Home + Design

Healthy Living Starts in the Home

How Highmark Builders is designing spaces that inspire fitness, wellness, and an active lifestyle Article by Kendra Johnson | Photography by Landmark Photography As we jump into the new year, many of us will also be jumping into New Year’s resolutions. And while living a healthier lifestyle is a resolution many of us make every year, 2025 could be the year we finally accomplish it with the help of Highmark Builders. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, office space was a must in the home. That...

Style + Beauty

Revamp Your Wardrobe

Building a happier, healthier wardrobe with Nice Shirt Co. Article by Emily McKeever It’s January, and everything feels a little new (and cold) except for your wardrobe. As you pour new life into your overall wellness, how about doing the same for your closet, you know the one, with the same t-shirt in every color? After all the holiday indulgences, you’re not the only winter couch potato who could benefit from some soft new duds, unique color combinations, and a ton of versatility. As you...

Health + Wellness

What’s New in Waconia

Challenge yourself to a healthy New Year Article by Emily McKeever It’s 2025. You did it! Look at you go! As you celebrate this shiny New Year, don’t forget to give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back for all the ways you’ve grown and what you’ve accomplished in 2024. Yes, you had fun, but you also worked hard… and it shows. It’s time to start fresh and gear up for another trip around the sun, and that can mean different things for different people. January is often referred to as...

Life + Culture

Life Minded

Watch Out 2025! Article by Jen Fortner Happy 2025!  Cheers to fresh starts and new things in a New Year. In 2025, though, instead of adding to my soul-crushing to-do list, I’ve decided to be controversial and get rid of something this year. Something big.  I broke up with my smartwatch. We are done. And I don’t think we are ever, ever, ever getting back together. I have always been a watch person. Even in high school, I loved a good watch. I had a Fossil watch with a pretty mother-of-pearl...

Health + Wellness

Stay In, Work Out

At-home winter workouts made easy with tips from a pro Article by Emily McKeever What if we told you that you could burn off a little fruitcake and a whole lot of eggnog while staying perfectly cozy at home? Winter in Minnesota definitely presents challenges for staying active. What will work for you? What do you need? Your feet go where? As the holiday hangover commences, we thought it was time for some inspiration, a little nudge to help keep that heart pumping when all it really wants to...

Finance + Legal Services

New Year, New Budget

Master Your Finances in 2025 Article by Lutie Ronglien Did you spend too much over the holidays? Did the kids’ gift lists get a bit carried away? Ready for a fresh financial start?  Martin Cole, Certified Financial Planner with Thrivent Financial in downtown Waconia, has some tips for those of us who may have some buyer’s remorse after the holidays.  “If you overspent over the holidays, it’s important to pay off high-interest credit card debt as soon as possible,” Martin says. “Interest...

Life + Culture

Your 2024 Holiday Gift Guide

Perfect picks for everyone on your list Article by Emily McKeever Do away with all of the holiday, “I wonder if she’ll like it,” “Do you think it’ll fit,” and “I hope he doesn’t have one of these already!” These uncertainties will be obsolete when you put our local 2024 Gift Guide to use. Has the main man in your life been naughty or nice? He’ll be made well aware of his status when you choose one of these unique options. And that standing, if it’s not obvious by now? Santa’s numero uno. For...

Health + Wellness

OBGYN West

Compassionate Health Care for Women of Every Size Article by David Scheller Judgment. Patronization. Knowing that their very real symptoms might be dismissed entirely. Concerns like these deter countless clinically obese women from seeing the doctor. It’s one of many reasons why they are at higher risk of abnormal bleeding, infertility, incontinence, liver disease, sleep apnea, and a host of other medical conditions. Matthew T. Bigos, MD is determined to retire this terrible reality for good...

Life + Culture

What’s New in Waconia

The new Waconia Fire Station is open for service Article by Emily McKeever | Photography by Waconia City Government & Waconia Fire Relief Association As you drive down 10th Street these days, you might notice a significant something new. A space that once occupied an open field and an old farmhouse is now home to the new Waconia Fire Station, a grand (29,000 square feet to be exact), state-of-the-art, fittingly fire-engine-red headquarters for those we hold in high esteem and endless gratitude...

Life + Culture

Life Minded

Holiday Super Shooter Article by Jen Fortner For years, I had a very gruff man from the local appliance store come to our home to fix things. He made many trips. He expertly diagnosed and repaired everything but was also quite vocal about my dumb choices. He often asked the same rhetorical question, “Tell me the last time you set this washer to wash clothes at two in the morning. I’ll tell you, never.” He felt I purchased appliances with “too many bells and whistles” and, therefore, more...