Women's Inc. 1/12

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WOMEN’S INC.WOMEN’S INC.

ANGIE HowArd lEAds tHE cHArGE oN cHANGING trAsH to trEAsurE

Recycling Queen

By Women, For Women, About Women of Central Arkansas

WWW.WOMENSINC.NET 3

Angie Howard is the perfect person to help us ring in the new year with information on how to make this year the

greenest yet!Angie is the recycling coordinator for

the City of Conway, and she has a passion for trash. Well, not so much the trash itself but the potential the trash has to become revenue for our city and to save our landfill. Reusing and recycling are topics on which Angie wants to educate all of Faulkner County.

Did you know that our recycling center makes hundreds of thousands of dollars for our city? Did you know that we are the only city in the state to recycle Styrofoam? Did you know that we have a retail store at the landfill? Check out the full story starting on page 7. Thank you, Angie for the fabulous tour and for mak-ing Faulkner County proud to be one the most cutting edge and efficient recycling centers in the country.

Start this new year with some helpful tips on estate planning from Chris Rippy with Nash, Raley, Rogers and Rippy, PLC. This feature on page 12 gives easy-to-read definitions of wills, trusts, power of attorney, guardianships and more. Make 2012 the year you start your estate planning. Chris says they have a saying around their firm, “if you have two dollars and a relative, you should do estate planning.”

Also this month, our feature on Oak Street Weddings will give you the 411 on everything you need to plan the perfect wedding this year. One stop — or should I say one street — shopping. Everything from event planning, photography, the wedding cake, the flowers, the gifts and the perfect wedding reception location can be booked at these conveniently located businesses downtown. Oak Street Weddings will hold its first-ever bridal fair on Jan. 8 in downtown Conway.

Other features this month include: downtown’s Funky Junk, owned by Sharon Kincade, offering repurposed fur-niture, local art and unique home décor; shopping, with items featured from The Sporty Runner, The Rose Cottage and The Stitcher’s Garden; food — hot soups for the cold winter months by Chef Jill McCollum, CC; and events on page 31.

Wishing everyone a very happy new year! Make this year the best yet! Be your best. Do your best. And want the best

Until Next Month,

WOMEN’S INC.EditorLori Quinn

Associate EditorKatherine Thomason

Creative DirectorStewart Cole

Contributing WritersRachel Parker DickersonAngie HowardDr. Patricia KnottAndrea LennonJill McCollumSusan O’KeefeJennifer Stanley

Contributing Copy EditorGinny Wiedower

Chief PhotographerBrandy Strain

Contributing Food & Event PhotographersSara BlackLaura DerdenLindsey Faith Watson

Retail Advertising Sales ManagerRhonda Overbey

Advertising CoordinatorsJackie BlackLeah Brown

Advertising SalesDawn RiversTara SandersJesica TalbertBetsey Willbanks

Advertising ArtistsJay PrinceKellie McAnulty

Editorial Advisory BoardHaley Crafton FowlerBeverly FreileyMary HarlanBecky HarrisJan HickyPatricia HoskinsNancy JacksonHelen LockhartVelda LuedersMisty MorseCarol PattyLori RossMary Margaret SatterfieldTraci Kennedy SmithKatherine ThomasonStefanie Holt VannJessica Zimmerman

Women’s Inc. is published by the Log Cabin Democrat.

Questions or Comments?Call (501) 327-6621, e-mail: [email protected] or write to P.O. Box 969, Conway, AR, 72033

www.womensinc.net

Happy 2012!

contents

features

columns

events

6 From Trash to TreasureOne man’s trash is another man’s treasure. This is

more than a saying for Angie Howard, Recycling

Coordinator for the City of Conway.

12 Truths, Myths of Estate PlanningChris Rippy, Esq., of Nash, Raley, Rogers & Ripply,

PLC in Maumelle, and his partners are primarily in

the business of making sure the life planning needs of

their clients are met.

14 One Stop WeddingDowntown merchants group joins forces for premiere

bridal show.

20 DowntownFunky Junk: Junk with Flair.

24 ShoppingNew ideas for 2012.

26 FoodSoups to warm up winter.

34 CommunityAnnual Chocoholics event set Feb. 11.

10 Spirituality

The value of a prayer closet

by Andrea Lennon

16 Health

Keeping the commitment to good health

by Dr. Patricia Knott

18 Nutrition

Conquer your resolution

by Dr. Christine Hurley

19 Beauty

Healthy skin is key to looking younger

by Annie Worley

33 Book Review

‘Girl in Translation’ by Jean Kwok

by Susan O’Keefe

30 CCS 20th Anniversary Family Picnic

31 Studio Skin Event

32 Dazzle Daze Shoppers

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6 WOMEN’S INC. / DECEMBER 2011 WWW.WOMENSINC.NET 7Angie Howard, Recycling Coordinator for the City of Conway and the Faulkner County Solid Waste Management District.

6 WOMEN’S INC. / DECEMBER 2011 WWW.WOMENSINC.NET 7

By Jennifer StanleyPhotos by Brandy Strain

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. This is more than a saying for Angie Howard, Recycling Coordinator for the City of Conway and the Faulkner County Solid Waste Management District; it is a man-tra and a way to extend Faulkner County resources.

Married to Tim and mother to Barrett, 8, Ander-son, 5, and Lydia, 2, Angie has worked as Recycling Coordinator for 10 years and still has a great passion for the mission of her job. “This job became available while I was working in the marketing department at a local bank, and a chamber employee referred my name to the director at that time. I came out here and really had no clue. My degree was in mass communications, and I always had an interest in public relations, which is what this job really is. I came to the interview thinking, ‘I am going to the landfill.’ My husband ac-tually sent me flowers on my first day of work, and it was an interesting experience for him to order flowers to be sent to the landfill,” laughed Angie.

The actual process of the recycling facet of Conway’s sanitation department has dramatically changed over the past three years. The initial movement to initiate recycling in Conway began in the early ’90s, and the warehouse and buildings that house the recycling facility were built in 1994. “At that time in Conway there was a community movement to start a recycling program. Recycling drives would be held in different areas, and when those took off the city organized a task force of about a dozen people who really started to promote recycling. They passed a one million dollar bond issue with 93% of the vote. Back then Conway only had about 25,000 residents, and recycling wasn’t the norm like it is now, so for that bond to pass was a huge deal,” explained Angie.

