Texas Lou

Archive for the ‘New Year’ Category

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!

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!

Happy New Year friends!  So far 2019 is off to a great start for me!  I’m learning, reading, moving, and improving!  Here are a few things I’m thankful for today:

1. I’m so so so grateful for a wonderful long vacation in Dallas visiting my mom and extended family!  We had such a wonderful time celebrating Christmas and seeing everyone and I’m grateful my mom has plenty of room for the whole family to stay when we all visit.
2. I’m grateful for easy traveling, on-time flights, and safe travels over Christmas.  Our biggest travel woe was a screaming toddler on an airplane which is to be expected and I’m so thankful we didn’t have to deal with any delays or cancellations.
3. I’m grateful my mom, sister, brother, and I and all of our spouses and kids could be together for Christmas for the first time in 3 years.  We are rarely all together in one place so it was a blessing that we were all able to come together for a couple of days to celebrate Christmas.
4. I’m thankful for my husband who puts up with my incessant requests to travel to Texas.  I know traveling with young children can be grueling and I’m so grateful he understands how important it is to me to spend time with my family despite them living far away.
5. I’m grateful for a fresh start.  I love new beginnings and the new year certainly seems to be the ultimate new beginning.  I am really taking the bull by the horns in 2019 and trying to be a better person in all aspects of my life!

Wishing you all a happy and grateful 2019!

Happy New Year Friends!

I’m wishing everyone peace, prosperity, health, and happiness in 2017!  Here’s what I’m grateful for today:

1. I’m grateful for an amazing Christmas holiday celebrated in Texas surrounded by so much family!  I’m so thankful that we were able to travel and spend time with so many of the people that mean the most to me!  I hope you had a great Christmas too!
2. I’m thankful that I work for a great company with an awesome employee discount benefit!  Our 10 year old TV finally kicked the bucket last night and I was able to save almost $500 on a new TV with my employee discount.  Thanks Crutchfield!
3. I’m grateful for my mom.  She always does her best to make sure that her family has a great Christmas.  She outdid herself this year by providing a big and beautiful festive home for us all to convene for the holidays and by cooking some amazing holiday meals!  Thank you Mom!
4. I’m grateful for my husband who spent his first Christmas away from his parents so that we could spend the holiday in Texas (my first time in 5 years!).  I know it wasn’t easy for him or his family to be apart on Christmas so I want to say a special thanks to them all for being cool with it.
5. I’m grateful for a fresh start and the new year.  There are exciting things coming for my family this year and one of my goals is to try and remain grateful with a positive attitude and to also raise my boys with that same mindset.

Happy 2017!  Love you all!

Hi friends!

It’s a new year and with a new year, comes the inevitable new years resolutions.  And one of my many resolutions is to practice being grateful more often which includes *attempting* to keep up with my weekly “Thankful Monday (or whatever day it happens to be)” posts.  So here’s my first thankful post of 2016:

1. I’m so grateful for modern medicine!  I hurt my back badly the other day due to a combination of overzealous New Year’s Day workout, slipping and falling at the park, and constant lifting and carrying of a combined 55 pounds of toddler boys.  While I am most certainly not grateful for the injury, I am so thankful for my doctor, my doctor’s office’s ability to get me seen very quickly, steroid/numbing shots, and medication.  Here’s hoping I can be grateful for a quick recovery next week! 😉
2. I’m grateful that thus far, my boys have not caught the stomach virus that Ben and I endured over the holidays.  I’m hoping they both stay healthy!
3. I’m thankful for my family, who spent lots of time and money to travel to Virginia to be with us for my birthday and Christmas.  We had a blast together despite above mentioned stomach virus.
4. I’m thankful for our secure jobs and enough income to not only give our boys a good life but also a very nice Christmas filled with more toys than they could play with in a day.  I’m also thankful for these gifts, the bulk of which came from family.  The boys are blessed as are we!
5. I’m thankful for the opportunity for a fresh start.  Every new year brings with it the chance to reflect on the past and try to improve upon our mistakes and misgivings.  Here’s hoping 2016 will be an amazing and grateful year for us all!

Wishing you all a wonderful year ahead!

It’s been a little over a year now since I wrote my first Thankful Monday post.  This originally started out as an experiment so I could see if practicing gratefulness would help make me a happier person.  I think I can say that after a year, practicing gratefulness at least once a week has without a doubt helped me to be a happier and more positive person.  As a result of this conclusion, I think I will continue to write my Thankful Monday blog posts indefinitely.  So without further delay, here is the first Thankful Monday post of 2014:

1. I’m thankful for a fun craft night on Friday evening with Amy and Sarah.  It was Sarah’s birthday, so we celebrated her day and I made her this flourless nutella cake.  I had so much fun just chatting with the girls, watching them make scarves, learning about different sewing techniques, and creating an ornament from the trunk of our first Christmas tree.
   
