The month started off with an incredible experience In Washington, DC, when I assisted at the Landmark Forum for the first time. I completed the Forum myself this past may in Los Angeles and it left me totally transformed and completely empowered. I was thrilled to be a part of creating that for a hundred and some other people. I traveled to DC with a very good friend of mine having no real notion of what it would be like to go through the Forum again, in a different role. My commitment was to help cause the space for transformation, but what I got was unexpected, and so much more than what I gave. I also had the privilege of sharing that experience with one of my best friends, Brad, who was participating in the Forum that weekend. It was remarkable to see him grow, transform and take on his life in a way he’d never been able to before. I came back to Pittsburgh with an emboldened sense of freedom, power and love for my life and the people in it. What goes on in those rooms, for those taking the forum and those assisting, is truly indescribable. If you haven’t yet taken the Landmark Forum, I urge you to do it. It will change your life.

A few days after I returned, I celebrated my 37th (yikes!) birthday. The number had far less meaning than the people I spent it with. I had lunch with both of my parents, which was so wonderful. I don’t get to spend time with them very often and to be able to have some one on one time with each of them was a blessing. My son, my love, my best friend and my cousin also celebrated with me. It was a perfect, low-key week with my favorite humans.

My son was lucky enough to be born in the beautiful, busy month of December as well, so I jumped right into party-planning mode. My aunt graciously offered us her home to host a superhero birthday party with all of our friends and family in celebration of Micah’s five years of life. We created a day of fun and gratitude and the day was just that.

And, before we could clean up the cake and pack up the car, it was time to get ready for Christmas. Since the year I was pregnant with Micah, I started putting up the tree around Thanksgiving. It’s just easier to get it done and have it to enjoy in the midst of the December madness. So that was one thing we didn’t have to do. Still, all of the Santa shopping, wrapping, gift making, cookie baking and other holiday necessities needed to be taken care of. So we got to work. Micah and I have made gifts for everyone each year, in part as sentiment and also to teach him the real meaning of Christmas. We’ve made all sorts of ornaments in years past, but these year I decided to step things up and make candles. I enrolled Brandon into helping us since it was such a zealous undertaking. It turns out, we had a knack for it.

After making candles for our family and teachers, B and I decided to start a little candle business. He owns a landscaping company so this time of year, he has plenty of free time. So we went for it, thinking we would sell a dozen or so candles for Christmas and see how things went afterward. To our huge surprise, everyone loved the candles. We had people coming back for more and began scrambling to meet the Christmas demand. It’s been a whirlwind, but completely amazing and so much fun. We are tremendously grateful for how much love and support we’ve gotten with the candles. Each one is made with care and love. To check them out, find us on etsy.

The most extraordinary experience of this magical month was taking a trip to downtown Pittsburgh with Micah, Brandon and Adam, Micah’s father. The four of us spent a wonderful evening together in celebration of our son. Micah and I are so blessed to have two men who love us and who are committed to being a whole and complete family. You can read more about our coparenting Christmas here.

We went to church on the 23rd. It was a powerful and moving service with so much musical greatness. We spent Christmas Eve with both my family and Brandon’s, and awoke Christmas morning to beautiful suprise, snow! I can’t recall the last time we had a white Christmas here in Pittsburgh. It was just the sort of thing to remind us of the true miracle and meaning of the season. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

As we wind down, there are just a few days left in the month, and in the year. It’s been a wild one, with both woe and wonder. And I wouldn’t change a single moment.

~Kristin

My son’s father and I have remained friends. We have no legal custody or child support agreement and, for the most part, have worked together cohesively as parents. My current relationship, however, has been a source of contention for many reasons. As I came to realize the impact this might have on my son, and on his self-esteem, I became determined to do something about it, preemptively.

So, I created a possibility. I squashed the vision I’d had of the baseball game and decided it simply wasn’t acceptable. Instead, I replaced it with a new and powerful vision of a community around my son; one that encompassed all of the people who love him the most working together, being together, on his behalf. This was no small feat. As I said, my ex-husband and current partner have, for lack of a better term, bad blood. There are a number of things at the source of that, each of them insignificant to this story. What there really is to get is that these two men, who both love my child tremendously, could barely engage in two minutes of small talk. Yet, I was committed to creating this community for Micah.