The bond financed a 35,000-square-foot space, which was built as an open warehouse, and the recy-cling program commenced. “We have always had a comingling program, which means our residents don’t have to sort their recycling,” Angie said. However, for the recycling center the process was largely manual in the beginning and for many years after. “We used to have a two-story sort of mezzanine with open, roll-off containers underneath the platform all the way around

the space. Just like when you put your groceries on the conveyor belt at the store, the recycling would move along and be sorted by hand into the bins below. A truck would come and pull the containers off, and we had a baler that would bale it up,” she said.

The manual sorting process was sufficient until about three years ago when Conway’s recycling rate was skyrocketing and when curbside recycling was in-corporated throughout the county. “We were getting to the point where we couldn’t keep up,” Angie said. The result was a nearly two million dollar purchase of new equipment for the facility that does the large ma-jority of the sorting by machine. “Faulkner County’s recycling rate is 68%, and the national rate is 35%, so the new equipment and processes were vital,” Angie said.

Entering the recycling center and viewing the new equipment is nothing short of astounding. The first thing you notice is something you don’t notice at all — smells. Though visitors are surrounded by bales, piles and mobile conveyors full of recyclables, the warehouse is clean and orderly. When brought in, all recyclables go onto a conveyor belt, then through a bag breaker. Once the material is liberated it begins traveling through the system. “We do sort plastic sacks and Styrofoam by hand just past the bag breaker at a manual sorting platform,” Angie said. “Recycling plastic sacks was a huge thing for us because before these sacks were recycled they were a terrible litter problem on the working face of the landfill. When there is no other wind in Conway, there is wind on the landfill, and the bags would blow into neighboring properties,” Angie said.

The remainder of the comingled recycling moves past the manual sorting area into a chute. The first of the comingled materials to be sorted by machine is cardboard, which is moved into a separator called an Old Corrugated Cardboard separator. The machine allows the smaller recyclables to move along the line while the cardboard is sorted out.

Next to go are the fibers, which include newsprint, magazines, and paper; these are sorted in the same manner as the cardboard. “All these materials are sort-ed into drop bins. Once they are gone, we are left with the metals and plastics. We accept all numbered plas-tics, 1 through 7, which is not is not the norm. We

TRASHFROM

TOTREASUREAngie Howard leads recycling charge for Faulkner County


divide our No. 1s separately from our Nos. 2 through 7, and the process for that is really neat. We use an optical sorter, which is actually our most expensive piece of equipment in the entire operation. The opti-cal sorter is computerized and is programmed to use an infrared beam of light to cast through the plastic container, and that light is programmed to look for specific polymers that make up a No. 1 plastic versus Nos. 2 through 7. Once identified, it uses a puff of compressed air to sort the plastics by type,” Angie explained.

The facility also sorts both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. “What we do with our steel cans is sort them by magnet into a bin. Aluminum cans are also sorted by a machine that detects them and causes them to be thrown into a different bin. When the bins are full, they lift the gates by type onto a conveyor, and the conveyor takes it up to a baler where a hopper com-presses it and shoots it out. Then it is tied together — by machine of course — with wires. Everything is baled except the plastic sacks and the Styrofoam,” Angie said.

Faulkner County currently recycles glass on a limited basis. “Right now it can’t be placed in the blue cart. It has to be brought out to the facility, and all lids and labels have to be removed. The reason for that is because we are crushing it on site right now and using it as road bed to get our trucks onto the working face of the landfill,” Angie said. She is currently in talks with a potential buyer for the glass. “They work with other municipalities already, take all colors mixed together and pay transportation to get it there. They are in the same town as the two largest fiberglass companies in the country, and they crush the glass and get it to these companies,” she said.

In addition, Faulkner County is the only munici-pality in the state that recycles Styrofoam. “We place the Styrofoam into a machine with a heating element, which essentially melts the Styrofoam. We then sell it to a company in California that makes a cheap, black plastic like you see as the bottom portion of a deli tray. We decided to do this because we have some local businesses that have massive amounts of Styro-foam; we do not charge businesses for large amounts of recycling,” Angie said. “When we get materials out of the recycling bin we have to be able to sell what is in there, and we always try to resell the mate-rials locally. The large majority stays in Arkansas.”

Another aspect of the recycling movement that is crucially important to our landfill is the concept of reusing. It was that spirit that moved Director Cheryl Herrington to implement a retail store at the landfill in February 2010. “There was one other location in Arkansas that had a similar setup, but we tweaked their idea and tailored it to fit our community. We didn’t want a huge retail location, so ours is smaller. We give items two weeks to sell, and if they don’t, we donate them out. The items for sale are in good condition, and we have a Facebook page to promote them,” explained Angie. Offerings at the retail store include clothing, baby items, furniture, house wares and more. And all items are taken by donation or from the comingled recycling.

Angie states, “The store is actually unique; it is a nice thrift store, and all of the items sold would have been placed in the landfill. Some of it comes out of recycling bins, some is pulled out of retail stores. For example if they are opening a box with a box cutter and cut one pillow, they count the entire box as a loss,


and that is something we can sell. Our employees aren’t able to pull anything out for their own gain, but they do pull items and bring them into the store.

“We were able to help a lot of families with clothing and household items when Vilonia had the tornado. We also have lots of baby items, and we work with local agencies to donate those. Everything that comes in the store is also weighed because it counts toward our recycling totals. All recycling is weighed and the amounts are sent in to the state with our quarterly reports, because we get credit for all the recyclables that go through our center each quarter. All items that come in are thoroughly cleaned; all clothes are bleached,” Angie said.

The retail store accepts donations; the best method for donating is to bring items to the center. “You can put resalable items in your bin, but they aren’t always caught. If you have a really good item, it’s best to bring it to the retail store. Our employees are trained to look for things, but we work with such large volumes, and with a machine opening the bags, items can be broken,” Angie said.

