Gab Local

Tinkham Veale Creative and Gablocal.tv was hired to produce the Candlelight Christmas Eve at Topeka's First United Methodist Church Live on Facebook! There were almost 6000 views on Facebook! This is one of the type of services that Tinkham Veale Creative can offer!!

Kim's All Star Team

I would like to introduce you to my 2017 All Star Team

My team is made up of amazing people who live and work in Topeka! They are sure to add some fun and knoweledge to The Topeka Newsletter!

Desmond Henry - Afflora Financial Life Planning

A Financially Fit Life Offers Real Abundance

Desmond Henry is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™& founder of Afflora Financial Life Planning, a fee-only financial planning firm in Topeka, Kansas that specializes in working with women, retirees, & clients in their 20s & 30s. Desmond has been quoted in U.S. News & World Report, Yahoo! News, TK Business Magazine, & recognized as one of Topeka’s ‘Top 20 Under 40 Business Leaders’.

Annette Billings - Author/Writer

"In a Flash" - By Annette Hope Billings

Annette Hope Billings is a Topeka ArtsConnect Arty award-winning poet dubbed by her fans as "Maya of the Midwest." Her body of work includes poetry, short stories and plays. A nurse for decades before becoming a full-time writer, her deep penchant for caring comes through clearly in her writing. Her previous books include "A Net Full of Hope" (2015) and her recently published, "Descants for a Daughter." Her work has also been included in several anthologies of poetry and short stories. Website: http://anetfullofhope.com/Facebook.com/anetfullofhopeTwitter: @annettebilling3Amazon: tinyurl.com/anfohbookYouTube: tinyurl.com/anfohvideos

Robin Bonsall - Realtor/Actor/Wife/Mom

Neighborhood News: REALTOR® Robin style

About Realtor Robin

Chris Schultz - President Tinkham Veale Creative and Founding Partner - Schultz Management, LLC

Being an Entrepreneur

Chris was born and raised in Topeka.  He is a graduate of Shawnee Heights High School and he attended Washburn University where he earned his B.A. in Theatre. In May of 2002, he opened Field Of Greens restaurant in Downtown Topeka. It wasn’t long before his family started getting even more involved in the company, which was the catalyst that grew his dream to include the opening of The Break Room and The Gourmet Cabaret Theater. Chris and his family were recently honored by Topeka Civic Theatre when they were presented with the prestigious Waldo B. Heywood award. In 2011, The Jayhawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts named Chris as one of the 20 Under 40 business leaders in Topeka. Chris is the creator of GabLocal.TV and serves as the President & Executive Producer of its parent company, Tinkham Veale Creative.

Chelsea Ellis - Graphic Designer/Artist

Ampathetic Wannabe

Chelsea Howe is an award winning comic strip artist whose work has been published on a collegiate level. Her work has earned her first place in comics in 2013, second for online comic content in 2014, first place in illustrations in 2015, and second in infographics in 2016 at the Kansas Collegiate Media Conference. She was also the 150th Washburn University Yearbook editor-in-chief which took silver at state in 2016 and also won her the Most Outstanding Student Media Award for her hard work and dedication during Washburn's 2015 Mass Media Banquet. Her graphic design talents know no bounds, from designing play/musical posters and programs for well known local establishments, a jazz concert series and an award winning director, to the posters advertising local Topeka fundraisers, such as the 2014 Downtown Adventure Race Topeka. Her vast versatility extends to privately commissioned local business logos, short notice clip art and page layout for the award winning Washburn Review and Bod Magazine, and graphic assets for the local TV show Talk About Topeka. Her work has also been featured in juried shows at the Mulvane Art Museum.

In 2016, for the beginning of TPACs 25th Anniversary season, she won their public logo competition amongst all other entries and is excited to see all the new shows with her reward of season tickets.

