So, a couple weeks ago, this chubby little critter known as Punxsutawney Phil popped out of his cozy little hole and saw his shadow. As we all know, Groundhog Day comes around once per year and, apparently, we depend on Phil, its furry mascot, to tell us whether we will have 6 more weeks of winter or not. Well, as we all know here in Southeast Texas, we haven’t had winter in some weeks, so Mr. Phil is already 0 for 1. But I digress. Going back to this whole shadow thing: if

I have a very special journal that I bought months ago, ready to crack open on January 1st of the new year. I sat down on day one and wrote in all my important appointments, birthdays to remember, special events. And then I got started on my goals. I have a list of personal goals – more date nights with my husband, special activities to do with my girls, fun things to do with my parents, family and friends. I have a list of professional goals – that’s a long list! I have a

So, first of all, Happy New Year to all of my sweet friends! I am so very thankful for another year on this earth together. I hope you had a beautiful holiday surrounded by people you love and love you right back! Now, I know that many of you sat down January 1st (or before) and made your list of resolutions for the new year – lose weight, get your finances in order, grow your career, spend more time with family or friends. Yup, I’ve made them all. I haven’t kept them all,

Summer is officially here – brimming with sweet tea and southern hospitality. It’s been several weeks now since you’ve welcomed me into your blog community, and I appreciate it so much. I love getting to know you and thanks for all your comments - please keep them coming. Our blog is all about connecting and letting you know we’re here for you! So here’s something you may not know about me… I watch way too much HGTV, especially the show “Fixer Upper”, and anything about C

Y’all, I just got back from the most amazing vacation with my mom. We were celebrating her birthday (which was in January) on a wonderful cruise to the Caribbean and WOW! did we have a blast. We saw beautiful places, met some beautiful people (inside and out) and ate some beautiful food. Food…lots of food. Have you SEEN the buffets on these ships? But when I got back, I have felt nothing but cruddy. Sick with a sinus infection (that I started fighting on the trip), lack o

So, I have some of the sweetest, bestest friends in the world. They love and support me like nobody’s business. We love to chat about what’s going on in our lives, with kids, husbands, boyfriends, jobs. We love to encourage each other in the tough times. But I have to say that in the area of keeping each other accountable to tough goals, we definitely fall short. Failure to keep each other accountable happens not because of a lack of love and care. In fact, it is often be

You guys, this election roller coaster we are on is about to throw me for a loop. Up, down, over and under, I sometimes can’t tell which way is up. And every candidate has something HUGE that they want to do that no one else could possibly do that will just solve every problem we have, you know…they are selling a pretty big magic wand! But friends, don’t we do the same thing to ourselves ALL the time? “This diet is going to solve ALL my weight issues.” “You know, I joined t

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about time management that I was pretty proud of. I got some awesome feedback and encouraging words from people that I hold in really high regard. But one note stuck out among the rest that has stayed with me and really made me think about the advice I shared. The comment was something like “that sounds nice, but that just isn’t where I am right now. There is no way with children/life that I could possibly do that.” Ouch. While I definitely

Y’all, I just saw the funniest little “meme” on Facebook today. You know, those little cartoons that say things in a straightforward way that we usually have to skirt around in polite conversation. Well, this one said something along the lines of “My New Year’s resolution was to lose 10 pounds. Only 15 to go!” I laughed at that one because it is so, so true! We set out with the best of intentions, but as the days and weeks and months progress, we end up in a hole deeper

In the winter of 2002, my husband and I had a tiny little daughter and a too-small apartment. We decided that it was about time to start thinking about investing in a house. We talked with family and friends about what areas of town were best, what builders were good to work with, etc. We decided that we would plant our roots in Sugar Land and found a beautiful neighborhood waaaaay out of Houston called Greatwood. We took the opportunity to build in our neighborhood and we