About

Hi!

I'm Lauren Hefner, a mom, wife, dog owner, nonprofit professional, amateur decorator, traveler, adoption advocate, and closet introvert living in Midlothian, VA. Born and raised in the Washington, DC area, my family and I decided to leave the traffic and high housing prices behind and settle in this Richmond suburb for a quieter and more simplified life.

The love of our life is our son Bennett, born 7/7/14 in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He was adopted in a completely open adoption; we were in the room when he was born. We're close with his biological mother (Bennett and I traveled to visit her and her daughter in June) and our relationship with her is very important to us. Bennett's an amazing, chunky, happy baby and I can't imagine my life without him.

Bennett's sister is Sasha, a rescued pitbull mix that we pulled out of a shelter to avoid her being euthanized. We joke that she tricked us - she has permanently sad eyes that won our hearts. She's incredible with Bennett and the two of them are inseparable. While pitbulls have a bad rap, and it's always important to be careful with ANY dog around a baby, Bennett and Sasha have a relationship even I don't understand.

I work in nonprofit association management for an organization that helps further the impact of women in healthcare worldwide. I work from home, which is a blessing and a curse. I live in conference calls, but I get to wear yoga pants every day, so the trade off is worth it and I get to spend time on hobbies and seeing my son during the day on 'easy' days. I love both what I do and the organization I do it for, which is a blessing. I hold the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential and am an active member, volunteer leader, and speaker for the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).

I love to travel, though time tends to get in the way. I've been to 13 countries (most of which are in the Caribbean) and 37 states (including Alaska). I'm determined to visit or at least drive through all 50 states and travel to all 7 continents in my life. My next out-of-country trip will be to Italy in December 2015.

In my free time (ha!), I tend to binge on hobbies in increments. At any given time my focus might be on photography, distance running, yoga, reading, home decorating, volunteering, obnoxiously dorky video games, and I even used to play the banjo. I'm a firm believer that life is for living, and while my life is pretty 'normal' in many ways, I'm happy. And that's the best anyone can say.