To All That Serve Us During The Holidays-Thank You!

I wrote this several years ago. I am re-posting because I am so thankful not to be working this Christmas! I am just as thankful for the people who are working and wish them a Merry Christmas and hope they make it home in time for some of the celebration with their families! (I think the flight attendants have gotten back some of the pay cuts I mention below! Thankfully!!)

I, Susan Johnston, am no longer a flight attendant; but I flew almost 20 years. I know there are many, many professions that require workers to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day or other holidays. Nurses, doctors, firemen, police officers, wait staff, hotel employees, all airport personnel … work holidays.

As a flight attendant, when I was flying we received no holiday pay. That has changed at Delta; but the pay cuts the flight attendants have taken over the past few years have been extremely hard for many to handle. The cost of living has risen while their salaries have crashed. In addition to less money there is more stress! Since 9-11, the public has had to deal with much more in security that many times they (the passengers) tend to be ticking time bombs themselves which seem to be set to blow up once in flight.

As a passenger, you may think, “Well, I have had some less than perfect flight attendants.” You may very well have had this bad experience. But, please remember many times your first flight is the crew’s fourth or fifth flight, many times the crew has been rerouted unexpectedly and not made it to a child’s event or have slept a few quick hours in an airport chair somewhere and not eaten in hours.

Please remember as you travel or use the services of the people working this holiday to wish the workers a “Merry Christmas.” Thank these people for being at work to serve you so you can celebrate.

Christmas is the birthday of Christ. Christ humbled himself to be a lowly baby in the manger to serve the world. He showed us the greatest leader is a servant. The best gift we can give this Christmas is our time, kindness, and consideration to our family and all those around us.

Princess Bubble learns in her fairy tale that true happiness comes from, “Loving God, helping others and liking who you are already.” Turns out the path to your own “happily ever after” will make others around you happy too!

Have a wonderful Christmas and thank you every holiday worker! I am not working this holiday and I am so excited! But, this is our first Christmas without my father and I know that will be hard for my family. If you are missing someone in your family this season or missing being with your family because you are working, please know our heart and prayers go out to you!

Merry Christmas and thank you to all!!

Susan

http://www.PrincessBubble.com

Princess Bubble makes it to India!

Princess Bubble makes it to India! Well, she is a flight attendant! Going solo can be spiritually empowering as long as you take safety precautions to avoid getting into dangerously vulnerable situations, says Anuradha Varma. Princess Bubble and the Paper Bag Princess, modern fairytale characters, can teach us a thing or two about being single. The latter got hot and dirty while trying to rescue her prince, who turned up his nose and told her to dress like a princess – he soon got the boot. Princess Bubble was created by former flight attendants Susan Johnston and Kimberly Webb and found her happily-ever-after long before finding Prince Charming. Read more at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/spirituality/new-age-insight/Are-you-single/articleshow/12412365.cms http://www.PrincessBubble.com

Happily Ever For 50 Years and Still Going Strong!

My in-laws just celebrated their 50th Aniversary. We all went to the beach for a week. If my husband and I make it to 50 years we will be 93 and 94! LOL! And this is our first marriage.

This was my first family trip with my new family and it was great. Of course, like any family we had the members that did not want to conform or participate in certain things. My husband and I are both the first born and pleasers. So, not only did we agree to wear what our mother-in-law wanted us to wear for the Christmas card picture-we also brought additional white shirts for family members we suspected would not bring what they were asked to wear.

The rebels not only did not bring what they were asked to bring they also refused to wear our back up options. And one member was not even present when picture time rolled around. It was refreshing to see that all families have their black sheep and what really matters is how you handle the rebels.

My mother-in-law was a sport about the whole thing. But, having lost a parent and knowing my parents will not celebrate their 50th (as well as being a pleaser) I wondered why others can’t conform for 5 minutes to make their mother or mother-in-law happy while celebrating their anniversary???

I am sure part of making it 50 years is learning to roll with the punches and that is the lesson I got out of our celebration week. We can’t control others-even when it’s our party!

I am thankful to be a part of such a great family (rebels and all) and hope to celebrate 50 years with my prince!

Happily Ever After and Congratulations!

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday was my first wedding anniversary. We had a fun day at the beach with my family followed by drinks on top of Ocean Lodge with a view of the ocean. Then the guys grilled steaks and we ate more of the one year old wedding cake which I can not believe was still good. That alone is just crazy to me.