How was I going to do this? The same way I do everything, by enrolling other people in the possibilities I create. I started sharing my vision with these two men. I shared about my fears for Micah, about what I wanted for him and how I thought it was possible, if we were all able to put our love for him above everything else. My partner now was more open, in large part because he’s been in the same work that I have over the past year. Micah’s dad was dismissive, but I was determined to live in my possibility. I kept sharing with him, from a place of love and commitment to our son. And, a few days into December, I got a phone call. It was my incredibly brave, loving, wonderful father, ex-husband telling me that he would like for the four of us to go downtown, to see Santa, a Christmas tradition I had since my own childhood, that I’d started with Micah since birth.

For Christmas, and for Micah’s 5th birthday, we spent a magical night together, as a family.

Merry Christmas, and always remember that anything you can dream up, you can create. 

Fritters. They’re what’s for dinner. So let’s get started.

I’m not a veggie lover. BUT, with fritters I figured the more the merrier. This recipe is jam-packed with veggies. You could always substitute, add or leave out some of the veggies based on what you have or any food aversions. But I pretty much threw the kitchen sink into these.

Ingredients:

About 3 cups broccoli, cauliflower & carrot mixture, chopped
2/3 cup fresh spinach, chopped (before cooked)
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or flour of choice)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg
Salt & Pepper to taste
EVOO for frying
Water for boiling

Yields about 8 fritters.

Instructions:

I started out by boiling the carrots, broccoli & cauliflower for about 4-5 minutes to soften. DO NOT OVERCOOK or they will be hard to work with.

While you wait for those to soften, chop the onion, garlic & spinach and sauté in a tiny amount of EVOO until the spinach is cooked. If you use too much oil, the fritters will not stay together as well, so take it easy!

Place the broccoli, cauliflower & carrot mixture into a strainer and allow to drain thoroughly. Then gently pat dry to remove excess water. Chop the broccoli and cauliflower into small florets and place them in a bowl. Sidenote: I food-processed the carrots, only because my son has a weird thing about carrots and I didn’t have shredded since I used the organic veggie trio above. If you have shredded carrots, there’s no need to food-process them. Just chop along with the broccoli & cauliflower. Throw in the sautéd veggies as well.

At this point, all veggies should be in the bowl.

Next, add the Parmesan, flour and seasons.

Whisk the egg and toss that into the bowl. Mix all ingredients until thoroughly combined.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat until it sputters when you flick some water into it (from a distance!!!) Once it’s hot, spoon approximately 1/4 cup of mixture into pan for each fritter. Press lightly to flatten to about 2-2.5 inch wide fritters and cook for about 4 minutes, then flip and cook another 4 minutes (or until golden brown). Then, just serve and enjoy the veggies of your labor!

Recommended Pairing: Grilled White Fish or Salmon, Grilled Chicken.

When I first began my journey into health and fitness, I heard a lot of hoopla about having to cut alcohol out my diet. Of course, I was incredibly turned off by this fear mongering and immediately began to panic. I love wine. I drink a glass almost nightly, and on the weekends I prefer to have several….bottles. Just kidding. Unless it’s a really wild night.

The idea of being on an alcohol restriction made me feel like I was doomed to failure. Not because I have an alcohol dependency, and not because I couldn’t give it up. I refrained from alcohol throughout 10 months of pregnancy (Yes, 10 months. I was pregnant forever.) My fear of failure came from the overwhelmth (that’s probably not a word) of having to change my entire life all at once! I knew how difficult it was going to be to get myself into a habit of working out everyday. I knew that it was going to be near-impossible to stay on track with my nutrition. But I was ready to give 100% to that change. But giving up wine? I didn’t sign up for that and I didn’t want to do it. It was just too much change at once. I mean, who the heck likes change anyway? Plus, there’s plenty of evidence floating around indicating that wine might actually help you maintain good health. Why give it up?

So I did what any thirty-something woman would do and I just said no….to giving up wine.

7 months and 43 bottles later, I am down 23 pounds and counting. I am comfortable with my body and enjoy working out. I eat healthy most of the time, and I still enjoy my wine whenever I want. Sure, maybe I would’ve had quicker results without the wine. Or, maybe I would’ve given up altogether. The point is, you don’t have to give up wine to lose weight. I am living proof.

That being said, I have put together a little list of wines and what their general caloric counts are, so you can choose your wine wisely. I’ve also included a few of my personal recommendations. Cheers!

White & Blush Wines

White Zinfandel is your absolute best option when counting calories. This wine has only around 105 calories per 5 ounces. However, a lot of wine drinkers don’t care for a White Zin, myself included. Your next best option would be a Chardonnay or Chablis, which are at the low end of the spectrum at around 118 calories per 5 ounces.

I drink Chardonnay frequently and one of my favorites is the Sofia Chardonnay produced by the Francis Ford Coppola Winery.