When she's not working on graphic work she can be found exercising, sewing, foam armor crafting, playing Destiny, or catching up on her shows on Netflix.  http://manualjump.wixsite.com/portfolio/about-me

Kristi Pankratz - Safe Streets

Cathing Up With Kristi

Kristi Pankratz is the Director of Safe Streets and Prevention Services at Prevention and Recovery Services (PARS) in Topeka. Safe Streets is dedicated to creating a healthier community by addressing crime through prevention education and citizen empowerment. Programs include Neighborhood Watch and National Night Out, among others. Kristi is an experienced public relations administrator who has served the Topeka community in public service roles for the past 15 years. She has a background in public safety, public health and prevention. Prior positions she has held include: spokesperson for the Topeka Police Department, Communications Director for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Community Prevention Specialist for PARS. She is a Topeka native and graduate of Washburn Rural High School, Tabor College in Hillsboro, KS and Washburn University.

Anthony Cay

Owner: Total Fitness Body Zone

Organized Chaos VS Fitness Confusion

History
I’d like to say I fell into this business, but the reality is this business called me.
I worked at a local gym here in town as a personal trainer in 2011.
I really enjoyed the training aspect of my job and working with people. I just didn’t appreciate how the company mistreated their clients. The lack of listening of clients need and wants. I chose to provide a service that clientele would be able to benefit from physically and still be economically feasible. In August of 2011 Total Fitness Body was born.
Purpose
The purpose of this company is to promote healthy lifestyles and provide fitness training and nutritional education to all age groups and all fitness levels including beginner, advanced, and or professional. Our focus is on safety first and always. Provide first class training and face to face customer service, the attention to these details have set this company apart from all the rest.

Background
I am a current Sergeant and Combat Medic in the United States Army. I have been an EMT for 11 years and a Certified Personal trainer for 6yrs. I have played all physical sports and have received advanced training in all of them. Some of the sports would include football, basketball, volleyball, baseball, tennis, softball, track wrestling and Jiu-jitsu just to name a few.  

So while I will definitely kick your butt with a great workout, I will always keep your safety as my number one priority.  
Services:
Weight loss and strength conditioning
Post rehab transitional therapy
Body building
Sport Specific Athletic Training

Tricia Peterson

Experience Restaurants with Tricia

http://tastingtopeka.blogspot.com/

Tricia Peterson is a Kansas native and Washburn University graduate who loves living in Topeka. At Washburn she studied Mass Media and from there began her local food review blog, Tasting Topeka. She grew up north of Topeka in the small town of Mayetta where she graduated from Royal Valley.  Now she owns a small catering company, 2 Chefs Catering and runs her blog from home. Tricia enjoys reading fiction, studying history, going to see live music and writing about food and entertainment.

Barbara Waterman-Peters

The View From my NOTO Studio

Local Artist, Owner: Studio 831 (NOTO)

Barbara Waterman-Peters Barbara Waterman-Peters, (BFA, Washburn University, MFA, Kansas State University, Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, Washburn University) whose award-winning work is in museum, corporate and private collections, is represented by several galleries. She was a founding member of the Collective Art Gallery (1987-2014) and is a charter member of Circle of 7.  She has shown regionally, nationally and internationally in over 250 solo, invitational and juried exhibitions.  
Waterman-Peters taught at Washburn and Kansas State Universities as well as Lassen Community College in California.  Currently, she writes about art and artists for TOPEKA, LAWRENCE and KANSAS! Magazines. She also writes an “Artist of the Month” online for TOPEKA Magazine.
She has received a Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Achievement from the State of Kansas and the Monroe Award from the Washburn University Alumni Association. In 2011 she was awarded the ARTY for Distinguished Visual Artist from ARTSConnect in Topeka.
For many years, Waterman-Peters has been the staff artist for the Andrew and Georgia Neese Gray Theater at Washburn University.
She served on the Quality of Life team for Heartland Visioning part of which then became the original NOTO Board.  In addition, she served as co-chair of the CREATe group, another facet of HV. In 2010 she became the first Core Artist in NOTO, founding STUDIO 831.

I will add my stars to the page, as I meet with them! Check back to see who will be helping make this newsletter come alive!

The Topeka Bulletin Board

A Financially Fit Life Offers Real Abundance

A Financially Fit Life Offers Real Abundance

Desmond Henry, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™

Happy New Year - I’m so excited to be among The Topeka Newsletter All-Star team! My goal is simple…to help you get financially fit. Think of me as a personal trainer for your finances. If a money goal is one of your New Year’s resolutions; becoming financially educated is the first step towards achieving financial success. Managing your money is about progress, not perfection. Cheers to a prosperous 2017!

