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Meet Your East Valley Moms Blog Contributors!
Amy Cosentino
Amy and her husband moved to Chandler in 2017. Although they both were born and raised in California (her in Southern, him in Northern), they were easily convinced it was time for a change when they saw the Arizona housing prices. They have not regretted it. There is so much to love about living in the East Valley!
Amy has been married for 4 years, and fun fact, she met her husband when he crashed her best friend’s wedding (true story!). She became a mom in December 2018, and is absolutely obsessed with her daughter. She is a financial analyst, and a fur mama to 2 dogs & 1 cat. Amy loves sharing real-life moments (the ups & the downs) on her Instagram & blog, to encourage women to seek out and savor the beauty in everyday life. She is passionate about motherhood, marriage, faith & coffee.
Ashley Lessard
Ashley is Disney-Obsessed Momma to 2 adorable little ones (Charlotte & John) who are both in their toddler years. She has two fun and lovable rescue pups, and an amazing husband who she first met in second grade. Together they all enjoy hiking and support small local businesses.
In her free time Ashley is a basic mom who, like most, enjoys Target, coffee, and wine! She loves sports- and more specifically the 3 B’s of Chicago (Bears, Bulls & Blackhawks). She also enjoys traveling to Disneyland and eating Pineapple Dole Whip frequently. She loves eating all things sweet, and loves the rain! She is a HUGE fan of watching Disney movies and drinking iced coffee year round. Ashley’s perfect day (besides a day at Disneyland) would be snuggling on the couch watching a Disney movie with a great cup of iced coffee, and the door open to the rain outside!
Caroline Rafert
Caroline is a working mama with one daughter. She and her husband live in Tempe. Caroline works as Implementation Director for a technology company during the week and loves her career. Outside of the office she and her family love to travel and explore new places. Caroline loves to cook, spend quality family time and wishes there were at least 5 more hours in the day. She is an introvert who does her best to pretend to be an extrovert. Some may say that sarcasm and silliness are her love language. You can follow Caroline and her favorite moments on her Instagram.
Chrissy Williams
Chrissy is a mother of two boys and an Arizona transplant; her, her husband, and toddler son moved to Chandler from New Jersey. Chrissy grew up with the hustle and bustle of the city, but is falling in love with suburbia-life in the Valley. She’s a full-time, work-from-home, Registered Dietitian and an ultimate foodie. Her favorite hobbies include checking out local restaurants, hiking the beautiful AZ mountains, cooking/experimenting with new recipes that are both husband and toddler-approved, and documenting it all on her personal blog, Cacti and Kale.
Becoming a mom two years ago has completely changed Chrissy’s life and it recently changed even more with the addition of her second son this May. We all know motherhood can have its challenges, but she is super grateful for the support and love from the EVMB Mama community!
Grandma Ginger
Our resident grandma guest post author, Ginger Fleishans has one ability that few others at EVMB has: she can (correctly) answer most anything on a 60’s slang quiz. Not that she’s studied the 60’s – she lived it: she’s the Grandma. Today’s norms are often a mystery –changes in social behaviors, work protocol, and communication never fail to amaze, especially the wide range of talent displayed by today’s young moms. But one thing hasn’t changed: we all agree that being a mom is one of the toughest jobs ever. And our babies are more precious than gold.
With 33 years of marriage under her belt, Ginger believes that family is one’s strongest touchstone, worth preserving at all costs. Her family calls her a professional volunteer, she is active supporting her church and local school as a newsletter writer, fundraiser and social event planner.
If you want to bribe her, just suggest the Sugar Bowl in Old Town Scottsdale or a glass of pinot grigio.
Kayla Lindholm
Kayla is an Arizona native currently living in Gilbert with her husband of 13 years and their four children. They have a nine year-old daughter, seven year-old son, and three year-old boy/girl twins. She is a self proclaimed Disney fanatic, lover of all things fall, and a Taylor Swift fan. She spends most of her time chasing after her children while discovering all the love, patience and exhaustion that comes with it.