   I always cherish these fun and creative times with friends.
2. I’m thankful for a nice long phone date with my cousin and best friend Megan!  Whenever we have phone dates, we end up chatting for hours.  It’s always so much fun to catch-up and talk to the people I love!
3. I’m thankful for a very generous gift from my boss.  She was about to donate some belongings to Goodwill when she found out that I would be needing them soon so she gave them to me!  I’m so grateful to be surrounded by generous and helpful people!
4. I always say it, but I don’t think it is ever enough – I am so thankful for my husband Ben!  He is always helping me and taking care of me!  This weekend, he stacked wood and continuously made sure the fire in our wood stove was burning to keep us warm (he even taught me how to operate it).  He also did several things on my honey-do list including but not limited to changing all of the burnt out light bulbs in the house and helping me fold a tablecloth.  I love him so much and still can’t believe how lucky I am to have found him.
5. I’m thankful for my days off.  Though I work in retail and don’t get as many days off during the holidays as I’d like, I am very thankful for the ones I do get.  Last Wednesday was a nice day off spent celebrating the New Year.

Have a great week and happy New Year!

Good morning and happy Thankful Monday!

Since tomorrow marks the end of the 2013 and Wednesday marks the beginning of 2014, I thought I do a special 2o13 Recap of the things I am thankful for this year!

I’m thankful for a very productive year.  At the end of 2012 and when I turned 30 a week before 2013, I made myself a promise that I’d make 2013 a very productive and memorable year.  Though it wasn’t productive in the ways that I thought it would be, I think the improvements I made were even better than the ones I imagined.  They include the following:

1. Bought my dream house with my husband!
2. Traveled alot (10 out of the 12 months):
   • DC in February with good friends
   • New Orleans for my cousin Jennifer’s bachelorette party in March
   • Padre Island in April to visit my mom and spend time with family
   • Houston and Galveston in June for my cousin Jennifer’s wedding and to spend time with family
   • Nashville in June to visit good friends
   • Baltimore for a fun girl’s weekend to celebrate Independence Day
   • Seattle and Victoria, Canada in July for my cousin Catie’s wedding and to visit family
   • Nag’s Head in August to have a girl’s weekend at the beach
   • DC in September to see the Book of Mormon with friends
   • DC in October for a great training course for work
   • Massanutten with good friends in November
   • Cape Cod in December for my husband’s cousin’s wedding and to spend time with his family
3. Did alot of work to improve my happiness and mental health (reading, learning to meditate, cognitive behavioral therapy, online learning, exercise).
4. Trained for and ran the Charlottesville 10 Miler in March with my husband!
5. Got a great review and a raise at work and also learned to be more experienced and confident in my job.
6. Spent alot of very important time with family and friends.
7. Ran 1 race in June (4 the Wounded 5K), 4 races in the month of September (Charlottesville Women’s 4 Miler, 9/11 Heroes Run, Special Olympics Pepsi 10K, and Benefit 5K for Shiloh Thompson) and 1 race in November (Shelter For Help in Emergency 5K) and greatly improved my running, pace, and personal records.
8. Lost 25 pounds (FINALLY – this had been a goal for a long time)!
9. Won tickets to the King Family Vineyards Pink Ribbon Polo Classic, Top of the Hops Beer Festival,  Virginia Chili Blues & Brews Festival, and an entry to the 4 the Wounded 5K – it was a lucky year (maybe it was that red egg we found)!
10. Helped several friends welcome sweet babies into this world!
11. Bought several pieces of furniture and large appliances for our first house (couch, book shelves, washer and dryer).
12. Bought and decorated our first Christmas tree together and celebrated our first Christmas in our new house with our families!
13. Created 2 amazing gifts that are still in the works (more on those later)!
14. Many more!

It was an amazing year and although there were ups and downs as there always will be, the wonderful things listed above will be the things I remember about 2013 and am grateful for when I look back on this year in the future!  I know 2014 is going to be one of the hardest but most rewarding and amazing years of my life thus far and I am truly looking forward to the challenge.

Happy New Year!  I’m wishing everyone a happy and amazing 2014 and please remember to try and be thankful.  I will continue to be!