1. Reduce the Amount of Drinks You Buy Out

The markup on beverages is astronomical. If you’re currently buying five cups of coffee a week, cut yourself down to once a week as a treat. The average cost for a single trip to one of the three nationally recognized coffee houses (Dunkin Donuts, Caribou Coffee & Starbucks) is $3.25. Now multiply that by 5 if you go every day of the work week: that’s $16.25. If you continue this habit throughout the year, that’s $780.

This advice just doesn’t stop at the coffee shop. If hitting up the bars is your thing, consider a two-drink maximum whenever you go out. If you love to dine out, skip the overpriced soda & order water. Setting a simple goal of “cutting back” will not only save you money but also help you live a healthier lifestyle.

2. Eliminate Bottled Water from Your Budget

Buying bottled water, even if it’s only a couple times a week before you go to the gym is NO-NO. Bottled water is 300 times the cost of a gallon of tap water. To help put that in perspective, if all of the water you used around the house were bottled water, your monthly water bill would cost around $9,000. The world drinks over $100 billion worth of bottled water each year- that’s roughly 50 billion bottles. Just think what we could do with all that money savings…yet alone, the environment. If you’re not a fan of tap water…I still don’t have any sympathy for you. Buy a water filter on Amazon.

3. Unsubscribe

There’s nothing worse than spending the first 10 minutes of your day unclogging your inbox every morning from those unwanted retailer e-mails trying to entice you with some awesome ‘Limited Time Offer. Unsubscribe from all that junk mail so you won’t be vulnerable to feelings of ‘missing out’ and tempted to blow your budget.

I’ll be the first to admit that Perkins Wednesday BOGO deal e-mails are my weak point because their pancakes are one of my guilty pleasures. And if Bath & Body Works would lose my wife’s e-mail address, that’d be great too!

On a side note & shameless plug, one e-mail list that you SHOULD subscribe to is ours at Afflora Financial Life Planning. We send periodic e-mails with valuable personal finance tips (like these) & invites to special events such as our personal finance classes straight to your inbox.

4. Drop The Subscriptions

Take an inventory of all the subscriptions and monthly services you are subscribed to that may be eating up your budget. From magazine subscriptions to video game services, you are probably spending much more than you ever use without even realizing it. Clean up your subscription list and make sure that you're aware of any automatic renewals on your account.

5. Call Up Your Cable Company

Most likely, you’re paying way too much for cable. With a relatively quick call to the cable company, your cable bill can be easily bargained down. Read more here for 5 quick tips on how to ask for a cable discount. Maybe you should consider cutting the cable cord entirely. This is easy to do with alternatives such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, & Hulu for a fraction of the cost.

6. Cancel The Home Phone

I can’t believe I’m actually still writing about this tip…even though, people have been dumping their landlines for years now, there’s a few out there that are still hanging on. Get rid of this thing. I’m not saying you need to go out and buy an expensive iPhone 7- a ‘dumb phone’ will do. Landlines are expensive and conduits for scams. What if my security system is connected to a landline? Sounds like it might be time to upgrade your security system as well. There’s lots of security systems that work with cellular systems such as SimpliSafe which I've used for years at my personal residence and business office.

7. Schedule "No-Spend Weekends."

All too often, we spend the weekends…well, SPENDING. Just think about how much extra you spend on food, entertainment, etc. on the weekends? Consider scheduling a couple of “No-Spend Weekends” throughout the year, so that you are consciously putting the brakes on spending for 48 hours. Look for free events and outings in the neighborhood on sites like Everything Topeka. Or double up on the virtue by making your “No-Spend Weekends” also "To-Do List Weekends," when you cross off all those chores you've been putting off.

8,9,10 --  Please visit http://www.affloraflp.com/articles/10-baby-steps-to-win-with-money-in-2017 for the complete list!!

