claustrophobia in me, as well as anxiety.
We finally arrived on Christmas Eve in Big Rapids. We picked up my brother Vas from his trailer with an enormous flood light in Roger’s Heights.
Mom had the festive supper ready ahead of time. The Czech traditional fare for Christmas Eve is mushroom or fish soup, fried fish and potato salad. And of course traditional Czech pastries. The only choice of fish back in Czech homeland was carp.
We opened presents and all I could think of was if I could go to bed. Dad turns on TV and there’s the Rumanian revolution. I just have escaped one, the Velvet Revolution. I participated in it on frigid town squares including Wenceslas Square in Prague. I shouted along with two million other people:
“Havel na hrad.”
That translates as, “Havel for president or Havel to the castle.”
I finally laid in bed thinking about all of this.
“What’s ahead of me?”
My husband received immigration visa to Montreal, Canada. I had to make decisions again what to do, “Stay or leave?”
We moved to Montreal and we lived in that great cosmopolitan city for three years. In 1993 we returned to Michigan. I took journalism classes at the Grand Rapids Community College.
In 1995, we built a house outside of Lowell in Vergennes Township and that sealed it for us.
The details of all of this are in my memoir “Greenwich Meridian” that I have to complete. It is my goal to pick it back up in January 2016 and to finish our story.
I wish happy holidays to all.
Copyright © 2015 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Year in review 2015
Here it is. The 2015 Year in Review.
FHS launches Fallasburg Today social media marketing campaign
By Emma Palova
Fallasburg, MI- I am very happy to report the results for 2015. I got on board with the Fallasburg Historical Society (FHS) in August 2015. But, before that I wrote a story about “50 years of historic preservation of Fallasburg” on EW Emma’s Writings.
I had known about the anniversary since 2014 when I got an invite from FHS president Ken Tamke to the signature event. The annual Christmas in Fallasburg party is a special treat and a fundraiser.
New signs in Fallasburg
My task was to market the first annual village bazaar in September. So, I did on twitter, Facebook, WordPress, Pinterest, Google + and Instagram.
The village bazaar will continue to develop into the future since it does have potential of growth, according to FHS president Ken Tamke.
In September, 20 people came to look at the…
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30 Day Blogging Challenge #30
A tribute to chief challenger Bradley Will of Learn to Blog
By Emma Palova
Lowell, MI- I must say I feel lighter today and that’s not because I didn’t have anything to eat.
I just finished watching the “Best Year Ever Webinar Replay” and completed the 30 Day Content Challenge.
Just like the challenge, it was very inspiring right before the holidays. I would like to officially thank Bradley and the ambassadors for all of this. You made me a different person.
I uncovered things about myself that I didn’t know throughout the #30 Day Content Writing Challenge.
The thoughts for each day guided me in a forest of thoughts and ideas. I made new discoveries like the story about a Magnetic Island down South. I made new friends with Nicole Varga. Gary and Pete Safe.
Even though the challenge was marked by constant violence, it was productive and creative. I found out that by making myself write every day, I could be helping someone else accomplish the same goal.
When I missed posts, I caught up thanks to Pittsburgh Grammy and Gandhi quotes. I wrote a simple children’s book in Czech.
I found out that I can efficiently write about fear in the wake of Paris attacks on Day #3 of the challenge.
“I keep feeding my mind, I am not that one-dimensional blogger,” Will said in the webinar.
Well, I feel the same way that everyday writing made me stretch my mind and expand my personality. I am not a one-dimensional blogger either. I am everything I want to be.
“Sometimes it takes other people to point out our blind spots,” Will said.
Yes, it does.
“Turn back to art,” was Will’s advice.
Art has always been my favorite haunt, my favorite hideout. So, I am going to finish the challenge on that note.
Collectively between 500 people, we published 3,200 posts.
“The results left me stunned,” Will said. “Inspiration stems more inspiration.”
The opposite is also true that violence breads more violence. And we all fought it back with creativity.
“Be around great people.”
Thanks to you Bradley, I was around great people. Some of the best in the industry. They motivated me and carried me through the challenge.
I also learned about rather giving than taking and that money doesn’t bring you happiness.
Everyday writing is like keeping a diary. It is very therapeutic and explorative.
The challenge made me a better person.
Copyright © 2015 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
December newsletter
All is good again. December newsletter done.The Christmas party last week was a success. Tomorrow is the last day of the 30 Day Content Challenge. Don’t miss the final post #30,
All good news
By Emma Palova
Lowell, MI- All is good again on the Western front. The Christmas party in Fallasburg last week was a success. We enjoyed good food and company.
New people came to the party, as well as old timers. I ran into many friends like Tamela Spicer and Dave Emmette.
The December E newsletter Fallasburg Today is in your inboxes. Add fallasburg50@gmail.com to your address book. Check your junk folders.
Sign up for it on this site. Thanks to Fallasburg Historical Society for a great year 2015. Looking forward to 2016.
Check us out on http://www.fallasburg.org and join our public Facebook group Fallasburg Today. Join the conversation on twitter @fallasburg #fallasburg.
Stay tuned for FHS president Ken Tamke’s vision for the next 50 years of historic preservation.
Copyright (c) Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
30 Day Blogging Challenge #29
Living creatively
By Emma Palova
Lowell, MI- I love number 29. I was 29 when I came to the USA and got creative. I grabbed the first money I had, and took off to buy a word processor. I still remember that day.
