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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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Newborn Books – The Good and The Bad

Posted on by kristinheck

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I recently had a long talk with one of my closest friends who just had her third baby. She and I have both struggled with newborns who were/are intolerant to certain foods and know all too well the mayhem that creates. I don’t envy my friend – trying to juggle a newborn along with two other beautiful but rambunctious little ones running around the house. It’s a lot.

She’s a Rockstar mom. Like, seriously, she’s an amazing Momma who seems to have all this parenting stuff down pat.

So, I was surprised when our convo turned to feeling stressed because she wasn’t following the newborn book script to a T. And then I remembered feeling that way when my little lady was new too. In fact, I believe I called her and tearfully had almost the same discussion with her, but roles were reversed. In fact, I’ve had this conversation with multiple moms and I have come to realize that newborn books can be great, but they can also be detrimental for new mom mental health if they aren’t put in the proper perspective.

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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).

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Lessons Learned – Part 3

Posted on by kristinheck

Toxic Workplace Culture

This is something I knew nothing about prior to my last business venture. Every company I had ever worked for prior to this had blips of drama or difficulties here or there, but they were nothing compared to what I experienced in my most recent career chapter.

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First Birthday Luau Fun!

Posted on by kristinheck

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Hey Y’all!  I’m sure there will be another, more sappy, post coming about how my little girl is growing up, because she is… sniffle.

But before I get there, can we just talk about how much planning goes into a first birthday party?!

I mean, seriously, I called my Mom and said… when did I stop planning a birthday and start planning a wedding?!?! Honestly, that’s how it felt the whole time!
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