Another component of the recycling center is one of educating the youth of Faulkner County. “We have about 6,500 kids tour the facility each year. It is great to bring them out here because they understand recycling is not trash. Recycling doesn’t smell. It is usable,” she said.

“Sometimes when kids come out to the landfill, and it is their one field trip of the year, they are less than thrilled. We had a group of third graders get off the bus, and I remember this one little guy in particular who was visibly not excited to be here. He got off the bus and was kicking at the dirt and gravel. We did the bus tour of the landfill, and when we do that, there is a huge wetlands area where the kids can see animals. They thought that was really cool, and it was part of showing them this is a healthy environ-ment, and we don’t put out pollutants. Then we came to the classroom and did some experiments, and we ended up in the recycling center, where the students actually got to put on gloves and goggles and sort the recycling. By the end of the trip he came up to me and said, ‘Mrs. Angie, do y’all do birthday parties here?” she laughed.

“He literally went from kicking the dirt to want-ing to come back. Kids come out here and see that trash is different from recycling, and they can take that home. We have so many parents who call the day after a field trip wanting a blue cart because their kid is driving them crazy!

“You have to have a passion for reusing and recycling, and I do. I think it is important to really understand that we do have a limited amount of resources. We are lucky to live in Arkansas and actu-ally have land for landfills unlike residents of so many metropolitan areas. We’ve been very good stewards of the landfill we have, and, thankfully, 93% of Conway residents in the early ’90s had the foresight to say ‘lets do this,’ and it’s only gotten better. We have the colleges here, which are all active in recycling. We have an awesome director with a huge passion for recycling and we have the mayor and the city council behind us as well. Faulkner County is very fortunate,” Angie said.

“Our whole goal is to extend the life of the landfill and to keep everything out of it that we possibly can. The longer it can exist here and we can keep it open, the better for all our residents.”

All of the clothing that is received in the retail store at the Recycling Center is washed and displayed in the store.

Recycling Center staff.


The value of a prayer closetBy Andrea Lennon

One early Monday morning, I found myself sitting in my parked car, inside my closed garage, and hiding from my children. I was wrapped in a warm blanket and desperately trying to find some way to have a

meaningful time of prayer and Bible Study. After a few minutes of solitude, I heard the door leading to

the garage open. “Mom,” Jake yelled. “Can you get me a glass of milk?” I let out a deep sigh. I finally realized that no matter how creative I was, I could not out smart my children. There was no place I could go inside my home in order to spend time alone with Jesus. I opened the door of the car and told Jake that I would get him a glass of milk. I closed the door and asked the Lord the following question. “Lord, will I ever have a meaningful quiet time with You?” I felt defeated. As a young mom, no matter how hard I tried I could not work Bible Study and prayer into my daily routine.

As I sat in my car, I sensed the Lord speaking to my heart. First the Lord said, “Stop hiding from your children!” I smiled when I heard this instruction because I knew that the Lord was not scold-ing me, just instructing me. Second the Lord said, “Teach Jake and Andrew the importance of spending time alone with Me.” I had never thought of teaching my young children how to value daily time with Jesus; so this instruction brought a sense of hope.

I quickly exited my car and walked into my home. I fixed Jake a glass of milk and delivered it along with some important news. I told my children that I was going to take time each day and spend it with Jesus. I told them that only emergencies were allowed to

interrupt this important part of my day. I then went to my bed-room and established my first prayer closet.

A prayer closet provides a specific place to go when you long to spend time with the Lord. This place can be a closet, a special chair, or even your bedroom with a note hung outside your door. My prayer closet eliminates distractions and serves as a form of accountability. The establishment of my prayer closet provided an opportunity for me to be disciplined in my walk with the Lord. No longer would I fall into the trap of only praying or reading my Bible when I felt like it would work into my busy schedule. No. My prayer closet helped me to prioritize my daily time with Jesus no matter what was going on in my life.

One of the neatest outcomes of establishing my prayer closest was watching how my children reacted to it. Before long, Jake, my oldest son, established his prayer closet too. The first time Jake went to it, I thought about the instructions the Lord gave me many months before. The Lord said, “Stop hiding from your chil-dren! Instead, teach them to value time with Me.” As I followed this command, I found a way to spend daily time in prayer and Bible Study and my son began to imitate my actions. Many years later we still have a prayer closet that is available to anyone in our family and is respected as a place to spend time alone with Jesus.

Andrea Lennon lives in Conway, Arkansas, with her husband, Jay, and sons, Jake and Andrew. Andrea ministers to the

women of Arkansas through a speaking and writing ministry called True Vine Ministry. To learn more about this ministry,

access Andrea’s website at www.andrealennon.net.

S P I R I T U A L I T Y

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By Jennifer StanleyPhoto submitted by Nash, Raley, Rogers & Ripply, PLC

Chris Rippy, Esq., of Nash, Raley, Rogers & Ripply, PLC in Maumelle, and his partners are primarily in the business of making sure the life planning needs of their clients are met. Theirs is a full-service law firm that specializes in elder law, estate planning, and family law. “Typically everyone will focus on at least one of these areas in their lifetime,” Chris said. Their firm includes four attorneys, two of whom have practiced law for a combined 60 years.

ESTATE PlANNINg “We have a saying around our firm; ‘if you have two

dollars and a relative, you should do estate planning,’” Chris said. The main components of estate planning are as follow:

• A Will. “While the will is the instrument most people think about, a will is simply a piece of paper that begins the probate process. So if you die with a will, the attorney files the will with the court which begins the process. An ad runs in the paper alerting claimants about the filing. The estate must stay open for a required time while the probate moves through the process. The heirs wait — usually a long period of time — for the probate to be completed.”

• Trusts. “Our firm typically encourages people to do trusts instead of a will. A trust is a document that says

you hold title to your assets as trustee, and when you die your heirs can skip the entire probate process. Your ben-eficiaries can immediately get their property or money and, with a trust, you can also potentially protect your beneficiaries from law suits, creditors, divorces, etc.”