Catching up with Kristi

So, my dog, Josie. She’s a big girl, to put it mildly, and super friendly, i.e. has the manners of a goat. She’s the big oaf that runs up to people and because of her size does one of two things 1) knocks them over or 2) looks them in the eyes. Sometimes she manages to do both. She’s quite talented, quite adorable and quite full of herself. Her owner really should’ve trained her better.

One of the things I love most about this adorable mess of a beast is that she’s alert to everything around her. Not in an “I’m going to bark at every squirrel” way but in an “I see you” way. Because of her size and energy level, we walk our neighborhood. A lot. What amazes me is that she recognizes who is supposed to be in the neighborhood, makes eye contact with them (stares them down until she’s acknowledged) and then makes it known if there is someone new on our route.

So often, it seems like we just go on our own paths with tunnel vision toward our destination. We want to get from Point A to Point B at full speed and don’t take the time to connect with others along our way. What this 6-year-old mutt reminds me to do constantly is to look at my surroundings and acknowledge everyone.
And, as 2017 begins, I want to challenge everyone to “be a Josie.” Get out and about, greet your neighbors and strangers, make friends and let others know if something or someone is out of place. Just don’t jump on anyone. That would be weird.

Now let's get down to business!!

If you need help connecting in your neighborhood, give me a call at 266.4606. The agency I work for, Safe Streets, is here to help!

2017 Resolutions, Crime-Prevention Style
⦁    If your resolution is to get rid of clutter, that’s great! But if any of that clutter includes account or personal information, make sure you shred it.
⦁    If you’re vowing to improve your finances in 2017, start with a credit report check. You can review it annually for free, www.annualcreditreport.com. It’s always smart to be proactive and make sure there’s no fraudulent activity.  
⦁    If you’re pledging to be more active, make sure to vary routes if you’re walking or running outside, wear reflective clothing and have a cell phone with you.
⦁    Or, if you’re back at the gym remember to lock up your valuables and not leave anything in your vehicle. Not even the empty gym bag. Thieves don’t know it’s empty.
⦁    If you’re resolved to get involved this year, this is wonderful for our community! There are so many worthwhile organizations to volunteer your time and resources, too. But, I encourage you to also start in your neighborhood. Get to know your neighbors and start the conversation about what’s going on in your neighborhood.

Apathetic Wannabe

In 2010, I was a sophomore in college, working an entry level retail position. This was around the time I began paying more attention to what people said and did, realizing how dumb it all was. I’d write down these moments on scraps of paper or receipt tape. I began sketching myself in these situations, experiencing the mundane idiocy of everyday life. These sketches weren’t shown to anyone except my husband Max, who I also began sketching into my strips as he was also experiencing the same mediocrity and disappointments in life. By 2011, I began seeking an outlet for my strips, thinking maybe others could relate and enjoy them. Instead of just posting on the internet, I was rounded up in 2012 by a friend who worked for the Washburn Review, the university’s newspaper, to illustrate a new weekly cartoon which I aptly named Apathetic Wannabe, because sometimes I wish I didn’t care. Within a month, I received a handful of emails from students and professors sharing their delight and interest with the strip. The cartoon continued all the way into 2015 with over 80 strips published. Apathetic Wannabe won awards every year it went to state for competition, often taking first in its categories. After graduation, I put it on hiatus to pursue a new part of my life. The old series was a reflection of quips on retail work and college youth. Today, I am a married woman pursuing a career post-graduation; now I need my cartoon outlet back more than ever. Apathetic Wannabe continue once again, but this time in the Everything Topeka newsletter. We’re back, and ready to point out more of our unique observations of life.

The View from My NOTO Studio

View from my Studio

By Barbara Waterman-Peters

Each day provides an opportunity to observe the surroundings inside and outside my studio. The view from my window reveals traffic and other activities, horns honking, people chatting and an occasional dog barking. Whistles, each pattern of blasts individual to its engineer, accompany the roar of passing trains. The light changes with the passing hours: this time of year it is too quickly gone. Signs and streetlights come on and the view from my window dims. I put away my paints and brushes and lock up, always a little sad to leave.

