Category: Uncategorized

Lessons Learned from Hiking the Red Rocks

Posted on by kristinheck

If you follow my social media accounts (links below), you know by now that my husband and I took a short vacation to Sedona, AZ last week.  It was, easily, one of the most amazing trips we’ve ever taken (more on that in a future post), but as we come into the holiday and new year season, I wanted to share a few lessons that I learned scaling the beautiful red rock mountains.  Some of these aren’t new.  You’ll hear echoes from my previous lessons learned series or my fear series, but my experience hiking through the beautiful Arizona landscape drove home a few points that I couldn’t help but repeat…

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Healthy as Heck 2018 Gift Guide

Posted on by kristinheck

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Oh, it’s that time of year again!  Anyone else feel lost trying to find the perfect gift for each person on your list every year?  This girl does! 

Below you’ll find my ‘favorite things’ list for both babies and their Mommas!  If you are like me and find yourself wandering around stores having no idea what to pick up, I hope this list will help give you a little direction.

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The Comparison Game

Posted on by kristinheck


I was looking at my Christmas Tree today and realized something…  If you look at it, you’ll notice my tree looks pretty good until you get to the star at the top.  That poor little guy is lopsided and half falling off.  And that, my friends, is a perfect metaphor for my life.  Mostly put together, with a little dose of sideways and upside down to keep it interesting.

I could have fixed that star and THEN posted the picture, but I thought… nahhh (For the record, it will probably never get fixed!).  I think we need more pictures and images of life’s imperfect, sideways, and upside-down moments.  So, here it is, in all its oddly positioned glory…

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Everyday Gratitude

Posted on by kristinheck
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This past week marked my very first time flying First-class thanks to my sweet hubby!
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This experience got me thinking about how Thanksgiving shouldn’t be the only day we should remember to be thankful.
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When my husband and I first got married, we couldn’t have imagined the opportunities that were ahead for us.

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Holidays and Dieting

Posted on by kristinheck

Heading into Thanksgiving Eve, I wanted to put out a little PSA for you:

Don’t “diet” away your holidays!!

I know, that is totally counterintuitive to everything else you hear.  But I’m really being serious here. Our society is brainwashed by the diet industry into believing that to enjoy eating on a holiday is like committing a cardinal sin.  They do this because the diet industry makes a fortune off of it.

The two most common themes you will come across about thanksgiving dinner is the image of people sitting on a couch with their pants unbuttoned and people vowing to avoid all the deliciousness of the holiday so they can maintain their diet.

But, what if there were another way?

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My Quick, Easy, and Healthy Breakfast Favorites!

Posted on by kristinheck

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We are starting to get those cold mornings here in Atlanta… you know the ones, right?  The ones where you have to will yourself out of bed and then go searching for the warmest, most cuddly thing in your closet?  And then you go to the kitchen looking for something easy for breakfast, because who wants to work for their meal on a cold morning?  Not me!

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Political Opinions: How to Manage Them and Still Have Friends

Posted on by kristinheck


My original plan for today’s post was to give you some of my favorite fall recipes…

But as I watched election results the other night, I decided to change course (I mean, cookies and food are always important… so they will come in the next post, I promise!)

I don’t talk politics very much (and it is likely my husband won’t be thrilled I decided to write about it today either… sorry honey!). That’s not because I don’t care, it’s because I think we have entered an era where everybody does way too much talking and not enough listening. And when I say listening, I mean listening to a range of opinions. Not just the ones that you already agree with.

This week has been one of those weeks that drove home that point with a sledgehammer. I have a healthy mix of viewpoints on my news feeds. Here’s a small example of the things that jumped out at me yesterday:

1. Videos depicting why a person would never vote for a Democrat
2. Posts about how Republicans are racist
3. Multiple posts making fun of the appearance of female Democratic candidates
4. An insane amount of posts that include derogatory, racist, hateful speech, as well as name-calling

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Mental Health and Motherhood

Posted on by kristinheck


Yesterday was ‘World Mental Health Day’ and although I had a different post in the works, I felt this was a more important topic to address.
Paying attention to your mental health is important for everyone.

But today, I really want to talk to my Moms. More specifically, my brand-new Mom’s. If you are feeling overwhelmed, tired, sad, stressed, or any other form of these words… then this post is for you.

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My Go-To Home Remedies for Cold Season!

Posted on by kristinheck


This has been a rough week for me, so I apologize that it’s been a little quiet on the blog front. I got hit with not one, but two illnesses back to back. Last Sunday morning, I woke up and felt like a bus hit me. Fever, chills, achy, headache… random flu-like stuff. Three days later, just when I thought I was coming out of the woods… Wham! Sinus infection. So much for feeling better!

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Our Adventure with Aquatic Survival Instruction

Posted on by kristinheck

Friday was a big day in the Heck household!!  This little lady graduated from Aquatic Survival Instruction (ASI) (and earned her very first trophy!)

I decided to enroll her in this program for two reasons:

  1. I saw my best friend’s kids go through the program and loved their results. Her 2-year-old son (at the time) was so confident in water and could find his float easily.  This was a big draw for me.
  2. All the recent drowning stories I’ve heard. Did you hear about Bode Miller’s daughter?  If you didn’t, click here.  This is so heartbreaking.  I can’t imagine having to cope with such a devastating loss… especially if I knew there was a way to prevent it.

With swim classes and these stories of drowning on my mind, I took a deeper look at this issue. What I found out was hard to believe:

According to the CDC, drowning is responsible for more deaths in children aged 1-4 than any other cause outside of birth defects.  In those same aged children, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death behind car crashes (See complete fact sheet here).

Continue reading “Our Adventure with Aquatic Survival Instruction” →