The standard timeframe for a will to process through probate is about eight months; however, the process can take from one to two years, or more. In addition, a percentage of the estate goes to pay costs of probate. Alternately, “if you set up a trust, a trustee comes in and administers the trust upon your death at little if any costs. You re-title your house, bank accounts, investment accounts; everything you own is titled in the name of the trustee for your trust. So it would be the [Insert Your Name] Living Trust for which you are the trustee. Noth-ing changes in your day-to-day operations; the trust owns it, and you control the trust,” Chris explained.

In addition, if a parent names a guardian for a minor child in the will, the court will normally select that guardian, but unless the will establishes a trust, the child will receive his/her inheritance at 18. Establishing a trust for a minor child can protect the inheritance until the child reaches a more mature “money-handling” age. “Trusts are two to three times more expensive initially than a will but can save you a ton on the back end and protect your assets for your family,” Chris said.

• Power of Attorney. Powers of attorney are also a facet of estate planning. There are general powers of attorney in which you give someone the right to do

Truths and myths of estate planning

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anything you can do, for you. Specific powers of attor-ney allow the holder to do only what the document allows. Durable powers of attorney are good even when the person giving the power is incompetent. According to Chris, “Everyone should have at least a ‘health care power of attorney’ in which someone in the family has the ability to make decisions when the person giving the power can’t.”

A financial power of attorney would allow the attorney to open bank accounts, and write checks on behalf of the party in question, basically performing all financial tasks. Either of these could be written as ‘springing powers of attorney,’ which means a person is competent to handle their own affairs; however, should they become incompetent, it “springs” into effect, and the designated person takes control.

Another instrument to have in place is the liv-ing will, which details whether a person wishes to stay alive by artificial means. “There is no set age or amount of money where we recommend you need estate planning. I will say that it’s always surprising what people fight over once a loved one dies. We have seen people fight over couches, lawn rakes and even 14 jars of lima beans someone’s mother had canned. We actually refunded his money and didn’t continue that case. It can get ridiculous, and the claws can come out. We have found that often children fight over the

inheritance when the parents are gone. Greed takes over and is a terrible thing to watch,” Chris said.

ElDER lAW Some aspects of estate planning and elder law

naturally overlap, such as powers of attorney and living wills. However, there are a few additional, specialized areas of concern for the elder generation, namely veterans benefits and Medicaid planning.

• Veterans Benefits. “There are certain pensions where the Veterans Association sets aside money for those who served during war time and who are over 65 years of age. The VA doles out a certain amount of money each year for this pension, and only 7% of the money has been claimed by veterans. Our firm does seminars about how they can apply for this pension. If you are a veteran or a spouse or widow of a veteran age 65 or older, you can come in and talk to us about whether you qualify. It can help cover nursing homes, assisted living and in-home health care and there are even spousal benefits,” Chris said.

• Medicaid Planning. “You can shift your assets — and they don’t have to be significant — over into a trust, and after it has been there for five years, you can qualify for Medicaid. Despite what some believe, it does not work to transfer your assets into your child’s name. There are so many problems inherent in that,

it would take days to list. An irrevocable trust does the same thing,” Chris explained.

• guardianships. The firm handles guardianships specifically for elderly relatives who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and a power of attorney isn’t always the answer. Sometimes a legal guardianship is required. The determination between the two is handled on a case-by-case basis.

Nash, Raley, Rogers & Rippy, PLC also handles family law, which can include guardianships. It is widely reported that one in 10 children in the United States is being raised by one or both grandparents. “They often have no legal standing to raise their grandchildren, so they can’t make health decisions or even enroll them in school. We do a lot of those types of guardianships,” says Chris. Their family law exper-tise also extends to divorce, change of child custody and name changes.

The firm is also releasing a book entitled “The El-der Law Handbook: A Family’s Guide to Planning for the Future” which will be available in the spring. “It is written for the layperson and tells them everything they need to know about elder law and estate plan-ning. There are more than a dozen chapters on the details of the differences in wills and trusts and what needs to be done across different ages and financial backgrounds,” Chris said.

In addition, “starting the second week of Janu-ary, we will host public service seminars to educate the public on veteran’s benefit every Tuesday and Thursday around the Little Rock metropolitan area to further explain the available pension,” Chris said. Additional details will be posted to their firm website www.maumellelaw.com.

“There is no set age or amount of money where we recom-mend you need estate planning. I will say that it’s always surprising what people fight over when a loved one dies.”


One StopWeddingDowntown merchants group joins forces

for premiere bridal showBy Rachel Parker Dickerson

Photos by Brandy Strain


Oak Street Weddings will hold its first-ever bridal fair from 1-4 p.m., Jan. 8, in downtown Conway.

The group of vendors known as Oak Street Weddings aims to establish itself in the minds of shoppers as a one-stop for all wedding needs in three blocks.

Jessica Zimmerman of A Southern Tradi-tion said, “It’s free. Brides and their moms can come in and see everything we have, and we will have staff to take orders.”

Oak Street will be closed off during the hours of the bridal fair between Chestnut Street and Front Street. Brides will be encouraged to visit all participating stores. A grand prize giveaway will include some-thing from each vendor.

Ashley Carson of Anything and Ev-erything Design said, “To qualify for the giveaway, when you sign in to the welcome center, you’ll be given a sheet with clues, and each store has one clue. You fill out the sheet and turn it in to be eligible for the grand prize.”

The organizers hope the event will be more enjoyable than a typical bridal fair

and also prove to shoppers that they can find everything they want for their wedding in downtown Conway at competitive prices.

Carson said, “There are 10 vendors total. If they use at least three of the 10, they get a five percent discount.”

She said in December 2010 when she and Sommer Holden of SOHO Photography moved into Mountebanq Place, they began noticing all Oak Street had to offer.

“I went around and talked to different businesses and saw who was interested. We got 10 that worked together well. It’s now an exclusive group. It’s closed. We don’t compete. We complement one another. We work together really well,” she said.

Now the vendors that make up Oak Street Weddings all promote one another and often work closely together on the same weddings.

Catie Morrow of Cakes by Catie said, “A bride just wants to feel like she’s the only one, like she’s special. I think with us being so close, it makes the bride feel like she’s joining a family. It helps them every step of the way, and it’s really personal.”