Our first year of marriage was surprisingly easy for a first marriage for  a pair of 40 somethings. We had bumps in the road like the stress of buying and remodeling a house while surviving a miscarriage and 2 out patient surgeries and a 4 month legislative session. Recently, we went to a marriage seminar at the church we attend when in Atlanta and not only were we the oldest ones there! But, we realized we did not have many of the issues the leaders were discussing because we lived the message of Princess Bubble and we had had complete lives before we married and knew who we were going into the marriage. I would not suggest for other women to wait as long as I did to marry; but I found someone worth the wait and there are positives to being an older bride. If you have not read my book, Princess Bubble, the message is that true happiness is not found in a prince but in helping others, loving God, liking who you are already. The conference we attended spent a lot of time trying to heal or correct the issues couples had when they entered the marriage expecting their spouse to make their lives perfect or rescue them.

I spent so much time trying to empower girls and share with them the message of Princess Bubble and knew the message was important for women to also remember…But, then I got caught up in all that was happening in my own life and put the message aside for a while. Now I am reminded of the importance and how every woman and girl needs to be encouraged to remember how special they are and how we need to take responsibility of our own happiness and not expect someone else or something else to make them happy.

So girls-remind your girlfriends, teach your daughters, and tell yourself that happiness is attainable for all of us start your own happily ever after today! Today I start on year two of my marriage and love my prince but plan to live happily ever after with him instead of because of him.

http://www.PrincessBubble.com

The Princess and The Senator

The Monday after I graduated from college I began a career as a flight attendant traveling the world and having a wonderful time. My college friends began to marry off and I made new friends who also married off. So, I made more friends who mostly married off as well. By this point, I had been in 17 weddings and maid of honor in six of those. I went to visit a friend and was playing Barbie with her daughter when I was informed by this 6 year old that Barbie could not be happy without a prince. I said, “Of course she could! I was happy! I loved my family and had seen the world.” But, this little princess told be it could not be done and she had all the fairy tales to prove her case. All princesses only ended up happy when they found their prince!

On my flight home, I thought about this conversation and decided fairy tales must change! I was not anti-prince. Just anti-damsel in distress. I wanted girls to marry because they found the love of their life after they loved their life. Because I knew even a prince could not make a miserable person happy. True happiness comes from within and from helping others.

So, I wrote a book Princess Bubble and published it with a friend. We cashed in our savings and decided it was worth the expense to empower girls and remind them they are a princess with or without a prince. Word got out about our message and we appeared on The Today Show and CNN.

But right in the middle of spreading the meaning of “Happily Ever After” my world crashed and my father suddenly died. We were thick as thieves and I was holding back tears of pain while making TV appearances about how to be happy. I still believe my message but missed my sweet daddy.

Meanwhile, my mother told me she had someone to fix me up with. A State Senator,Bill Hamrick, who had been at Auburn the same time I was and who was also in his 40’s and single. I did not think much about this but thought it was worth meeting him. Bill’s mother was also working on Bill encouraging him to call me and he had even less interest in meeting someone his mother suggested. But, one night he had a dream and remembered a girl he had seen in college who smiled at him and he did not have the never to approach. The next day, Bill clicked on the link to my CNN appearance to see who this girl was his mother wanted him to meet and saw I was the girl from his dream the night before.

We met, fell in love and were married 6 months later. Our wedding day, I shed a few tears and looked up at the sky begging God for a sign from my daddy. Shortly after we said our vows a double rainbow appeared across the sky and I know it was God and my father smiling down on us!

First, I found happily ever after. Then I found a prince to share it with!

