By Katrina Aman Freshman at Corban University, — Student Prize Winner ($40) of Oregon Women’s Report “Thanks, Girlfriend” writing contest. Dear best friend, I want to write you a letter about why you’re my best friend but I refuse to saturate it with all the generic reasons and adorable anecdotes. […]

Ramona Scarborough Salem author of “Stranger Friends” &  “The Autograph Book” Bronze Prize Winner ($25) of Oregon Women’s Report “Thanks, Girlfriend” writing contest.  Check in all this week for the other great finalists. When I look at the pictures in my albums, I see the smiling faces of my four […]

By Michal Ann McArthur, Bend writer Silver Prize Winner ($35) in Oregon Women’s Report “Thank You, Girlfriend” contest I shudder to think where I’d be without my girlfriends. Probably in some dark corner gorging on chocolate or sucking my thumb. We lived in Corvallis for twenty years, so you can […]

by Alexandra Lander Tualatin author of “saffire_21” Alexandra’s blog First Prize Winner ($50) in Oregon Women’s Report “Thank You, Girlfriend” contest “Janis!” I wailed into my cell phone, standing next to the lost-baggage counter at PDX. “They sent my carry-on to San Francisco instead of Portland! That’s why I had […]

The photo of the week belongs to this one of a giant Santa Claus in the most unusual location — a hot sunny beach in Northern India. Turns out it is a movie prop for a photo shoot. It made us smile.

According to MSNBC, “A 6-foot-2-inch junior guard at Milton High School in Georgia, Zach was born with one arm, but as you’ll see in this video, it’s not holding him back on the court. He’s still schooling some of the nation’s best two-armed high school ballers. It’s truly inspiring to […]

By Traci Scott, Portland writer, New studies reveal how cats cleverly manipulate us to get what they want and keep us in the palms of their little paws. Those of us with cats have long suspected that our feline friends have found a way to manipulate us, and apparently now […]

By Erika Weisensee Milwaukie Mom, Giving family gifts—joint gifts for multiple members of one family—is a great way to cut down on the number of gifts you have to buy. If you are like me, you know families whose children are getting older and are harder to buy for, you […]

by Gena, Silver Nest Designs Oregon Blog Earth Monkey Moms At the beginning of this school year, I watched my  big 2nd grader walk down the long hallway into her new school.  Her head sadly drooped down,  her eyes brimmed with tears, and at that moment as her little heart […]

Your Personal Trainer: Olivia C. Rossi, RN, MSN Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist, ACSM No, I’m not talking about your choice of exercise partner! I’m referring to the proper way to stretch—without jerking. Stretching should be done slowly and smoothly but, before I talk about stretching and where it fits into […]