Zimmerman added, “Downtown Conway is fun. This downtown isn’t what it used to be. It’s fun and vibrant. If we can get brides to come here and use downtown Conway for their weddings; that’s just better for Conway.”

Door prizes will be awarded throughout the day at the bridal fair. The grand prize giveaway includes the following:

• Half off rentals, up to $500 (a $250 value), at A Southern Tradition

• “Just Get Me down the Aisle” wedding planning or $200 off any package from Anything and Everything Design

• Half off a wedding cake from Cakes by Catie

• $1,000 toward any wedding photogra-phy package from SOHO photography

• Free monogramming on hostess and bridesmaids gifts from Bevy’s

• $50 gift certificate from Mike’s Place• $50 dinner for two from Michelan-

gelo’s• $100 off wedding programs from

Something Blue Paperie… And more.


By Dr. Patricia Knott

I would hazard a guess that fitness centers and stores that sell ex-ercise equipment do a booming business around Christmas time and especially at the start of the New Year. After a strong start of health consciousness at the beginning of the previous year, we

hit a couple of snags in our routine which caused us to stop and start again a few times until we finally sputtered to a complete stop about mid-June. Now here, at the beginning of the year, is the chance for a revitalization of our commitment to do better.

There’s something to be said for having an accountability partner when it comes to exercising but if your schedule is anything like mine, you may discover it is difficult to find mutual times for a sweat-fest with someone else. I do have someone, however (unbeknownst to her) that I hold myself accountable to. When I find myself wanting to give up on the treadmill after 0.75 miles, I ask myself, “What would Mary do”?

Mary Swindle is my hero when it comes to commitment to a goal, a challenge, or a dream. Though she works part-time as an occupa-tional therapist at Conway Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, this wife and mother of three (ages 9, 6, and 3 years old) still manages to find the time to pursue her love of running.

It is no wild embellishment of the truth to state that Mary has been running all of her life. She began running at the age of 4 or 5 years old strongly influenced by her father who ran as well. She ran track and cross-country in high school and cross-country at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) where she earned the distinction of Female Athlete of the Year in 2000. She ran in a 26mile marathon approxi-mately five years ago. Most recently she ran in the St. Jude Memphis Marathon on December 3, 2011 and had it not been for incapacitat-ing pain from a stress fracture in her left leg at the 24mile mark, she would be headed to the Boston Marathon.

Talking to Mary about her training for her marathon, I learned some important things about exercise in general:

• It takes discipline. If this was not the case we wouldn’t fall off the wagon so often when it comes to exercise. To prepare for her marathon in December, Mary started training at the beginning of August. Her week consisted of a couple of days of a long run totaling up to 24miles at times, a day of cross-training with a cardio work-out such as biking, and then a few days of running 5-6 miles. She took Fridays off. Even when she is not training she gets up early in the morning to run. Mary is in the habit of running.

• It takes planning. Mary chose a time before the hectic pace of other duties took over and possibly dissuaded her from her commit-ment to exercise. Depending on your time commitments evening may work out better for some people.

• The body needs preparation. A healthy diet is important if you want to enjoy the full benefits of exercise or sustain an exercise regimen. Pay attention to a proper amount of vitamins and minerals through diet or supplements. This is one area Mary has said she has room for improvement especially in the need for protein when she is training. The body also needs a proper amount of rest and sleep.

• There are great benefits associated with exercise. Mary says running makes her feel better physically and improves her cardiovas-cular condition. It keeps the pounds off and increases her energy level. She also states that her running time is her quiet time, relieves stress, and is important to her mental health. Her coworkers accuse her of being grouchy when she doesn’t run. Just as her father influenced her to run, her children watch her and wish to run and exercise.

• There are also some possible drawbacks to exercise. Mary has pulled a hamstring twice and most recently she suffered the stress fracture (caused by repetitive force such as repeatedly jumping up and down or by running long distances) to her leg. Care has to be given when starting a new exercise program that you don’t do too much too soon. Use proper footwear and do some cross training with low-impact activities. An exercise trainer could be beneficial as well as a discussion with your physician about which exercises are best for you.

• Support helps. Mary’s husband, Riley, likes to run as well but works with her to develop a schedule so they can both enjoy this form of exercise. He also cheers her on at the mile markers during her runs. This is where that accountability partner comes in handy.

I don’t aspire to be a marathon runner like Mary but she inspires me to keep putting forth the effort to get the much needed exercise the health experts advise. If she can run 26 miles, maybe I can walk two or three.

Keeping the commitment to good healthH E A LT H

Patricia Knott is a graduate of LSU Medical School in New Orleans and is board certified in Physical Medicine and

Rehabilitation. She serves as the Medical Director for Conway Regional Rehabilitation Hospital.



By Dr. Christine Hurley

The New Year rings in with a million possibilities for change — it’s like having the chance for a “make-over” for your life. Because a new year equals new chances and starting fresh, it’s only natural to use this opportunity to create a laundry list of self-changes. Perhaps better than a list would be to consider one priority resolution and

focus all your energy there. So what is that one best choice new year resolution? And how can you really accomplish that

goal? Good News! There are many great techniques to accomplish any of your New Year’s goals.

1: STOP/STARTTake a moment to evaluate what you will have to stop doing to achieve your goals. What

then will you need to start doing? Make a list — writing it down is a great tool by itself. It’s very important for goals to be written down, and doing the stop/start list is a commitment to your goal.

Here is an example, if you need to have more time for exercise then chances are something has to go! Maybe it could be a few less hours watching TV, or perhaps email and social media take a lot of time. We really have to commit to what needs to be eliminated before we can take on another activity.

Also consider this on your stop/start list; maybe there are things that just need stopped com-pletely. A friend that complains for hours, extended hours of game play, or habitually staying up late. All those things can keep a resolution from being accomplished.

2. CHUNkINg IT DOWNHow do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! Chunking it down is a fun way of saying

let’s get it down to bite-size pieces. The best way to do this is write down the goal and then work backwards. Completely break that big goal down until you have one thing that you can do each day toward the goal. For instance, if I want to lose 20 pounds, I need to break that down to how much per week and look at a realistic amount of calories by the day for intake. Then I need to break down my start list: start menu planning, start looking for healthy recipes and start prepping my meals the night before.