Princess Bubble Book Review: A Princess Who Empowers Girls

Princess Bubble Book Review: A Princess Who Empowers Girls http://www.theshoppingmama.com/2009/10/princess-bubble-book-review-princess.html Princess Bubble is a fairy tale for today’s modern girl. Written by friends Susan Johnston and Kimberly Webb, the women wanted to make that point that “although princes are fabulous, a princess must find her security in something much deeper. Johnston and Webb want women of all ages to embrace the truth that ‘happily ever after’ is attainable for everyone.” I think you can understand why I was immediately intrigued and interested in learning more about Princess Bubble! Princess Bubble is a 35-page, modern-day fairy tale starring a well-employed, globe-trotting, good-friend, good-date, helpful-neighbor princess who is confused by the traditional fairy tale message that implies she must find her “prince” before she can live “happily ever after.” The story of Princess Bubble begins when she graduates from Royal University and heads into the world as a working woman. She lives in a castle all her own and socializes with other Princesses. I laughed out loud at when Princess Bubble and her friends were bridesmaid in royal weddings and wearing “Long, colorful bridesmaids’ dresses and dyed satin shoes that they were told they would wear again.” As her friends are marrying off, the Queen advises Princess Bubble to find a Prince. The Princess makes an effort to meet her husband, but upon reflection and a visit from her Fairy Godmother Princess Bubble realizes she’s perfectly content. She has friends, family and a fulfilling life without a Prince. The message isn’t that she is anti-Prince or that she will forever live the single life. Rather, the idea is that Princess Bubble is already living her happily ever after. “We are definitely not anti-Prince,” author Kimberly Webb explained. “We just believe that young girls today are bombarded with so much inaccurate advice on how to build their self-esteem—messages that focus on the outside rather than what’s within. We want to change that message.” To Buy… Yes! At less than $10, this modern day fairy tale has a fun story, a great message and is the perfect gift for any girl in your life. Even an adult girlfriend will get a kick out of Princess Bubble’s story and the modern life parallels to traditional fairy tale themes. Or Not to Buy… Princess Bubble is targeted for girls aged 6 and older and younger girls might be a little bored by the storyline and many references will likely go right over a young girl’s head. Shop! Princess Bubble is available for purchase on Amazon for only $9.60. Thank you to the authors for providing a sample product for the purposes of this review. The opinions are mine and uninfluenced and others may have different experience.

Single Girls This Holiday Live A Fairy Tale Life!

Atlanta, GA, September 9, 2009–This Christmas season thousands of single belles will hang their silk stockings and say their prayers before a quick night’s sleep-then it’s off to work they go. This ever growing group of Carols, Noels, and Merrys will shop, party and cook as they celebrate the holidays with families and friends. Two successful single gals will ring in the New Year with a resolution; offering parents an updated version of the traditional fairy tale. No longer a “Damsel in Distress,” this princess travels the world, helps others, and finds “happily ever after” even before she finds her Prince.

With wisdom gleaned from their careers as independent, globe-trotting flight attendants, first-time authors Susan Johnston Hamrick and Kimberly Webb have crafted a new generation of fairy tales that celebrates singleness and self worth. A contemporary fairy tale for all ages, Princess Bubble was written to reduce the overwhelming sense of failure, self-doubt, and despair that many youth face.

“Knowing how low self-esteem and depression plague many single females, we wanted to spread the message that ‘happily ever after’ can occur even before Prince Charming arrives. . . or even if he never does,” said Webb.

“We’re definitely not anti-Prince,” said Johnston (whose college nickname was “Bubble”). “We’re not anti-family or anti-marriage, if anything we’re anti-‘Damsel in Distress.’ Our message—the single life can also be a fairy tale. The End.”

Princess Bubble stars a princess who is confused by the traditional fairy tale messages that say she must find her “prince” before she can live “happily ever after.” Princess Bubble dons her “thinking crown” to research traditional fairy tales, interviews married girlfriends, and even takes counsel from her mother, who advises her to sign up at FindYourPrince.com. With a little help from her fairy godmother (this is still a fairy tale after all), Ms. Bubble discovers that “living happily ever after” is not about finding a prince. “True happiness,” the book reveals, “is found by loving God, being kind to others, and being comfortable with who you are already.”

“We’ve had countless women all over the nation tell us they wish there had been a book like this when they were young,” said Webb. “This is a story women can truly believe in and feel comfortable sharing with their children.”

“Recently, my life took an unexpected turn I NEVER expected for myself and I met a prince. This relationship has made me even more passionate about the message of Princess Bubble because we both feel so strongly about being happy first and then as secure happy people you are able to encourage each other to fulfill their dreams and be a better person. Not expect the other person to be the dream.”

—Susan Johnston Hamrick, Princess Bubble author

As seen on The Today Show and CNN.

