Texas and barbecue go hand-in-hand, kinda like chips and queso or beer and Mexican food or, my personal favorite, vanilla and Dr Pepper. When Texas Monthly came out with its top 50 BBQ joints in the state, our family was all in. Every four years, the BBQ editor (yes, that's a real thing) Daniel Vaughn and his staff scour the state for the best in 'cue. But, this go around, they upped the ante by partnering with YETI to provide incentive prizes for various challenges. Honestly, it started out as a top 10 brisket challenge for us (the prize was one of these), as well as hitting a few Austin joints. Several of the places on the list were already family favorites and we'd visited them on a … [Read more...]
2017 in Review
I hope I'm not the only sucker out there for "in review" posts at the end of the year. Just yesterday I went down the Instagram rabbit hole. I guess I just love hearing how folks have grown, what they've learned, mistakes they've made and what they hope to accomplish in the new year. Believe it or not, this post marks TEN YEARS of blogging - a whole decade! My very first blog post sure is a chuckle. So as not to disappoint, this is for your New Year's Eve reading pleasure (assuming of course you aren't living the high life at some swanky party, but rather in your pjs on the couch, drinking a beer and watching Ryan Seacrest). Here is a recap of the "best of" in blog posts, Pinterest pins, … [Read more...]
Still Fa-La-La-La-Laing
Advent started off so great - SO GREAT. I was the keynote speaker at a women's retreat in Dallas that first weekend. Even though strep had hit our house, hard, the day provided me an opportunity to speak, spend time in Adoration, go to confession and sit and chat with the loveliest of women. Boy, did my heart need all of that. I arrived home, riding the cloud, and we were stoked to participate in our parish mission with the ever-hilarious, ever-faithful, ever-awesome Fr. Leo. May I just say how much I *love* that our parish has an Advent mission speaker? The proceeds benefit our youth group, but I keep finding how much they're strengthening me and my faith. Will was even on Fr. … [Read more...]
2017 Gift Guide
Hooray! It's almost Thanksgiving. I'm always grateful that holiday falls before Advent and Christmas. It is a tangible reminder to be grateful for a Maker who has given me this beautiful life, with all its joys and sufferings, all its love and sorrow. I pray you have a peace-filled week. As we look toward the season of giving, we're making the interior choice to give with purpose. It's easy to get into the rat race of flash sales! coupons! door buster savings! and all that goes with it. When I put together this gift guide, I did it with much prayer and thought about what I truly love to give and receive, an emphasis on small business and items that I love to have in my own home. There was … [Read more...]
Week in My Life: Sunday, Nov. 19
Once a year, I document our life for seven days. I share the real stuff, the hard stuff, the funny stuff and everything in between. Mostly, I do it because our lives are full and I fear I’ll forget the little things we do that really form our family. Maybe someday the kids will enjoy these posts as much as I enjoy writing them. Ha! You can read all about it: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. After a full, but fun, weekend we got a slow start to our Sunday morning. We enjoyed breakfast with cousins before they headed home and probably a little too much screen time. Oh well, vacation. Scott headed up to the church to assist with a class on stewardship … [Read more...]