3. PlANFor every minute of time spent planning it is estimated you save 10 minutes of wasted time.

That’s a really good rate of return for your investment! Invest even 10 minutes of planning time daily and watch your day smooth right out. Whatever your work includes, from home management to corporate management, chances are if you would sit down and think about how to schedule the day it would make life easier. Many people suggest doing a longer planning ses-sion, say 30-60 minutes on Sunday night for the week ahead. This allows you to see your plan visually, and to account for days when time is tight.

When will I work out Wednesday with all these obligations? You can decide ahead instead of at the end of the day being frustrated that you missed a workout. Pre-arrange workout times before anyone or anything jumps in and takes that time slot. There are a lot of planners and systems but they all need one critical element, someone to plan on them! So whether it’s a fancy planner or a yellow pad take the time to write down whatever time slot your new commitment is going to take and then fill in the rest of the week around your goal.

No one wants to look back to last year and realize that they didn’t make it out of the starting gate when it comes to completing their resolution. Why feel discouraged? Is it really “will-power” if you didn’t have time to prepare a healthy lunch? Is it about self-discipline or being weak if the hours in a day are already allotted? Of course the answer is no. You truly can make a new you anytime you want with the right tools onboard.

Hurley Chiropractic and Wellness is all about a better you. Please see our website www.hurleychiropractic.com for an addition to this article, ideas on health, long-term wellness and ideas to make 2012 the best year ever!

Conquer your resolution!N U T R I T I O N

Dr. Christine Hurley is the CEO of Hurley & Wellness Center and is a wellness expert in nutrition, women’s health and many other areas. She has published articles, changed thousands lives with chiropractic care and raised three

children with these and more health principles.


Annie Worley, RN graduated from Baptist School of Nursing in 1997. She worked for a plastic

surgeon for 5 years in which time she gained ex-tensive experience in injectables including Botox, Juvederm, Radiesse, and spider vein injections.

She has been injecting for 6 years in which time she has attended numerous trainings on injection

techniques. In the fall of 2010 she attended the advanced palate training which is the highest level of training that is available to nurse injectors. Please contact Annie Worley, RN at Sudio Skin in

Conway (501)358-4653

By Annie Worley

It has been proven that fillers can slow the aging process.The sooner you start with injectables and fillers, the sooner you will be able to prolong the effects of aging.

Starting around age 30, our skin begins to lose volume. Facial volume loss causes skin to appear saggy and loose. This volume loss can be easily corrected with injections using Radiesse or Juvederm, injected to the cheeks, areas around the mouth, chin and nasolabial folds (area beside nose).

Radiesse is a calcium-based filler, which in addition to providing immediate volume to smooth out the signs of aging, it continues to work with your body by stimulating your own natural collagen for a more youthful, refreshed you. These results have been clinically proven to last a year or more.

Juvederm is a Hyaluronic acid, which, when injected, stimulates fibroblasts, causing the skin to look and act younger as well as replacing volume. These results typically last 9-12 months before needing to be reinjected.

Botox and the newly FDA-approved Xeomin (from the makers of Radiesse), act by temporarily relaxing the muscles which cause wrinkles in the forehead, between and around the eyes. These products usually take effect in about 7-10 days and last typically 3-4 months.

Healthy skin is key to looking younger. It is important to combine good home skin care practices, regular facials, microderm abrasions and chemical peels. Well cared for skin requires less product to be injected, with more natural results that will last longer than if injected into unhealthy skin.

Healthy skin is keyto looking younger

B E A U T Y


D O W N T O W NFunky Junk • 1012 Van Ronkle St., Downtown Conway • 501-499-3902

Sharon Kincade, owner of Funky Junk.


By Rachel Parker DickersonPhotos by Brandy Strain

Funky Junk in downtown Conway is steadily gaining name recognition for its repurposed furniture, local art and unique home décor.

Owner Sharon Kincade, formerly of Just T’s N, opened the store on Van Ronkle Street in Au-gust and has taken in one-of-a-kind merchandise from several local artisans. She said once people find the small store front, they like what they see.

“The response has been good. I’m seeing a lot of my old customers. I have a feeling that the location is hard for people to notice, because we’re right between Quattlebaum’s and the Shoe Repair Store. But I’m working on that. We put our own stuff out front, and we’re getting awnings.”

Textured canvas art by Nancy Nabholz of Conway and abstract paintings by Jane Elphin-gstone of Little Rock can be found, as well as handmade jewelry made by Kathy Denys and fascinators by Erin Wood, both of Conway. Also, Jamie Freyaldenhoven of Little Rock makes rings using antique buttons and natural stones.

‘Junk’ with flairDowntown’s Funky Junk puts new spin

on old merchandise

Sharon Kincade, owner of Funky Junk.

WWW.WOMENSINC.NET 2322 WOMEN’S INC. / DECEMBER 2011

Funky Junk offers an eclectic mix of items in their Downtown Conway store.


“Scotty Robinson paints old windows. They look like stained glass. It’s really cool,” Kincade said.

A percentage of the shop’s sales will be given to support breast cancer research, Kincade said. She is a survivor of the illness.

Kincade repurposes furniture through painting and other techniques to give it a new look.

“It’s becoming more and more popular,” she said of the repurposed look. “Younger couples are into this, the industrial look. The younger generations are more active in recycling and re-using. It makes me feel great. It might be antique, but it’s still serving a purpose to somebody. They have a chance to enjoy it in their lifetime.”

Kincade said she will soon take in more artisans offering jewelry and other types of artwork.

Funky Junk has also started offering embroidery for baby items. Kincade makes tutus and bows. She carries a selection of hand-stamped jewelry made from old spoons. Also popular is a line of wooden letters that are painted off-white and crackled and distressed. The line also includes peace signs, crosses and fleur-de-lis.

“We are offering a gift wrap service called ‘Wrap it Up,’” she added. “It’s a custom gift wrap service for as little as $2, all materials included, and no item is too small or large. We provide pickup, delivery and emergency same-day service.”