When she’s not running after her active children, you’ll find her at home spending time with her family, planning their next vacation, or taking long trips to Target by herself. Kayla is an advocate of defending all moms no matter what their stance is on feeding, diapering, sleeping etc. She believes we are all just doing the best that we can.
Kelsey Glynn
Kelsey was raised in the East Valley, but has lived in other countries and traveled the world throughout her life. She met her husband in an ASU math class, and they still both regularly attend Sun Devil football games together. They currently reside in a newly built home in South Gilbert, and she loves sharing about her journey building a new home and the decorating process.
On the weekends, she will travel to her family cabin in northern Arizona to cool off from the desert heat or play in the snow. She is a mom to three furbabies and a sassy but sweet toddler, Harper Grace.
She is a Communications Manager for an auto insurance startup and is lucky enough to work from home fulltime, not just during pandemics. She is passionate about all things social media, advocating for working parents, and inclusion and diversity in the workplace.
She enjoys game nights with margaritas and her friends. When she is not working hard, being a mom, or writing blog posts, you can find her volunteering her time as an adviser for her sorority, traveling, walking through the Gilbert Farmer’s Market, or watching reality TV or true crime documentaries (definitely a guilty pleasure).
Follow her on Instagram to catch a glimpse of her working mom’s life.
Kendall Willis
Kendall was born and raised in Gilbert and truly loves everything about the East Valley. She has been married to her incredible husband (also an AZ native) for two and a half years, and has a beautiful one year-old daughter named Sawyer. Together, they enjoy game nights with family and friends as well as exploring new restaurants and activities around the valley.
Kendall is an elementary school teacher and avid coffee lover. When she isn’t grading papers or changing diapers, Kendall can be found with an iced coffee in hand wandering some of her favorites spots like Target, Hobby Lobby or Gilbert’s own, Made With Love Market. Some of her favorite nights are those spent relaxing at home with a glass of Pinot Grigio and binge-watching Bravo reality shows.
Kim Nothdurft
Kim is an Arizona Native who grew up in Mesa, AZ, and slowly migrated south over the years. She now lives in South Gilbert with her husband, Andrew an EMS worker, of 18 years, and their 5 children. She could never live anywhere but Arizona, who else gifts us these sunsets? Kim and her family love to spend time together in Greer, in the white mountains.
Kim’s oldest daughter, LilyAnna (17), suffers from a rare genetic disorder called CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder that causes her to be epileptic, nonverbal, and dependent on her family and caregivers for everything. Kim has been involved in the special needs community here in Arizona and loves being a supporter of newly diagnosed families with CDKL5 and helping other families on their special needs journey no matter their diagnosis.
Additionally, Kim is Mom to Andi Jane (15) who stands over 6’ tall, she loves volleyball, Tic Tok and Dutch Bros. Oliver (11) a skater boy who is navigating the middle school years. Then there are the “Irish twins” Alfonso (4) and Isabella (3) who literally can’t stop, won’t stop.
Kim works from home trying to juggle it all. More accurately she’s just dropping a lot of balls and laughing about it and posting it to her Instagram stories.
Kira Henning
Kira is a busy, proud mama of three chicks and a little dude to be (coming July 2020) and wife to her high school sweetheart. Having moved from Chicago a few years ago, she still finds herself in the “honeymoon phase” of living in the East Valley and her family enjoys exploring all that this community has to offer.
As a full-time working mom (project manager by day and yoga instructor by night), Kira is always seeking balance through fitness, food, and good times with family and friends. When she isn’t working you can probably find her at CrossFit, Target, or in the kitchen. Loves include Starbucks, cooking (almost as much as eating), and dance parties with her girls.
Kristen Anstey
Kristen is a midwest-minded mom who moved from Nebraska to Arizona in 2010.
She met her husband, Alex, in high school and after finishing college they made the move to the desert to start new roots in Mesa. Formerly an elementary teacher, she is new to the role of stay at home mom and still trying to adjust to the changes and new levels of exhaustion that have come along with it.