http://www.PrincessBubble.com

Not Your Average Princess

Not Your Average Princess

Posted by The Q on February 12th, 2009

Little girls are indoctrinated into Princess Culture before they can even speak in full sentences. Pictures of doe-eyed Cinderellas and Sleeping Beauties adorn everything from plates and cups to clothing and shoes. In fact, Disney’s Princesses marketing campaign is considered one of the most successful in the history of the company–and in the marketing industry. These graceful beauties are impossible to escape no matter where you shop.
But every princess story (with rare exception) is based on a plot of victimization and rescue. Princesses wait, either passively as in the case of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White; or miserably as in the case of Cinderella; for someone to rescue them and make their ‘dreams come true’. And that someone is always a prince.
These princesses may have different hairstyles and costumes, but they all have one thing in common: They are pretty and charming. Often their prince falls in love with them without them even speaking a word. Such is the power of beauty. It brings love.
The result of this indoctrination are a generation of young women who are obsessed with their appearances and who are taught that being loved is directly related to how pretty they are. The American Psychological Association is just one of many groups who have raised red flags about the sexualization of girls and the self-image problems that contribute to eating disorders, depression, and low self-esteem.
This disturbing trend did not escape the notice of a Susan Johnston, a single woman in her late thirties who had been in more than 17 wedding parties. Johnston was a happy, well-traveled, educated woman who was shocked at how many young girls told her that they could not be a princess without a prince.
“When I was growing up, I watched shows like Wonder Woman and Charlie’s Angels. Those women were out there saving people, not passively waiting to be rescued,” Johnston revealed in an interview.
Together with her friend Kimberly Webb, Johnston developed the character of Princess Bubble, “a well-employed, globe-trotting, good-friend, good-date, helpful-neighbor princess who is confused by the traditional fairy tale message that implies she must find her ‘prince’ before she can live ‘happily ever after.’”
She took the advice of her mom and joined http://www.FindYourPrince.com. With her mind in a fog, she even kissed a frog! All the princeless princesses had long talks about where their princes could be. But, Bubble did not believe just any prince would bring her “happily ever after.” Yet the fairy tales said she must find HER prince!
The message of Princess Bubble is not anti-marriage, nor does it discourage girls from wanting to look beautiful. What the book does do, however, is address the motivations and reasons for getting married and looking beautiful. “Marriage can’t be the dream,” Johnston said, “It is a way to share your dream with someone special.” Johnston herself became engaged in her early forties, long after Disney’s 16-year-old Ariel found true love. “I really made Princess Bubble as a better version of me. She wants to help others and make a difference in the world. That’s what true princesses do. Princess Diana–more remembered for helping than being waited on. Being a princess is not not just sitting on a throne and having a crown.”
Another dimension to Princess Bubble is that unlike any other princess, she has faith. Johnston and Webb, both Christians, wrote the book from the perspective of a woman who believes God plays an active role in their lives. Those who have belief in a higher power agree that no one–not even a single woman in her 30’s–is alone when they have faith.
Johnston and Webb financed the book themselves because they believe so strongly in the message of Princess Bubble. The response has been phenomenal. “We’ve had countless women all over the nation tell us they wish there had been a book like this when they were little. In fact, many of the mothers who bought this book for their daughters tell us that the book has helped them re-evaluate their own marriage and what it means to them.”
The book is written with wit and verve; the illustrations are fun and colorful; and Princess Bubble is a beautiful woman inside and out. If you are a parent or grandparent, consider getting this book for your own little princess and encourage her to be more than just a pretty face.
Princess Bubble is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and at local retailers nationwide.
In 2003, breast implants tripled from 3,872 to 11,326 in girls under age 18.
Girls ages 12 to 19 spent over $8 million on cosmetics in 2005.
(Source: Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls,2007)

Fairy Tales; Both Old and New

Princess Bubble at the Governor’s Mansion

Princess Bubble review by Homeschool Father

Johnston, Susan, and Webb, Kimberly. Princess Bubble (Bubble Gum Press, 2006; Website: http://www.PrincessBubble ). Being an “old-fashioned” type of person and having read some of the promotion for this book, I was not sure that I would like it. However, I determined to read it with an open mind. Behold, I found that I did like it. Most every little girl wants to grow up to be a Princess who finds her Prince Charming. And most parents would like this for their little girls. Yet, it is plain that it does not always happen for everyone. For those young ladies who must learn to be content with their singleness, there is Princess Bubble, who graduates from college, gets a job, buys a palace of her own, and watches several of her friends get married. Many of her married friends begin to ask her why she has not found a prince yet, and eventually her mother tells her that it is time for her to find a prince. She does try and makes many new friends in the process, but finally learns from her fairy godmother that “living happily every after is not about finding a prince. True happiness is found by loving God, being kind to others, and being comfortable with who you are already.” So, what will Princess Bubble do with what she has learned? This is a lovely story with an important message for girls (and for their parents) who can read it to help be prepared whatever may happen. Language level: 1. Ages: 2-8, but single women may enjoy it too. EXCELLENT.