Texas Lou

Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

Good morning! I have been so blessed to get to “live” in Texas for 5 weeks the last 2 summers allowing me to spend time with family that I don’t get to see very often. My time in Texas is coming to a close and that always makes me really sad (picture me kicking and screaming all the way back to Virginia in the minivan like a kid). I know that sadness can be combatted to some degree by practicing gratitude so here we go!

1. I am beyond grateful for this amazing family I’ve been born into! Not only am I lucky to have them, I’m also lucky to be part of a crew that makes so much effort to keep our bonds strong!
2. I am grateful for my mom. She’s amazing, she’s confident, she takes care of us all. I hope I can be half the woman she is one day. She has opened up her home, her time, her love, and her support to us. We basically come in and take over her house as this loud, chaotic family of 5 and she is always happy to have us.
3. I am thankful for an amazing vacation at our happy place with my family. We beached, we swam, we ate amazing home cooked food, we drank, we watched the Corpus Christi Hooks play and indulged in dollar hot dogs at Whataburger Stadium. We sang and danced and played cards. We shared our ups and downs and commiserated with and supported one another in our difficulties. I couldn’t have asked for a better vacation, in a better place, with better people.
4. I’m thankful for my best friend back home. She is an amazing person and is 1 thing that has me looking forward to being back in Virginia. I’m also thankful that she knows me so well and knows that I’ll be sad leaving my family and Texas and has been planning fun stuff for us in addition to checking on our house and pets.
5. I’m thankful that several close family members who have had surgeries recently are ok and healing well.

I hope you all are able to find a bit of gratitude in your day today!

Hello and happy New Year! It’s been a while, but I’ve had a resurgence in my gratitude practices, so I want to keep writing here as well!

1. I am thankful for another new year and a fresh start! This year, I am trying to have more self-compassion, go easier on myself, and forgive and let go of some of the hard things I’ve faced since March of 2020. Luckily, I’ve learned a lot about myself and others, but I’ve also carried too much pain and think I’m finally coming to realize that letting go and forgiving is much easier than holding on to the hurt. I am grateful for this realization!
2. I am thankful we are all starting to feel better after both the flu and strep welcomed us into 2024! I’m also thankful for access to medication and doctors!
3. I am grateful for an amazing Christmas spent with my mom, sister, brother, and our families! This was the first time we’ve been together for the holiday in 5 years and we’ve had 4 new family members since then!
4. I am so grateful for my little boys who teach me to be a better and more patient person every day!
5. I am thankful for my amazing mom who always welcomes us into her home for as long as we want!

Wishing you all a happy and grateful New Year!

I have so much to be thankful for this week!

1. I am grateful for a fun weekend with my kiddos! We spent Saturday at the Fluvanna County Fair and Rodeo. It was my kids’ first fair and rodeo and we had a blast seeing old friends and new friends, riding rides, making bird feeders, playing in a corn pit, playing on bouncy houses, learning about lady bugs, watching professional axe throwers and log rollers, playing on big construction vehicles, watching cowboys, bull riders, and mutton busting, and enjoying each other!
2. I am thankful for beautiful weather and a fun day swimming at the river with our best friends!
3. I am so very grateful it is the first day of school and we are all getting back into a routine. We had an amazing summer and now we are ready to get back into it!
4. I am thankful for my best friend Lindsey and that she always plans fun things for us including a sunrise hike last weekend and a fun family day at the river.
5. I am thankful my kiddo is feeling better after a short virus and that he was recovered in time to go to school on the first day.

Happy day friends!

Wow, am I grateful!

1. I am grateful for the opportunity to “live” in Texas for 5 weeks this summer! What an amazing summer it was!
2. I am thankful that my children got the chance to spend so much time with extended family getting to make memories and form bonds with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
3. I am grateful for all of the time I got to spend with some of my favorite and most important people making memories and catching up.
4. I am grateful for all of the fun things we did and experiencing all the firsts with my kiddos! Pool parties, cookouts, the most amazing 4th of July fireworks show, Six Flags and riding roller coasters with my kiddos for the first time, painting with my mom and the kids, road trips, baby showers, multiple aquarium visits with a spectacular dolphin show, date nights, a girls weekend, baby cuddles and meeting new precious babies in the family, hugs from my aunts, uncles, and cousins, Tex-Mex, happy hours with my mom, eating the most delicious homemade meals made by my mom (but not gaining the 10 pounds I gained 🙂 ), Lego Discovery Land, trips to the neighborhood water pack, a visit with cousins to Hawaiian Falls, beach days, eating freshly caught-fish, and so many more!
5. I am grateful for this most special and unique and loving family that I was born into where everyone values each other and makes the effort to stay close! And I am grateful that I have the opportunity to share this family and our values with my kids!

Hi friends! I am so grateful lately! Let me tell you why!

1. I am grateful for getting to spend tons of time with family over the past few days! We’ve had pool parties, 4th of July cookouts and firework celebrations, a Cousins’ Night dinner, and a girl’s weekend at the lake! I LOVE my family and am so thankful for the opportunity to spend so much time with them this month!
2. I am thankful that my mom always welcomes us with open arms and makes us feel 100% comfortable and at home despite the fact that my 3 little boys might accurately be compared to wild animals at times!
3. I’m thankful for the chance to be somewhere with clearner air. The air quality in Virginia has not been great due to the Canadian wildfires so I’m glad our lungs are getting a bit of a break.
4. I’m thankful for Buc-ee’s and that you can find tham outside of Texas now! Best place to stop on a roadtrip EVER!
5. I’m grateful for fun times this summer!