This wine has a delicious hint of apple and spices, which is perfect for the fall, but enjoyable any time of year. I highly recommend trying this one, multiple times.

Sèmillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Fume Blanc each have around 122 calories per serving. Dry Riesling, Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio average about 123 calories.

One of my absolute favorite wines is the Kris Pinot Grigio created in the Kris winery in Italy’s Alto Adige region. This wine has the perfect amount of subtle sweetness and goes well with almost any food!

A sweet Riesling, which can have as many as 225 calories in each 5 ounce serving, is not a great choice for drinking regularly. However, should you choose to indulge in a sweeter wine from time to time, you MUST try this one!

Eroica Riesling is produced in the Chateau St. Michelle winery in Washington state in conjunction with a German producer of fine Rieslings. I had the privilege of touring the facility during the early stages of the development of this wine and was also able to sample it. It was truly love at first taste, and this is one sweet wine I do allow myself to enjoy on occasion.

Red Wines

As for red wines, the concept is the same. Dry reds yield lower caloric counts, while sweeter reds will be higher in calories. I personally don’t drink much red wine, but I like to know my options and I’m guessing you do as well.

Pinot Noir and Grenache (or Garnacha) contain approximately 122 calories per 5 ounce serving. Syrah and Hermitage have around 123. Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux and Merlot typically have about 125 calories per serving.

Chianti has around 128 calories in each serving. When I do drink red wine, I prefer Chianti because it’s relatively mild. The Banfi Chianti Classico Riserva is an excellent choice and is very affordable.

Now this isn’t a green light to start drinking excessive amounts of wine. As with anything else, moderation is key! If you’re as much of a wine lover as I am, check out this wine club for home delivery service of AMAZING specialty wines! You can even earn FREE wine by referring friends!

“This evening my husband and I took our son out for ice cream. Afterward, we decided to head to the park. It was getting late, but the weather was beautiful and there are only so many summer nights like these.

We weren’t there long before I noticed a child and his mother arguing. The boy, maybe 8, was refusing to get off of the slide and let the other children have a turn. My son, who is two, was one of the children waiting in line. I tried my best not to listen as the mom quietly pleaded with her child to get up. I tried not to listen as he threatened her in a way that made me nervous for her. I tried not to listen as the stress in her voice grew into desperation.

I told my son to play on a different slide. I didn’t want this mother to have to deal with more of a scene than she already was. I’ve been there. We all have. Kids have tantrums. It’s part of growing up. I looked to her and smiled, as warmly as I possibly could, to let her know that it was okay for my son to play on another slide.

But what I really wanted was to hug her. I wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay. I wanted to tell her that she was a great mom. I wanted her to know how strong she is. I wanted to tell her that she was doing a great job. I wanted to tell her that her son was perfect. He was different. I could see in her eyes that she was exhausted from what was likely a constant series of quarrels just like the one that was transpiring there. But I could see, too, that she loved her son with every bone in her body. I could see that she only wanted him to be happy.

I tried my best to encourage Micah to play with him, to talk with him. The two boys were worlds apart, but I wanted that boy to feel liked. I wanted that mom to feel that her child was accepted. And I want, more than all of that, to raise a child that will love and accept all of God’s children without judgement.

I have been very blessed with a healthy, happy child. I can’t begin to understand this mom’s struggle. But I can understand the love she has for her little boy. And I want to say to that mom, YOU ARE AMAZING. YOUR SON IS AMAZING. YOU ARE BOTH FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE.”

I have prayed countless prayers about how to regain my hope, my spirit, my passion and, on a deeper level, my relationships and reputation for being a cultivator of change. I’m at a loss. While I have taken the necessary time and energy to pick up the scattered pieces of my personal life and place them, as best I could, back together ~perhaps with a little duck tape and more than a little wine~ my business and public life remain fractured. And I need to address it. There are far more people than I have the ability to explain or apologize to individually, my hope is that this space can become my haven for recompense, for renewal, and for rebirth.

Seven  years ago, my world was turned upside down when I suddenly and unexpectedly became very sick. I suppose that sort of thing is never expected and always sudden. Everything I had worked so diligently for, everything that I was, was taken away from me, piece by piece. I was powerless to do anything more than watch, like the passerby of a horrible traffic accident. It felt surreal. But it was also survival, in its rawest form.

I managed to claw my way out of it, to some extent, for a short period of time. I was over-medicated and undermined, but life went on to a manageable degree. And I became a mother. A prodigious blessing, however unexpected. A life changing event, gift, experience, purpose. But motherhood inflamed, quite literally, my body’s inability to function properly and despite the arsenal of prescription “management”, I quickly became very sick, once again.