I returned victoriously from the store and started writing for Czechoslovak Biweekly newspaper based in NYC under the editorship of Peter Bisek.
Unlike what my parents wanted to continue in my civil engineer career and go work for an asphalt company, I knew that’s not what I wanted.
To be happy, I had to go my own way.
Going my own way means living creatively, not in conformity. Living creatively hasn’t always been easy. Ask Vincent Van Gogh. No, I haven’t cut my ear off and I am not living off of my brother.
You endure hardship and most of the time you have no or little money. You’re criticized by other people to get a real job.
But, you get the satisfaction of expressing yourself at a time when people are silent in this violent world.
You get the satisfaction of maybe helping someone out there to do the same thing.
Once we all regroup, we have won. If we all live creatively, there will be no violence left.
By living creatively, we’re moving forward not backwards.
I took my creativity to the next level in 2013 when I learned to blog on the WordPress platform. I enjoyed it from the get go: the challenge of learning something new and being a part of a group of progressive people.
My brother Vas is also creative. He paints and builds model trains.
I also love entrepreneurship. I take that after my grandpa Joseph. He had his own business in communist Czechoslovakia, which he went to jail for. You were not allowed to have a business in communism.
Grandpa wasn’t afraid, he would not conform. Neither will I.
I will always stand up for what I believe. I always have.
My personal hero is late Czech president Vaclav Havel. He went to jail many times for standing for what he believed in. But, he kept writing against the regime. Havel signed the Charta document that started a movement that eventually brought communism down.
It all starts with one person who is not afraid to speak up.
Set your tone. Speak up. Join in.
Copyright © 2015 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
30 Day Blogging Challenge #28
It takes a lifetime to get to 13 seconds of winning a battle
By Emma Palova
Lowell, MI- This one rings close to home because it is such a strong theme for the challenge. It took me a lifetime to get to where I am now. I am doing what I love and hopefully other people appreciate it.
Throughout the process, I reinvented myself several times. I went from being a civil engineer by default of returning to Czech Republic to a writer on the WordPress platform.
In between, I did many different things. These included English instructor for French executives in Montreal, a factory worker packaging health aid boxes, a clerk in Women’s Department, a journalist for print media, a journalist for digital media, a journalist for Czech media and a social media marketer for Fallasburg Historical Society.
Then, I taught myself WordPress. Last year, I started my online business Emma Blogs, LLC. Now, I am doing the 30 Day Content Challenge.
What’s next? I don’t know. That’s the beauty of life.
I will definitely continue to write and run the business. But, I am thinking about going back into the regular work process. Whatever that means at the time of the Internet.
Any change is a good thing for all of us. I do love change. That’s why I like to watch water outdoors. It keeps constantly changing with light and motion.
I am glad that I took on the challenge. I’ve learned a lot about myself. On some days I did great, on other days not so well.
Some themes were inspiring, other ones not so much. So, on those not inspired theme days, I went on my own. As I always do.
Copyright © 2015 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
30 Day Blogging Challenge #27
Don’t be afraid of a challenge
By Emma Palova
Lowell, MI- Who doesn’t like a good challenge? Writing is not challenging for me. Writing is a way to express myself, my feelings, my thoughts and to deliver a message.
It doesn’t always have to be writing for the sake of information.
I started writing in grade school. Later, in prep school we had to write compositions in Latin. I remember the one about the Cyclops. I got a C on it and rightfully so, I didn’t know what they were talking about. I only know that they had one eye in the middle of the forehead.
But, it taught me a lesson that writing in any language is good for you. You let go of your feelings and take part in life.
Imagine what the world would be without books. I lost focus long time ago, because it all goes into my writing. I can manage to read blogs and short stories, but no books. That’s the price you pay after years of writing. I’ve written in English and in my native Czech language. I’ve written in French as well and in Latin.
I have no regrets. Writing challenges have taught me the discipline of every day writing. The challenges also prove to you that you can write on any topic presented and at any time of the day.
It doesn’t have to be a long piece either to deliver the message. I prefer to the point writing and not beating around the bush.
Who has the time to contemplate a 100-page paper?
My advice to anyone who is afraid of a challenge is to stand up to it and say, “Hello what can I do to help out?”
I feel that by writing every day I am helping someone else achieve the same goal.
Copyright © 2015 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
30 Day Bloggging Challenge #26
The destructive habit of comparing ourselves to others
By Emma Palova
Lowell, MI- I must admit I don’t have this problem. I don’t know who I would compare myself to? And mainly I don’t know why I would want to do that in the ever-changing world of trends. Today on twitter trending could be Justin Bieber, Billy Bush or whoever.
But, I know most people do. They want to so desperately fit into whatever just flies at the moment. So, then they have to refit to a new trend. And they’re never themselves.
They’re so afraid what other people are going to say about them. It’s called insecurity or conformity.
You don’t have to compare yourself to others to feel confident and secure. It’s your own set of values that matters. You stand behind them and defend them, not other people’s values.
Establish a set of values that matters to you and stick behind them. Don’t sway away or wander off on a tangent only to imitate others.
List your values today on a piece of paper and carry it with you no matter where you go.
My set of values:
1-family
2-friends
3-writing
4-entrepreneurship
5-country
6-freedom
Your values will carry you forward in good and bad times, just like in marriage.
Copyright © 2015 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
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