Kristin R.
Kristin is a Lee’s Summit suburb transplant, after living in the Brookside and Plaza areas for over eight years. Raising three young boys with her husband, Jake, has helped her to embrace the messy, wild side of life where love is expressed in bear hugs and body slams.
Professionally, she can be found teaching classes as an adjunct professor in the areas of Business, Marketing and PR. She is able to provide her students with applicable, real-life knowledge as she draws from several years working in the corporate sector.
“Free time” (ha!, what's that again?) is spent on an occasional date night to favorite local restaurants, reading blogs on everything from home design to politics, riding her sweet beach cruiser bike and thinking of ways to convince her husband to do yet another home improvement project.
21 Realistic Resolutions for 2021
After the backyard bonfires have sufficiently burned all of the well-meaning 2020 calendars into a pile of forgotten ashes, it will be time to jot down (only in pencil, mind you) our hopes, dreams...
Creative Ways to Celebrate Thanksgiving 2020
Thanksgiving is going to feel different this year. It has to. Despite an entire world willing 2020 to take a much-needed detour away from Dumpster-fire-ville, she is proving to be relentless. She is forging...
Decision Fatigue Is Real and It Is Weighing Us Down
I sat in front of my computer for two days, trying to figure out how to put my thoughts in to coherent sentences regarding decision fatigue. Alas, here it is, and I can’t decide...
A Letter of Appreciation to Teachers
For months, debates have raged on regarding school re-opening plans. Everyone seems to have an opinion, and a strong one at that.
The implications of the decisions are astonishingly profound. Administrators and school board officials...
Maybe This is the Reality Check We All Needed
It’s been a long six months. What began as fear of the unknown, with a mysterious virus lurking in the air has morphed into a different kind of dread and trepidation. Now, we must...
Pass the Sunny D, It’s Time to Reclaim Our Pandemic Summer
Spring and summer 2020, what an absolute dumpster fire, a complete failure of epic proportions. What is supposed to be a time of rebirth with flowers abloom and milestones to celebrate as communities reemerge...
Just Wear the Mask, Please!
Just wear the mask, please! It’s a simple form of self-preservation and human decency, an act that takes very little time, money, and exertion. And yet I continue to be baffled as to why,...
The Dichotomy of Motherhood is Extremely Bittersweet
The complex, contradictory nature of motherhood is what makes parenting so rewarding, and in the very same breath, painfully bittersweet. As our children grow and mature, we begin to reap the rewards of the...
Slivers of Hope in COVID-19
The world is reeling. Our country is suffering. The daily headline for every news channel recites the most recent death toll in which the pandemic, COVID-19, has captured. We are living in a cocoon...
They Won’t Remember, But We Will
They won’t remember the endless nights spent rocking, consoling a small baby back to sleep. Even though the fatigue was felt through every bone in our bodies, we kept rocking and humming songs. Their...
The Early Mornings are My Version of Self-Care
Self Care. The buzzword heard everywhere from mommy bloggers to doctors, talk show hosts to girlfriends. It is especially popular at the start of a new year with resolutions aplenty meant to bring us...
A Mom’s Guide to Visiting Crown Center’s Ice Terrace
Kansas City is rich in family-friendly attractions, and Crown Center’s Ice Terrace is no exception! A Christmastime tradition for many families, the skating rink is in the heart of the city, and draws locals...
How to Get Kids to Open Up About Their School Day
Ask my seven-year-old son about the latest Dog Man book he’s reading and he will list every semi-inappropriate joke the series has to offer. Inquire about the most recent episode of Transformers Rescue Bots...
Why Are We Still Trying to Keep Up with the Joneses?
The American culture is one in which we are always trying to give the next generation of children a better and more magical life than the generation before experienced. The sentiment is actually quite...
Parents-Only Getaway
A parents-only getaway is a true luxury. My husband and I have been married for ten years, and as of last month had never been able to get away for more than one night...