About Me

If a woman does not keep pace with her companions, perhaps it is because she hears a different drummer. Let her step to the music which she hears, however measured or far away. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Hello, ¡Hola!, Hallo, Bonjour, Cześć, Privet, Zdrasti, Hej!

Welcome and thanks for visiting my blog! My name is Ruthie and for as long as I can remember, I've always enjoyed writing, journaling mostly. I think I began to journal more consistently in my early thirties. As I get older, I find that my writing is much more reflective and I like that. In addition to writing, I love learning, discovering and sharing what I learn with others. I live in Chicago widely known as the Windy City where summers are way too short and winters are way too long but it's a lovely city, a true melting pot of cultures filled with interesting people and sites, fantastic neighborhoods, amazing restaurants and fun things to do, especially during the the summer months. I think Chicago is the quintessential American city. If you haven't visited, you must! It's a fabulous city. I promise you'll love it!

More about me ...

I'm a first-generation Puerto Rican-American who lives in suburbia, 25 miles outside of Chicago. I was born and raised in Chicago so that makes me a true Chicagoan, although I did move to Louisville, Kentucky for a few years at the age of 27 to work for the company I'm still working for. 

My parents were born in Puerto Rico and moved to the United States with their families when they were teenagers. My mother initially moved to New York to live with her two sisters but eventually moved to Chicago where she later met my father. They married after a short courtship and five years later, along came Ruthie. 

I'm fluent in Spanish, mostly bilingual but I do know a few words in other languages such as French, Italian, and Polish. [In case you're curious, Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean Sea and became a commonwealth of the United States in 1952. Approximately 4 million people live on this 3500 square ft island.]

Aside from my passion for writing, I'm a woman who loves music, and who loves to dance. It's impossible to be Latina and not love music and dancing. When I hear music, my heart smiles, my hips move and I feel happy. 

I have a big heart for God and a big heart for people. When it comes to people, I've learned that I'm most attracted to passionate, creative and driven people. I have a deep passion for learning and a deep passion for teaching and I love encouraging, coaching and mentoring women. Albert Einstein once said: "teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty." Some of the best teachers in my life taught me in the most unassuming ways. I'm so thankful for them.

I'm a champion list-maker who's always adding something to her To-Do-List. I'm also a very detailed packer. If you're ever stranded on a deserted island with someone, you'll want that "someone" to be "me" because chances are I'll have a little of everything tucked away in my purse and in my luggage for our survival. I like to think ahead and I like to live in a state of preparedness. That's just who I am.

I’m articulate, soulful, affable, funny, compassionate and expressive. Did I mention funny? Yea, I'm a little funny and incredibly tender-hearted too. By nature I'm a total peacemaker but I hate injustice and quite frankly I'm not afraid to stand up for something I believe in. 

I'm silly at times, messy at times and I LOVE surprises! I also love order and thrive under structure but I can’t deny that I LOVE having fun and love spontaneity in my life. This is when messy happens. Let's face it, sometimes last minute decisions are the best minute decisions. Okay, truth be told, they're fun minute decisions. Who am I kidding???

I was born with an extra dose of optimism and empathy and I really like that about myself. I believe the glass of life is always half full and life is always filled with possibilities. Why yes, I am a total optimist. How clever of you to recognize that. ; ) 

I'm also a firm believer that every problem in life has a solution and problems are "opportunities" to learn and to grow and to make life better. I'm a lover of all things beautiful: things, spaces, places, details, moments, grace, people and life! And I love, love, love a great redemption story!

With focused intent, I live to experience something new each day. Seriously, I do! I love and look forward to new experiences every day, big or small. Helen Keller said it best when she said: "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." I love life, feel blessed and love to laugh. I think I laugh just about every day, that's a true blessing, no doubt. 

I’m also an encourager, a thinker, incredibly curious, a passionate learner, a teacher at heart, a good listener, and an observer of all things. 

I'm a lover of words, who loves to write. I write because I can’t paint or sing (really, I can’t) but mostly because it makes me feel alive. I write because I want to remember imperative details that I might or could forget over time but because I write, the memory of what took place will always come to life as it once existed when I go back to read what I recorded. 

I also write because at the end of my life, I want everything important to be documented with my words. I can't imagine life without writing. Writing for me is as necessary as breathing. It's a process of discovery. The more I write, the more I discover.

I love learning and as I get older, I’ve become thirstier for knowledge and wisdom. If I can help it, improving and learning will never end for me. I hope to stay "thirsty" always. I’m always striving to be the best possible me because I want to be every bit of the woman God has created me to be. 

I’m also a family kind of girl. Family is important to me. To me, family is a sacred institution. It should be honored, it should be valued and it must be respected. And you don't have to be blood related to be family. Some of my closest friends, my exceptional friends are family to me.

I like to make the best of every single day appreciating and or celebrating moments as they unfold. The art of appreciation is directly related to practicing gratitude and gratitude is the thing that produces joy. There is no joy for those who do not practice gratitude. 

Tomorrow is never promised so I work hard to make the most of the 86,400 seconds we have in each day whether it's learning something new, doing something I love that nourishes my spirit or pouring into someone's life in small or big ways. 

As tough as the daily grind of life can be, I firmly believe that there is always something in our day that we can celebrate and to be thankful for. I try really hard to avoid dwelling on what isn't working in life and spend more time and energy on what is. And when I say that I work hard on not dwelling on what isn't working in my life, I'm not implying that I ignore it. What I'm communicating is that I choose not to let it consume me. I remind myself that I have a choice and I choose optimism. I also remind myself that all problems have a solution. And those kinds of choices and that kind of thought process are helpful and healthy.

I'm a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed with cancer in September 2009, four days after my 42nd birthday. And I'm ridiculously thankful to be cancer-free today. I feel incredibly blessed and highly favored by God because we caught my cancer in the very early stages. 

I’m also a mother who loves the stuffing out of her son who was born in 1987 and who is seriously super funny. Funny must run in the family. He makes me laugh ALL the time, always has. I just love that about him.

When all is said and done, I want to be remembered for being the kind of woman who lived out her theology, who demonstrated authentic love and shared God's love with other people.