Overall, Kincade said she feels good about the future of Funky Junk.

“I’ve been pretty happy. People have to find us, but we’ve been pretty busy. I’m feeling great.”

Shoppers can also view merchandise online at Funky Junk Shop for a Cure on Facebook.

Old pieces are refurbished, repurposed and resold at Funky Junk.



RUNNING:

Royal and aqua blue vest by Brooks,

$52.50.

Women’s half-zip aqua blue pullover by

Brooks, $52.50, paired with running/walk-

ing tights by Brooks, $66.75.

Pure Flow sneakers by Brooks (shown in

blue), $90.

Women’s hot pink pullover by Saucony,

$66.75, paired with running/walking tights

by Saucony, $61.95.

Noosa Tri sneakers by Asics (shown in hot

pink), $120.

All items available at The Sporty Runner

LIVING:

Decorative pillows, $28/each.

Available at The Rose Cottage

STITCHING:

Holiday banners by DebBee’s Designs.

Banner “Series’” Days patterns range $8-10.

All your threading and pattern needs are

Available at The Stitcher’s Garden.


F O O D

French Onion Soup


By Chef Jill McCollum, CCPhotos by Lindsey Faith Watson

A homemade stock adds depth and body to soups and stews. The ingredi-ents you choose should be supportive, not overwhelming. Yesterday’s or even last week’s vegetables are fine, as long as they are still healthy.

The beauty of stock ingredients is that the ideal ingredients are usually the trimmings from the soup you are about to make. Some examples are:

• leek roots and leaves• end-of-the-head garlic cloves• potato parings• celery leaves• parsley stems• carrot roots• lemon or lime shellsMeat stocks benefit from long, slow

cooking, but vegetable stocks do not. Quick vegetable stocks should take 30 minutes. Chicken or beef stocks can take anywhere from one to five hours. Strain as soon as the stock is finished.

You should avoid some vegetables al-together. The cabbage family (turnips, rutabagas, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower), as these do not do well in stock. Nor do most powder herbs and ground black pepper. Use whole peppercorns and bay leaves, as these are easy to strain out.

Cool your strained stock by filling the kitchen sink with ice water. Place the pot in the cold water bath, and stir every once in a while, or until the broth is tepid. Store in the refrigerator for up to five days or in the freezer for up to three months.

Chef Jill McCollum, CC, is the Caterer and Food Service Director for Central

Baptist College. Jill is the owner of Jill McCollum Catering in Conway. She can

be reached at [email protected] or (501) 730-4422

Warming upfor winterTips for homemade stock

and soup recipes


Heat oil in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, onion and garlic. Sauté three minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in tomatoes and cook 2 minutes. Cut limes in half crosswise. Squeeze lime juice directly into vegetable mixture. Add lime shells and chicken broth to soup. Bring to a boil,

reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove and discard lime shells. Stir in chicken, cilantro, jala-peño, salt and black pepper. Cook 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve with topping and garnish, if desired. Makes 12 cups.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil1 large red bell pepper, chopped1 large onion, chopped1 teaspoon minced garlic2 cans (14.5oz) Mexican style stewed tomatoes2 limes4 cans (14oz) chicken broth

3 cups chopped cooked chicken1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro1 tablespoon chopped fresh or pickled jalapeno pepper1/4 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon black pepperToppings: shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and lime wedges

Mexican lime-Chicken Soup


French Onion Soup

7 cups onions, sautéed in 1 pound butter2 large cans chicken broth¼ cup Worcestershire sauce1 cup sherry

Heat above ingredients together. Slice French bread, butter and toast until dried and brown. Place sliced toast in soup bowl and top with Swiss cheese. Pour hot soup over toast. Serves 20.


CONWAy CHRISTIAN SCHOOL 20TH ANNIVeRSARy FAMILy PICNIC

Trisha Quick, Sherry Rowlett

Conway Christian students

Mandy Taylor, Shona Gill, Ginny Hogue

Sommer Holden, Hadley Holden Ally Foster, Shannon Foster, Noah Foster

Rhonda Pinkett, Kate Jones

Gloria Massey, Ana Thorpe, Amanda Lentz, Wade Lentz

Darren Dent, Shelly Dent

Penny Vought, Weston Vought, Mark Vought

Ryan Davis, Shawnell Gill, Clayton Dent, Jon Mark Wood

Mallory Poe, Ashton RodriguezKirah Zulliger, Heidi Zulliger, Cole ZulligerJarret Bowden, Tanner Stevenson


STuDIO SKIN eVeNT

Nancy Thessing, Joy Meriwether, Renee Notto

Dana Cummins, Morgan Cummins

Angela Jackson, Janet Rice

Jen Ryken, Cindy Hudson

Nancy Stacks, Angie Ward, Jennifer Landers

Shawna Evans, Monica LeeAnnie Worley, Bill Velek

Ashley Adams, Kristie Moss Corey Seller, Mallory Williamson


DAZZLe DAZe SHOPPeRS

Tiffany Johnston, Debbie Throneberry Aprill Darretson, Kayla Darretson

Liz McCraven, Rebekah Stroth

Shanda Sutton, Aimee Cox Kristie Jackson, Christine Carpentar

Julie Duke, Karen Blaylock

Robin Gattis, Tammy Culley, Judi James, Elizabeth Parsley


By Susan O’Keefe

You can hear their words. You can see their faces. Yet, you have no compre-hension of what they’re

saying. Their customs are foreign. Their mannerisms are unfamiliar. Yet, their home is now supposed to be your home. You are a girl in transition.

Thus, begins the moving story of Hong Kong natives Kimberly Chang and her mother. Arriving in New York, with a clear view of the Statue of Liberty, and in pursuit of the Ameri-can dream, this mother and daughter pair gratefully accept housing in an abandoned, roach-infested, condemned Brooklyn apartment. Respecting Asian family ties, the two are indebted to Mrs. Chang’s sister for arranging liv-ing accommodations, even ones that reek of pity and poverty. To complain would be to dishonor ancestral attach-ments.