"In a Flash" - By Annette Hope Billings

Annette Billings

Website: http://anetfullofhope.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anetfullofhope

Hello readers. In addition to poetry, I love writing fiction! Each month I will write a form of fiction, thusly named because of its brevity. Each story will have a Topeka connection. All characters and situations will be fictitious, but I'll include real Topeka locations. Enjoy and be generous with feedback!

"Six Minutes"

Talia’s errant thoughts were jerked back to the present by the honk of a horn. She glanced up to see the light had turned green. A look in her rear view mirror showed the expression of the irritated driver behind her. She smiled an apology and proceeded through the intersection. She was headed to Hazel Hill Chocolate and then she’d stop for a white chocolate mocha to go at Classic Bean. This chocolate-then-coffee routine was a Wednesday ritual that would inevitably end with her weeping. The tears would come from the next stop of her evening—the memory care unit in the nursing home where her father lived. His dementia had resulted in him forgetting  a plethora of things, but his love for dark chocolate and coffee was not one of them. Talia would rather he recall her name and that she was his daughter.

                                                                      ***

Purchases made and on the seat beside her, she enjoyed the aroma of coffee in her car. She loved the smell of it, but detested the taste—a fact her father used to tease her about endlessly.

“It’s cheating to smell it and not drink it, Tallygirl,” he’d say grinning.

It took her six minutes to get to the care facility. Talia timed it. She had begun to time almost everything in her life: a resurgence of her once well-managed OCD. Activities from showering to eating to driving needed to take an even number of minutes. Anything that would normally take her six minutes would be sped up to take five minutes or drawn out to take eight... It needed to be even. Perhaps because the rest of her life was turning out so oddly. She was unhappily single, underemployed, and an only child responsible for a parent in the late stages of an early onset illness. Added to that serrated truth was the illness made her a stranger to a father she adored.

She found him sitting by a window in the commons area. He startled slightly as she sat next to him. He nodded to her as he did to everyone who passed by. She offered him the chocolate and coffee. He took them with, “What’s this? Is this for me? How much do I owe you?”

She answered, “There’s no charge. It’s two favorites of yours. I checked the coffee and it’s not too hot.” He sipped the coffee and opened the bag of chocolate. They sat in silence except for his soft sounds of enjoyment.

Some time later she glanced at the clock. Their visit had lasted 27 minutes. She planned  to leave exactly on the half hour. The next three minutes drug by. She rose.

Out of habit and with no expectation of a response, she patted his arm and said, “I’ll be going now. See you next Wednesday.” She reached for her coat.

“Oh, stay longer, can’t you?” Talia looked at her father, surprised. He’d had no response to whether she came or left for months. She sensed something familiar.

“Dad?, she asked quietly. He smiled. “Daddy?”

“Stay” he answered. “Stay and smell what’s left of my cold coffee—even though it’s cheating to smell it and not drink it.”

Natalie sat back down. He handed her the almost empty cup. She hesitated then brought it close to her nose and took an over- exaggerated inhalation.

“There,” he said grinning, “you did that just like my daughter used to do.”

She smiled, patted his arm again and decided to stay a while longer—six minutes.

Sports & Recreation

598 SE 97th St, Wakarusa, KS 66546

Experience Restaurants With Tricia

Dieting and Eating Out Isn’t Easy.

By Tricia Peterson

Since this is my first post to Everything Topeka, I want to introduce myself and explain a little about my situation. I’m born and raised in Topeka, went to school and college here and my family lives here. I’ve spent a lot of time in bars and restaurants in and around Topeka, and I’ve been writing a blog about local eateries for about five years. The blog started as an assignment in a mass media course at Washburn University, the point being to brand ourselves. Of course I chose restaurant reviews.

Recently, I’ve started a new diet where I can only eat certain foods and a small portion of them. I’ve had great success, but the only hard part has been my passion -- eating out at restaurants. I’m not the only one, either. I have a few friends on various diets and no matter what kind of diet they’re doing, dining out is difficult. I thought I would share what I’ve learned from being a waitress, chef and food critic for a few years now.