Have a great one!

Happy New Year friends! I’m starting out 2023 with lots of gratitude.

1. I am beyond grateful for a wonderful birthday, Christmas, and New Year spent with my family and my mom. She was here for 2 weeks and we had such an amazing time. I am so grateful I got to spend so much time with my best friend and that my kiddos got to spend time with their grandmother who is such a positive influence.
2. I am thankful we all stayed healthy over the holidays and during our travels for Thanksgiving. Trying not to worry too much about all of the bugs going around was difficult but I am grateful none of us were sick beyond a minor cold.
3. I am thankful for the ability to take plenty of time off from work over the holidays to spend with my family.
4. I am thankful for a new year and a fresh start!
5. I am grateful for a determined growth mindset and the ability to keep learning and improving myself.

Wishing you all a happy 2023!

Good morning and happy Monday! I’ve got a lot to be grateful for today!

1. I am grateful that we got to spend 25 days in Texas with family! I am extra grateful to my mom for hosting us and helping watch the boys while we worked. It felt almost like we lived in Texas and we got to see so many family and friends and help my sister celebrate a baby shower for her second baby.
2. I am so thankful that school is starting this week and that my kiddos will be back in a routine. I am also thankful for what feels like it may be a more normal school year after almost 2 and a half years of chaos and confusion.
3. I am thankful for my best friend and all of her love, support, confidence, and humor. She sets an amazing example for me of what a great friend, sister, daughter, mother, and wife is.
4. I am thankful for my uncles and the fact that my mom lives so close to them. I know their parents, my grandparents, are so proud looking down on them at the relationships that have and have built.
5. I am grateful for learning. I have learned so much over the past 3 years and know I am a better person because of it.

Wishing you a happy and grateful day!

Happy New Year friends! One of my new years resolutions is to practice gratitude more often. I had seen benefits from this over the past few years but have gotten away from it recently and I want to experience the benefits of it again. Here’s what I’m grateful for today:

1. I’m grateful for electricity. We went several days without power due to a winter storm and I am so thankful to all the linemen and the power company for restoring it!
2. I’m thankful for good customer experience from the airlines. Our flight home from Texas was canceled twice and despite the headache of it all, the customer service reps and all of the airline employees I worked with were so helpful and empathetic.
3. I’m grateful for a great life coach, my mom, who never tires of my endless requests for advice and help with life’s various struggles.
4. I’m thankful for the opportunity for my son to play basketball. I can see the improvement in his confidence and it has been so fun to get back into one of my favorite sports as I watch him play.
5. I’m grateful for all of the hospitality and help my family showed us while we were in Texas. Plenty of family members welcomed us into their homes and provided us with meals and places to sleep when we hadn’t planned on staying so long!

I’m wishing everyone a great 2022!

Happy New Year Friends! I really have so much to be thankful for lately!

1. I am sooooo very thankful that we got to spend a long 2 weeks with my mom and extended family for Christmas! We had the most wonderful time and I’ll always remember this trip!
2. I’m grateful that some of my family members who were very sick in the hospital with Covid are all home now and seem to be doing better.
3. I’m grateful for a safe trip to and from Texas. We drove for the first time and I’m glad we made it safely without any incidents. I’m also thankful for my husband who quickly and gracefully handled the minor car trouble we had on the way home as well as for the Honda service center, especially their employee, Carlos, who were able to quickly get our car checked out and ensure it was safe to continue driving (all with a fun kids waiting area too)!
4. I’m thankful for my boys’ school and that they are able to continue to attend in person and learn with their friends and teachers.
5. I’m thankful for the vaccines for Covid that are now becoming available and for all the people who have put their hard work, time, and expertise into developing and testing them.
6. I’m grateful that Ben, the boys, and I already had Covid and recovered without any issues. It is because of that, that we have been able to have some sense of normal back in our lives including getting to visit my family and meet my new nephew, traveling for Christmas and getting to see family we have missed so much, and having less interruptions or worry when it comes to school and protentional exposures.
7. I am thankful for hope for the future. I am very hopeful that this spring and summer, most of us can hopefully try to get back to somewhat of a normal life.
8. I’m grateful for my husband for agreeing to drive to Texas with 3 young children with me. He surely knows the way to my heart.
9. I’m thankful for my best friend Lindsey who checked on our house and kitties while we were gone and has never judged me or been scared to be around me throughout the Covid crisis. I may not have made it through the past few months as gracefully without her!
10. Lastly, I am grateful for life and love. I love life and I love all the people in my life whether I see them every day or once a year. I’m so blessed to know so many wonderful and kind people.

Sending wishes of love, happiness, and health to you all!

Hi friends! Boy do I have a lot to be thankful for!

1. I am so grateful we were all able to stay healthy so we could travel to Texas and spend time with my family this weekend.
2. I’m thankful I got to meet my niece and celebrate my sister and her husband’s gender reveal!
3. I’m thankful my sister and her husband provided us with a nice and comfortable place to stay.
4. I’m grateful for an amazing family who all make the effort to come together when we are in town, especially my mom who drove 5 hours to see us.
5. I’m grateful for my dad for buying our tickets with his miles so we could afford the trip.
6. I’m thankful for the most amazing weekend and that my boys could spend time and bond with my family.

Have a happy day!