Girl in Translation follows middle school aged Kimberly from her initial introduction to America through high school, college, medical school, and eventually a career in medicine. Read-ers become champions of the main character as she struggles to climb from meagerness and refuses to be sentenced to the sweatshop where her mother works 12-15 hour days.

With a firm foundation in math and science, Kimberly quickly advances and even surpasses her American classmates. Much to the dismay of her aunt, who seems to find a devilish pleasure in oppressing the Chang

women, Kimberly earns top honors in her classes again and again. She applies and earns a scholarship to a private prep school.

Woven gracefully throughout the novel is an affectionate love story between Kimberly, with her keen intelligence, and a sweatshop worker, with a gracious and sweet disposition. Their worlds are similar at one point, even overlapping. But what will the future bring? Destiny seems deter-mined to separate them as Kimberly resolves to use her brain to earn money and a comfortable life for herself and her mother.

The young love she admires for his hard work and kind acts has different plans for their future.

Author Jean Kwok paints a vivid picture of the stresses and strains im-

migrants face adapting to America. Even as she attempts to fit in and keep up with her assignments, Kimberly receives little assistance from her teachers.

She avoids asking questions to hide her accent. She tries to let her flawless school work speak for itself. Although she has a talent for school, keeping up with her studies proves to be a hard-ship in the winter months since there is no heat in the apartment.

Her seamstress mother is ever resourceful and spies discarded fluffy fabric used to manufacture stuffed animals.

The cast off cloth soon serves as Kimberly’s pajamas. Although she expresses her embarrassment, there is no one who sees her in the apartment. She has finagled dozens of excuses to the lone friend she has as to her living whereabouts.

For all the hardships Kimberly faces, she continues to find comfort in numbers. She explains that languages differ.

Social graces vary. Friends fluctu-ate. Customs collide. But numbers serve as a universal language. One plus one in Hong Kong is two, just as it is in America. Immersing herself in her studies, Kimberly recognizes education as the one way to dig out of poverty.

At one point in the story, Kimberly calculates whether or not something is expensive based on how many skirts she and her mother can process at the Chinatown sweat shop that produces garments.

Each skirt brings a penny and a half! The process includes hanging, sorting, belting, tying sashes, button-ing, tagging, and bagging. Even when Kimberly and Ma worked at maxi-mum speed, they earned less than two dollars an hour.

Kwok writes … “Ma gave me $2.99 to buy a paperback Webster’s diction-ary. This cost us almost two hundred finished skirts. In those days, the subway was 100 skirts just to get to the factory and back.

A package of gum cost 7 skirts. A hot dog was 50 skirts. A new toy could range from 300 to 2,000 skirts. I even measured friendship in skirts. I learned you had to buy Christmas and birthday presents for friends, which cost at least a few hundred skirts each. It was a good thing I only had Anette as a friend.”

And so the story unfolds, carries readers along, and then leaves us with Kimberly’s voice lingering in our ears. Girl in Translation captures readers with vibrant prose as worlds eventu-ally mesh.

But, as so often happens, there is a trail of tears where strain and strife once resided.

On your “To Read” list of 2012, include Girl in Translation.

B O O K R E V I E W

‘Girl in Translation’ by Jean Kwok

Susan O’Keefe is a wife to Jack, mother to four children,

and eager to face the crazy, awesome, fun things

God delivers daily. Follow Susan’s blog at

okeefetravel.blogspot.com


By Rachel Parker DickersonView more photos at spotted.thecabin.net

The annual Chocoholics Dream Night Out benefit-ing the Humane Society of Faulkner County will be Saturday, Feb. 11.

Jennifer Bickers of the Humane Society said mov-ing the event from Friday night to Saturday afternoon last year worked out so well, this year it is being planned for Saturday afternoon.

“Last year was the first year in its history that it got postponed due to snow. I opted to move it to the very next day because a lot of the chocolate dishes had already been delivered, to ensure we were giving people really fresh food, and also to show appreciation to the people that donated the food,” she said.

“It was kind of a fluke, because Chocoholics had never been on a Saturday, had never been during the day, and it was the best attendance in five or more years. The feedback we got was really good.”

She said the event is being extended an hour, from 1 to 5 p.m. Feb. 11.

The location is to be announced. Tickets will be

$12 in advance per adult and $20 at the door; $20 per couple in advance and $25 at the door; $5 per child in advance and $6 at the door. Children ages 4 and younger get in free. Takeout will be available for $15 per pound.

Bickers said, “It’s a really fun event. I think hold-ing it on Saturday gives people a chance to get out and about, maybe go have lunch with their family, and then come have chocolate.”

Chocoholics Dream Night Out is the signature fundraising event of the Humane Society of Faulkner County. Funds raised primarily help the nonprofit organization provide assistance to individuals who cannot afford to get their pets spayed or neutered or vaccinated.

“We bank on (the fundraiser) doing well,” she said. “The Humane Society took in a lot of cats from (a) home in Vilonia – more than 100. Chocoholics is probably more important than ever because of the money spent caring for those cats. We got them all vaccinated, spayed and neutered. A lot of them had medical conditions that had to be treated. That makes Chocoholics even more important to replenish

those resources this year.”Bickers continued, “Every year we have restaurants

gracious enough to donate. Cupcakes are always super popular. Everyone loves the chocolate fountain. It’s re-ally a wide variety of chocolate dishes and interesting combinations. Local chefs who don’t necessarily work in a restaurant – they donate really interesting food.

“It challenges local chefs and restaurants to get really creative too, because they know this is a great showcase for anything they can offer.”

Every year the Humane Society brings a few adopt-able pets to the event.

“Everybody loves to come and see the cute pets. It has helped get several dogs adopted,” she said.

There will also be a silent auction and live music.“Everybody loves to shop. Last year was the first

year we added a live musical performance. That went over really well. The live music really added a differ-ent element,” Bickers said.

She concluded, “This is a really fun thing that families can do. It’s really affordable as far as events go, and it’s all you can eat chocolate, so you can’t beat that.”

C O M M U N I T Y

Annual Chocoholics event set Feb. 11


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