Introduce Yourself

[Jean Ann Duckworth]

Welcome to Diva Celebration! Now that you have joined, take the time to introduce yourself.

I am Jean Ann Duckworth, The Extreme Diva. I created Diva Celebration to help women strengthen their relationship foundation. I believe women build their lives on a foundation of relationships. For most of us, our foundation is weak and unable to support in difficult times. Diva Celebration is one way we can strengthen our foundation, one friend at a time.

I am CEO of Extreme Diva, a multi-faceted company that includes publishing and presentations. I am an author and speaker. I live in Southern California with my darling husband, Terry (affectionately known as Mr. Diva), our daughter, Katy and our cat, Fido.

[Anna Somers]

Hello, I'm Anna Somers. I live in Anchorage, where my husband is the youth and Christian ed pastor at our church. We have two boys, Nehemiah (or Nemo) and Silas. Nemo will be turning 3 at the end of the month, and Silas is 15 months. I really enjoy writing and am working on two books for EDM ... Financially Free Devotions to Go and Girlfriends on Financial Freedom. I also really enjoy writing fiction. I love being a mom and I am involved in several ministries at church with kids and teen girls. I look forward to getting to know some new women on this site!

[Kim Smith]

Hi ! I am Kim Smith, and I am the author of the newly released cozy mystery, Avenging Angel, a Shannon Wallace Mystery. I am glad to be a part of Diva Celebration.

[Lynn]

Hi everyone! My name is Lynn Klammer and I'm a clinical psychologist, educator and author of 9 books and 200+ published magazine articles. Everything I do is part-time, except for raising my four kids (five, if you count my husband). This year I'm making the move to full-time writing. I live in a small, German heritage-oriented tourist town in Michigan where both my husband and I grew up. You can read more about me at www.LynnKlammer.com. It's great to get to know everyone here.

[Anna Somers]

Hi Lynn, would you be speaking of Frankenmouth, MI? I went to high school in Midland, so we visited Frankenmouth at least once a year.

[Gigi Devine Murfitt]

Hi everyone. I am Gigi Devine Murfitt. I live east of Seattle with my husband Steve and our two sons, Zane (21) and Gabe (18). My husband Steve is a salesman in the waterworks industry. He is very handsome and a wonderful man of God. I've had a crush on him since I was 16!

We also have a rambunctious yellow labrador named Donovan McNabb (Go Philadelphia Eagles) and a big black cat named McGuire. (We got him on the day Mark McGuire hit his 62nd home run) Can you tell I have a sports minded family?

Zane is graduating from college in May and getting married to Kelsey in June. We are delighted to see this beautiful couple tie the knot. Their story of purity in a time when the culture makes that difficult is amazing. Really, it makes me cry. God is good. We have a busy time ahead of us in celebrating Zane's graduation and the wedding.

Gabe is a freshman at the University of Washington. He is an amazing young man who was born with an unusual body. His arms are three inches long and his legs are bent at the knee with no knee joint. He stands about 3' 4" tall. He is also 45% deaf but wears a bone conductive hearing aide to correct his hearing. He is a delight and has taught me much about life. His positive can-do attitude has blessed me beyond belief. He speaks to young students about courage, leadership, excellence, attitude and respect. He's my hero. (He doesn't like me to talk about it but I'm thankful that we got to be on Oprah because of him. It was a blast.)

I am excited to be writing a book for EDM...Caregivers Devotions to Go where I will relate stories about the caregiver hats we all wear. I am also working on the chapters of a book about my life and how God used our son Gabe to draw me closer to Him. The working title is "He Handed Me Hope with His Three-inch Arms." It is definitely a work in progress with more story added every day. Now that he is in college I feel ready to write more of the story that was too hard to write when I was in the middle of it.

I am excited about Diva Celebration. I know we can all be an encouragement in a time when many are discouraged because of the economy and family issues etc.

I look forward to meeting more of the members and sharing our wildest dreams with one another.

God Bless Your Heart.....

[Lynn]

Hi Anna--yes I am speaking of Frankenmuth! In fact, my latest book (coming out this spring) is the first comprehensive tourist guide on Frankenmuth. Glad to hear you've visited my town. I've been to Midland many times. I love Dow Gardens, and there's a writer's conference there that I've attended several times.

How did a Midland girl wind up in Alaska?

Anna Somers said:

Hi Lynn, would you be speaking of Frankenmouth, MI? I went to high school in Midland, so we visited Frankenmouth at least once a year.

[Patti]

Hi I am Patti Thornburg. I live in Fort Worth TX, but I am originally from San Diego, CA and have also live in Salem, OR!! I am currently a stay at home mom to four beautiful kids. Joe is 15, Charlotte is 11, Brianna is 2 and my foster son Chris is 1 mo!! I am also mommy to a sweet angel boy Alexander who died 3 1/2 years ago. My husband is a former Marine who is now working in the Railroad industry...he is a awesome husband and GREAT dad. As a new stay at home mom I am always on the look-out for ways to stay connected (and stay sane!) I look forward to getting to know some of you.