Growing up in a small town is a big part of why she loves the East Valley. Finding humor in motherhood keeps her life sane in the day to day with her sassy, but oh so sweet toddler Amelia and blue eyed, baby boy Cohen.
Trying her best to embrace the chaos of life with little ones, she loves a good home DIY project, date nights, and traveling with her family. She is a latte drinking, toddler chasing mom who loves to surround herself with other moms who dislike laundry, decaf coffee, and changing diapers as much as she does.
Follow Kristen on Instagram to keep up with this East Valley mom.
Kristina Louise
Kristina Louise is feisty firecracker born in Texas and raised here in Arizona. She has lived everywhere from the Phoenix valley to a small rural town in northern Arizona, where she graduated with a small class of only 42 other students! Now Kristina lives on the outskirts of Mesa where she loves to take advantage of and escape to the nearby natural beauty of the Salt River and nearby lakes.
Kristina is a single mom to one precious 12 year-old daughter and a beautiful ginger Pit Bull named Leia. When Kristina isn’t busy being a full-time mother she is engaged with her meditation practice, yoga, energy healing studies, and striving everyday to be her best self. Kristina is passionate bringing beneficial self-healing practices and mind-set changing focus into the loves of other women.
She believes that within every one of us a beautiful soul just waiting to manifest its most fantastic dream and her calling is to assist women with transforming their lives to align with their own vision.
As a lover of food and sweets (especially cupcakes!), Kristina can be found visiting many local bakeries and restaurants around town in her free time.
Lindsay Olivarez
Lindsay grew up in a small suburb of Chicago and moved to the Valley just before the first day of high school. While she always assumed she’d move back to Illinois, she fell in love with Arizona (and a boy) and put down roots in the East Valley. Both Lindsay and her husband of 14 years are Double Devils, baseball fans, and proud parents to two gorgeous and kind-hearted daughters, Ellary and Emerson, and two wacky and adorable golden doodles, Ruby and Brother (so-named because he’s the only brother the two human girls are getting).
Lindsay practiced law for 10 years before recently “retiring” to be a stay at home mom, or “Life Warrior” as her husband puts it. So far, so good. After trading in her pant suits for yoga pants (most days), Lindsay is usually found at a kids’ gymnastics or swim practice, at an ASU baseball game, or at Target. Obviously. On her fancy days, Lindsay is an active board member of the Association for Supportive Child Care and the Barrett Inn of Court.
Writing for fun has always been a passion and Lindsay hopes to make EVMB readers laugh all the laughs and feel all the feels about mommyhood as she knows it.
Megan Lankford
Megan is originally from North Florida but has called the East Valley her home since 2009. She has been married to the love of her life, Matt, for almost 8 years and they have one toddler, Jacob, who is almost 2. Megan works full-time as the accountant at a large church in Chandler. She serves on the Steering Committee for a local MOPS group and leads a small group Bible study at her house. Lover of football naps, her mother’s Italian cooking, and laughing her butt off with her amazing husband, most days you can simply find Megan trying to make up this whole Mom thing as she goes along, leaning on the wisdom and encouragement of her amazing tribe.
Nicole White
Nicole is a born-and-raised Arizonan living in Gilbert. She’s been married to her high school sweetheart, Lance, for 12 years and is a proud mama to two sweet babes: Archer (5) and Ayla (3).
Nicole has a deep love for reading novels, eating pizza & ice cream, traveling the world, epic cheese boards, and exploring the outdoors. She embraces the chaos that motherhood brings to life and believes that adventure is how the best memories are made. After the kids are in bed you’ll likely find her reading her latest book club pick with a cup of tea or browsing Pinterest to plan where in the world their next family trip will be.
Nicole has always enjoyed being in the kitchen and everything about food – she loves to get people excited about making homemade food from scratch. You can catch her on Instagram sharing lots of what she’s cooking at home, as well as snippets of her life as a mom.
