Welcome to
Our Adventures!
Hearts & Beaches empowers individuals living with inflammatory conditions to explore the world and life’s daily journeys across health, travel, food, finance, and lifestyle.
We’re on a mission to share tried‑and‑true tips, honest reviews, and heartfelt stories that help you navigate autoimmune and chronic illness challenges without missing out on life.
What We Cover
Our family maps accessible destinations for families, reviews gear designed for
autoimmune warriors, and shares our tips and best practices for reducing inflammation and managing flares.
Our goal is to educate and inspire other families to live life to the fullest, even with chronic inflammatory conditions.
Meet Our Family
Hillary
My name is Hillary, and I love to travel, take pictures, and share my experiences.
My favorite memories are family vacations with the kids. From Hawai'i to Disney World to Australia, we have had some major memory-making experiences. We even flew to Australia with an 18-month old! When we're not vacationing, I love making photo memory books with all of the amazing pictures we captured.
I work in customer experience and marketing, where I am passionate about making people's interactions with companies easier and happier than they were before. It's my happy place because it's the meeting point of artsy design, emerging technology, and human psychology. This all carries over to my personal time passions of photography, design, and childhood education.
I also happen to have many chronic conditions and also food allergies and intolerances, making life an even bigger adventure. The major food restrictions I've learned for myself over time are gluten, dairy, beef, pork, and a few more. I'll be blogging about how we came to learn each of these and how our food journey has evolved. I would define myself as a foodie in spite of these restrictions. I love high quality food and appreciate how much goes into making a sumptuous meal within the guardrails of food restrictions.
Steve
The child I want to grow up with...that was part of my wedding vows. Sometimes I swear he is fourteen years old. He loves legos, Star Wars, and video games. He is the youthful spirit that helps keep me from being far too practical. Because of him we have more spontaneity and laughter in our home. I love all of that about him.
By education, Steve is a would‑be counselor, with a Master’s in Psychology. Timing is a funny thing though: just as he wrapped up grad school, our next baby arrived.
At first the plan was for him to stay home until she started kindergarten. Then we had our youngest. And once they both started showing their little personalities (and food reactions), we quickly figured out these girls are going to need to be homeschooled. So, now Steve is an awesome stay-at-home-dad and homeschool teacher, all while making sure the girls get their daily dose of laughter.
He’s also our family’s medical quarterback. Steve reads research papers and medical journals on autoimmune conditions and food sensitivities, keeping meticulous notes and translating the latest findings. From asking the tough questions at doctor appointments to flagging promising lifestyle changes and meal strategies, his analytical training keeps us one step ahead on our health journeys.
When he’s not juggling homeschool lesson plans or reading medical insights, he’s geeking out over the latest PC accessories and tech toys, and he can’t wait to share his honest reviews with you.
David
Our oldest (and adult!) child is currently living in Texas after recently graduating from college. He's spending some time with friends and family and figuring out what he wants to do when he grows up. If he figures that out in his 20s, he'll be about 20 years ahead of me!
Though he can’t join us on every trip, David is a huge part of ours and the girls' lives, so he'll likely come up often in stories here. You’ll definitely hear more about him in his cameo appearances!
M.
Give her a children’s museum, and she’ll teach you more than you ever expected.
She enjoys learning about all things, but especially science! I never realized how much a child could absorb until having a child in this digital age. She has access to so much more knowledge at her age than David did. She also really enjoys going to see new places, especially kids museums.
C.
Our pint‑size Picasso. Since she was two, she could tell you all about the color wheel and would “paint” you an entire gallery in invisible ink on the walls, complete with a narrated walkthrough.
It has amazed me how early she has begun to gravitate to art and design. This girl loves art tools and toys that let her explore lots of designs and colors.
We can’t wait to share our tips and trips with you!
Together, we’re proof that with a little planning and a lot of curiosity, chronic conditions don’t have to limit you… they just make the journey more interesting.