After time passed and I got used to the diet, it became easier for me to enjoy social outings. Also, the diet is temporary and the second phase lets me incorporate fats and that part is the best part because then it becomes easier to eat. When I go out to eat during the bulk of the diet, I can’t eat fat, sugar or processed carbs. That makes it difficult to order off of most restaurant menus without being a real nag to the waitress. As a waitress, I know. I’m happy to accomodate, but sometimes it’s just a little much and I feel like this diet is a burden to me and whoever is waiting on me.

If you find yourself in my predicament, you just need to keep a few things in mind in order to keep the waitstaff from hating you and the kitchen from spitting in your food, oh and your sanity, that’s important.

Check out an online menu. Most restaurants have their menus posted online, or even on Facebook if they don’t have a website. Look over the menu and plan ahead, that way when your server gets to you, you don’t have to ask a million questions and attract attenention to the fact that you’re on a diet. It’s unneccessary and kind of embarrassing sometimes. Although, as soon as I start ordering, it’s obvious, but I also am firm in what I want so it’s not hard and the waitstaff doesn’t have to guess.

The menu should have the basic information you need to narrow down your options, in my case there is usually one option with modifications available. If you don’t see the exact dish you want or are used to eating, try to find something you can modify, say, without cheese or bacon, but can you add mushrooms? If you aren’t sure about something, call ahead, or look around the entire menu to see what ingredients they have to work with that you could maybe add to your meal. Don’t call at noon or 6 p.m. Call in an off time so you can chat with a manager about what kind of oil is used on the grill or if there is sugar in the vinaigrettes, whatever question you have. Believe me, they are usually more than happy to answer your questions because you are coming to dine in their establishment. If they’re rude and don’t want to help you, then at least you can say you tried if you have to go there, and if not, just find a different restaurant that is happy to serve you.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. This rule comes with some common sense of course. Do your research first and ask questions that can’t be easily answered by turning a page of the menu. As a person on a diet I know it’s not always easy to find the information you want on every menu. I can’t have fat in my diet, so I need to usually know what kind of fat is used on the grill and that isn’t usually on the menu, I have to ask. At first I felt silly, but then I decided that’s what I’m tipping for. As a server, I get asked so many questions all day, honestly, it’s just another question I will answer. If I answer it readily it usually shows in the tip and vice versa. If I don’t know the answer, I have to go ask and find out then I’m more knowledgable.

Be ready to watch your friends eat what you can’t have. This is the hardest part of going out to eat on a diet and most of the reason why I took a break from blogging a couple months ago.I’m taking a brief break in January to do the diet again, but come February my dining game is back on in full force. Depending on the diet you’re on, it may be hard to eat out, but I find that if dairy is an option, it’s much easier to find menu selections that don’t take too much changing. Most restaurants have more and more vegetarian options and I’m seeing gluten-free options popping up all over the place. Still, if you can’t have dairy and you’re at a Mexican restaurant, the white cheese dip is hard to resist. Just go prepared for that.

Don’t be afraid to make exceptions. I can’t have fat in my diet. Well, on a busy Saturday night at a steak house, I’m not going to bother my waitress or the grill with that request. If you can’t have bread or carbs and you’re ordering a taco salad in a tortilla bowl, asking for it without a bowl is fine. If it comes in the bowl, don’t complain. It’s just things like that. You can eat the salad without eating the bowl, so why complain? It’s a small over sight. If your entree comes smothered in cheese and you asked for no cheese, by all means, tell your server. Some things are better left alone though, so just try to make a few exceptions.

At the beginning of the year I started another round of my diet and have decided to avoid eating out until I’m done. It’s just too hard. I know there must be others who are going through a similar experience and thought maybe this could be helpful. Some people, like me, may just opt out of eating in restaurants until they are back on a normal diet, or accustomed to the one they’re on.

Neighborhood News: REALTOR® Robin style

Robin Bonsall

2016 has come to an end. And for some of us, 2017 began with a BANG! And we're off! It pains me to hear that 2016 was rough for many people in my life. I can't deny I felt it too. Of course, I understand why. There's a shocking amount of political and social unrest not just impacting our beautiful country but practically every country and community around the globe. How do we rise above? As individuals and as collective "tribes." How do we overcome the fear of the unknown future for our children, our children's children and the entire planet? I don't have that answer. Unfortunately, I do not possess the skills needed to predict the future. I do, however, wake each morning as my alarm sounds and purposefully breathe in Love. If the first breath of my every day is dedicated to Love, then my lungs are filled with Compassion. My blood stream flows with Patience. And my heart reminds me to "have courage and be kind." Easier said than done sometimes.