[Stephanie McCowan]

Howdy! My name is Stephanie McCowan and I send greetings from Austin Texas! My husband and I will be married 8 years this year. I am a recently graduated LMSW who is married to a sweet man who is working on his Ph.D. I look forward to a positive sisterhood here. sm

[Kathryn]

am a Texas Diva with 2 grown children and 3 AWESOME Grandangels....My heart is my littlest angel Kyrstan Breigh (better known as Breigh Bunnie) I work in the Real Estate/Insurance business and am Director of Marketing/Business Manager...I have a great Christian boss, and though my workload has doubled since the lst of the year I am loving it!
I was brought up in a blended family (his/hers/theirs) by an AWESOME woman who chose to be my Mom...Daddy has always been my hero and my sisters(8) brothers(0nly 3) are all wonderful loving & giving people...Yep Diva's, Mama and Daddy raised 12 of us! We grew up without many material things I guess, but had love, & every necessary thing we needed....Mama often went without to buy us a Easter dress each year(matching shoes) and of course new clothes/shoes in the fall when we went back to school...Christmas usually brought only a new coat and maybe a few games to share, though Mama always tried to give us at least one luxury that was our very own...Of course there were our paper grocery bags stuffed with nuts/fruits and lots of ribbon candy...THANKS MOM & DAD you all did okay!

My children are truly my GREATIST accomplishments, and I have a wonderful husband who loves me in spite of myself and JUST THE WAY I AM! I am looking forward to meeting many new sister's of the heart....Kathryn

[Kathryn]

Hey Anna:

Do you mean Midland Texas???? I used to live there before we got transfered to Abilene. We now live in Lufkin Texas which is my home town...It is between Dallas and Houston...It is good getting to know everyone and GREAT to see so many of you are published authors...Gives me the courage to think about submitting some of my works...I write alot of heartfelt poetry and work on a series of childrens bedtime story's for my own grandangel Kyrstan Breigh who just turned 6 in December....The title of the lst one is Breigh Bunnie's Adventures and features her best friends in real life...Their is Chandler Bear,Alley Cat, & Sadie Bug....These are real little girls in her life and I gave each of them their nicknames the day they were born...Funny thing is they were born stairstep all in the same year!!! Chandler is Oct., Mercedes is Nov.,& Alyssa is in January...Their mom's are all childhood friends and remain best friends to this day....I am so proud of all my girls and the role I play in their lives....I am "MOM" to the older ones and Na Nan to my babies!

Well thanks for listening to my story, I enjoyed reading all of yours....Looking forward to knowing all of you lovely Diva's better!

Hugs, Kathy

Anna Somers said:

Hi Lynn, would you be speaking of Frankenmouth, MI? I went to high school in Midland, so we visited Frankenmouth at least once a year.

[Rochelle Valasek]

I love how you (Jean Ann) said "We strengthen our foundation- one friend at a time." Love it.

Hi all, I'm Rochelle Valasek, also called "Shelley"
I write for a living, and I'm also a Christian Speaker. These are full-time, and I enjoy it. I've been speaking professionally since 2000'. I've been in women's ministry over 20 years. Writing since I could hold a pencil.

I own/pubish/editor-in-chief a Christian woman's magazine (since 2005) Extreme Woman magazine. I also have a biz of media work. "Miss Media",which I do Power Point, CD/DVD Burning, Producing and editing podcast shows, newsletters, brochures, etc. for fellow speakers and leaders in women's ministry. I also have merchandise that goes with my speaking that I sell.

I live in Clemmons, NC with my high-school sweatheart, Tony and two boys, Anthony and Noah. (They are going through the teen thing..oy vay.

I also do teas in my home as a women's ministry. And I'm big on making friendship/relationships with this. (and always)

Life is good! God is even better!

[Gigi Devine Murfitt]

Hey Rochelle. It sounds like you have a wonderful job doing what you love. I hope to one day do this full time. I'd love to come to a tea party but I live way across the country in Washington. Maybe some day. Thanks for sharing your introduction. It inspired me to keep working at this so I can do it full time. Blessings.

Rochelle Valasek said:

I love how you (Jean Ann) said "We strengthen our foundation- one friend at a time." Love it.

Hi all, I'm Rochelle Valasek, also called "Shelley"
I write for a living, and I'm also a Christian Speaker. These are full-time, and I enjoy it. I've been speaking professionally since 2000'. I've been in women's ministry over 20 years. Writing since I could hold a pencil.

I own/pubish/editor-in-chief a Christian woman's magazine (since 2005) Extreme Woman magazine. I also have a biz of media work. "Miss Media",which I do Power Point, CD/DVD Burning, Producing and editing podcast shows, newsletters, brochures, etc. for fellow speakers and leaders in women's ministry. I also have merchandise that goes with my speaking that I sell.

I live in Clemmons, NC with my high-school sweatheart, Tony and two boys, Anthony and Noah. (They are going through the teen thing..oy vay.

I also do teas in my home as a women's ministry. And I'm big on making friendship/relationships with this. (and always)

Life is good! God is even better!