I learned a very difficult lesson throughout this season of my life. Well, maybe a few lessons. But the one that has been ingrained most deeply is the dichotomy of being labeled with a chronic illness and not having that label. At the times when I became critically ill, I was still living life without an official diagnosis. And that state of limbo was an arduous place to exist.  It was easy for the people around me to dismiss what was happening to me, to make light of it. From an outside view, I didn’t look sick. I appeared normal, healthy. Only my husband, who shared that formidable space behind the walls of our home, understood how sick I truly was becoming. Without a diagnosis, without a label, most of the people around me simply thought I was being overly reactionary. It was very isolating, and after a time, I grew weary of trying to explain my blank stares, sudden departures and excessive absences. It was just easier to survive within my own hell than to attempt to bring anyone else into it.

For several years, I struggled to be a wife, to be a mother, to get out of bed. But I found saving grace in building a business that allowed me to help other people live healthier lives. I became so fiercely passionate about it, that in some ways, I neglected an already crippled marriage I barely noticed was on the verge of collapse. Until it did.  And once again, my world shifted violently into someplace unfamiliar and unclear. For several months, I tried to maintain the charade of being a professional cultivator of inspiration. But behind the screen of Facebook and Instagram, I was acutely struggling to find my own. And so I made the decision to come clean.

I don’t regret that choice. I am, and always have been, an open book. I believe in being who I am, unapolagetically. But the decision did not come without recourse. During the most intense period of tribulation of my life, I was harshly criticized, judged, insulted. Because of that, I began to withdraw from my business, from social media and even from my personal relationships. I was terrified of the vengeful disapproval. And it was everywhere, about everything that was my life, or what people perceived my life to be.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been the charmed recipient of far more love and support than the latter. And I am so grateful for that. It’s been my anchor. Despite my eternal optimism, I’ve somehow allowed myself to become a victim of the hearsay and judgment. I’ve let it change me, and rob me of the things I worked so hard to reclaim. My health, my relationships, my passion, my vision. But, as we all know, life goes on. We cannot live safely in the past, but rather, we must step through fear into a hopeful future. From this moment, I am leaving the past where it belongs, I’m closing the door on my failures and walking forward in faith. Because there is no other choice. I refuse to throw in the towel.

And so I write this as a letter of apology, as a declaration of betterment, as an oath of restoration.

Life goes on, and we are all the better for that.

.

So much of my blood, sweat and tears have gone into my own personal health journey and, by extension, into creating an environment where I’m able to share in those of others. Aside from motherhood, I’ve shifted my life’s focus to helping women create freedom in their lives; the freedom that comes with good health, entrepreneurship and peace of mind. Every day, I work with women from all walks of life, to design a life that works for them and allows them to thrive. It’s a job that I’m both honored and impassioned by.

And so I thank you for being here. Whether you’ve been following my journey for a while or you’ve just found me through a random search, I am grateful that fate has brought us together and I truly hope that you find some value in such happenstance.

When I first began to put the pieces together for this project, I was admittedly overwhelmed by the magnitude of my vision for it. I have so many ideas and dreams about how I could impact the lives of other women. After much prayer and introspection, I realized that to limit myself was to limit who I would be able to reach. That’s precisely the opposite of my intention, and so I decided to follow my heart, throw caution to the wind and take the leap of faith into absolute uncertainty.

My aspirations are limitless, but as with any dream, we must begin somewhere, to lay the groundwork. I’ve been working as a health & fitness coach for three years and as my own personal focus has shifted toward nutrition and wellness, so has my work. If you’re looking to make a lifestyle change, to get in better shape, to find confidence, to feel better, to improve your quality of life, I can help. Health coaching is the foundation for this project. But behind the scenes, I’m working on so much more. I’m working to share my story, and to hear from other women about Lupus, autoimmunity, healing and hope. I’m working on a book, in addition to this blog. I’m working to spread awareness and education about Lupus, autoimmunity and treatment options for these diseases. I’m planning events and creating a podcast. I’m working to connect with women who want more freedom in their lives. I’m providing mentor-ship, strategic business planning and marketing for women who desire freedom through entrepreneurship. I am doing everything in my power to help you create the life that you wish for and deserve.

If I can help in any way, please reach out by filling out the contact form below.

If you have a story to share about your struggle with autoimmune disease and are interested in connecting, participating in my podcast or helping spread awareness about AI, please fill out the form below.