My happy little family endured a very emotional setback in 2016. Amidst many other worldly struggles last year, we learned that our experience is not uncommon. It was helpful to learn that we are not alone...Mental illness comes in many forms and affects nearly every family in some capacity. Nevertheless, our experience was very painful and my husband and I acknowledge that for both of us, it was a life changing event.

In the moment and for several weeks after, we felt like failures. As the saying goes, however, Time heals all wounds. We are blessed. My husband and I communicate very well. We are learning that beyond every failure is limitless potential for personal growth, spiritual adjustment and inspired action. Months later, we're still healing but our little family dynamic is even stronger than before. I didn't even know that was possible. . We continue to purposefully breathe in Love.

2016 was a big year for us. After 2.5 years of hard labor as a stay-at-home Mommy and part-time REALTOR®, I decided to focus more "full time" effort on my career again. Our son, who will be 4 in June 2017, gets to go to daycare at his Grandmommo's. My husband started working from home and is wonderfully productive in that environment. And somehow, I find time to be active within our vibrant theatre community (see www.AdAstraTheatre.com and www.TopekaCivicTheatre.com). My husband knows theatre feeds my soul. I love him for that. Some days are more stressful than others but our careers are thriving and our family is healthy. Again, we are blessed.

I even met my REALTOR® goals in 2016 which, if you know me, means I'll be reaching even higher in 2017. If you don't know about REALTOR® Robin's Bruncheon Brigade yet, message me and I'll add you to the invite list. If you enjoy socializing at local coffee shops, find me on the Facebooks and you'll see what new REALTOR® Robin shenanigans are in the works for 2017.

My REALTOR® intention is to promote community through home ownership. Community pride strengthens community relationships. My Mommy intention is to give our children the tools to decipher what behaviors are healthy and what behaviors are unhealthy. My Wifely intention is to reward my husband with sexual favors when he remembers to put his dirty laundry in the hamper.

!!!

Here's to 2017! May your year be filled with Intentions of Love not Fear.

Have courage and be kind.Blessings,

Robin

Topeka City of Character

Sponsored by Topeka Capital Journal

January - Selft Control

Considering consequences before making choices

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Using EverythingTopeka.com

This website is a prototype for an idea that I have been working on for ten years! It is continually changing and I hope to make this the main site for anyone that wants to find something in Topeka to use.

It is being built with those who live in Topeka and the surrounding area but not limited to them.

There are 4 sections to this website.

1. The Topeka Newsletter is the first part.  It is going through some major overhaul since most of the information can now be found in a better organized manner on the website.  This is free for any locally owned business to use to promote their business.
2. The Community Calendar is actually the most important part of this website, right now.  Each community should be informed on what is going on. This doesn't just mean the bar scene. When I say informed, I mean fundraisers, sports, daily food and drink specials, sales, entertainment, recreation and anything else going on.  This calendar tries to include anything that the public is invited to. There is no charge to include your events.  We enter all the events so it saves business owners time. They just need to send us the information and we will take it from there.
3. Everything Topeka is a plethora of information compiled in a map based program.  Here you can search and find different venues in different categories. You can pick one or all categories to search. This search will not find information that is not on the map though so you will need to use the website search function also. It is free to be listed with a simple profile and an affordable way to enhance your listing.
4. Everything Else is more businesses that are not listed in the Map feature. There is a guide page that actually will lead you in the right direction.  http://everythingtopeka.com/everything-topeka/all-categories  It is free to be listed with a simple profile and an affordable way to enhance your listing.

Searching EverythingTopeka.com

We have 2 different search bars.  We use a program called Hot Spot and it does not integrate with the rest of the website at this time.  So you will need to use both places if you can't find what you are looking for.  Search Articles option will search everything but the maps. It even includes the calendar.

Thanks for your support!