Aunt Julie came to visit us this week and brought along her adorable new Lucy Lou!  How sweet and tiny is this little dog?!!  She hopped around our yard with the biggest personality– and laid claim to nearly every toy in the house.   Our girls Ave & Amelia absolutely loved this little pup.  Needless to say they’ve been asking about her ever since.  “When is Aunt Julie coming back?  Can Lucy sleep in my bed next time?!  When can we have one?”  The questions are non-stop about this dog!

The only person in the house that wasn’t wild for Lucy was Aiden.  He wanted nothing to do with her.  Perhaps it was because she kept tugging on his pants, nibbling on his toes (it hurts!) and chasing him from room to room.  He was not amused and chose instead to push her aside.  I think it was the first time that he was not being squeezed to bits by his big sisters…. or maybe he’s just a cat person.  Who knows!??  He looked really cute with his baseball though!  Love ya Julie… come back to play soon!

This is a special shout out to our gal Kimmy on her birthday!  Happy Birthday Kimmy!  We HEART you!  Let us know when you come into town so we can all get together to celebrate!  Have a wonderful birthday!

My best friend/sorority sister/MOH/bestest-roomie-ever (sorry Greg!)  Julie has been wanting a puppy for what seems like years now!  She has searched and searched and searched, but poor Julie just could not find the right fit, or the right breed… she has not been able to make up her mind and pick the pooch.  Well, as fate would have it, yesterday Julie went to a puppy store in South Florida and her eyes fell upon the cutest and most adorable Maltese puppy.  Now get this– not only was the puppy born on Julie’s birthday- February 10th–  but her documents listed Julianne as the puppy’s mother.  So either the puppy store had Julie tagged before she walked through the door– or someone is sending Julie every sign in the book that this was her dog!  It wasn’t a whim!

Last night, when I received this image from Julie’s cell phone, my heart stopped!!!… and I fell in love with this little dog.  And I’m a cat person!  Gosh, now I want a sweet little white maltese…  Uh oh Greg!!  Congrats on the new addition to the family Julie!  We love you!!

Last Saturday, my cousin Steven and his beautiful wife Rachel welcomed twin girls– Kyleigh & Mallory.  They both weighed in at 6lbs 3oz and are absolutely perfect!  We are so excited to watch them grow!  Congratulations to the entire Brown Family!

Here is a first image of Kyleigh sucking her thumb and Mallory joining in for the action.  We love you already!

It been too many weeks since I’ve sat down to write something new on our beautiful blog– the holidays always seem to take up such a large chunk of my time, that the part of my day typically reserved for reflection has found itself working in other areas of my life.  But alas friends and bloggers, my mind and my typing fingers have made it back and I’m excited to bring you images that I should have sent out weeks ago with the Christmas cards– our beautiful girls and darling little Santa.

Happy Holidays!  XOXOX- The Heck Family

A special thanks to Kathleen Pruett for photographing our beautiful family year after year.  We appreciate all that you do!

I joined Hot House Yoga about 4 weeks ago, after a very close friend said I should come try the class with her.  I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into.  Of course I’ve taken dance, pilates and exercise classes in my past, but I have never placed a single toe into a “Yoga studio.”

Driving up to their doors, I had zero expectations for the class.  The only figure that I kept envisioning in my head was the Material Girl Madonna, believe it or not.  I was hopeful that I wouldn’t have to wear any kind of red bracelets or open a book on Kabalah during class.  Yoga?!  “Ok,” I thought.  “I’m going to be open to this experience entirely.”  I have to admit that I was very intimidated.  I wasn’t sure what might be next.  Who would I meet?  What strange position would I have to contort myself into? Would I fall on my face?  Just what the HECK was I getting myself into?  (sigh!)

Hot House Yoga was such a unique first experience, just walking into the building made me feel like I was stepping foot upon “sacred ground.” Every sense in my body was alert– and my mind racing that wondered if I was seriously going to embarass myself.  I’m rarely a new comer… so this was an exciting and completely new moment for me.  Grab a mat, a towel– and then you are there.   The experience of walking into a room with a temperature set at 95 degrees for 90 minutes is hard to imagine until you enter.   It’s incredible– it’s as though the entire room has swallowed you whole… and the walls have slightly wrapped themselves around you.  As much as you would like to escape (the panic sets in), you know that you can fight through the ackwardness and uncomfortableness of the sauna like conditions.  The only thing that you can do is…. BREATHE!  You can make it through.

The people who take this class are such a diverse group.  Women, Men, the young, the old, the tall, the short, the fat, and the thin — the yin and yang cross section of this city.  There are some classmates whose skill level, balance and strength is so inspiring… and I find myself challenged by their presence alone.  Before too long, I realize that the skill, balance and strength is within me too.  After 90 minutes of intense training, soulful meditation, and lots of sweat– you leave class ready for the incredible day ahead.  It’s a difficult but rewarding way to start any day.  I can’t believe how much I enjoyed it.

If you haven’t been to this type of Yoga before, I highly recommend this class and the teachers.  Hot House is starting a 40 day challenge on November 17th that I am seriously considering taking.  I’m not sure whats holding me back.  I realize that the experience of doing this every day for 40 days is a tough prospect– but I’m always up for a good challenge.

If anyone is interested in taking a yoga class with me… I invite you to come share a day. You won’t forget it. -Corrine

Ok, ok, ok… so I know, I’m a terrible blogger.  It seems just when I sit down to get all this blog stuff together– something comes up and I put it off.  Well, I am promising to fix that today and should have nearly all of my blogs finished and caught up.  Keep checking in… I promise to have it all up sooooooon!

Greg and I took a break from our 3 darling kids and had Date night!  Yeah!  First, we hit up Ronin Sushi on International Speedway Boulevard for some amazing Sushi and Saki.  If you haven’t been– it’s a definite must taste and see!  We frequent this restaurant more than we will admit– but it’s our favorite place for sushi locally.  If you go, we recommend the Ronin Roll & Wazzabi Roll.  For sushi & sake lovers– it’s always delicious and well worth the visit!

After an amazing meal, we headed to Chapel in the Garden to attend the monthly Bliss Affair.  What an event!  It was a great time to catch up with other local business owners, residents and everyday party-goers.  We attempted to win some prizes in the raffle, but as usual, left empty-handed!  Even though we walked away with nothing,  it was still a great time.  We will definitely check out some other affairs by the Bliss Girls.  If you haven’t checked out the My Bliss Magazine, pick one up!  We’ve been advertising for about 6 months now– and it’s a great resource to notice some of the wonderful local businesses in the Greater Daytona Area.  This month’s cover looks like this: