Peas and carrots. Peanut butter and jelly. Sweet and tea. Teenagers and food. Some things just go together, don't they? For our oldest son's 16th birthday, I struggled with wanting to throw him an epic birthday with not wanting to embarrass the heck out of him. It's a fine line, this parenting a teenager gig. As I stood in my (almost) empty pantry one day, the idea hit me. Feed them, and they will come. Just make it cool. God ...

My love affair with birthday parties continues. You may see a repeat of this party again next year for sweet Gianna. She shared her big three-year-old birthday with her oldest brother, who was celebrating his Confirmation the same weekend. I figured, let's do a two-fer. Double the cookies, double the party, double the fun. Plus, we like to do things big here in Texas. Because it was just friends and family coming over after the Confirmation Mass, I opted to ...

I am *so* excited to share that I'll be chatting about finding and rocking your God-given gifts with Blessed is She tonight via their workshop series. You can either purchase the one workshop, or buy a yearlong membership and get access to all the workshops we do (1-2 a month). There is so much goodness there. Plus, you get the twang, free of charge.

Where there's a dessert table, there's me. True story. Nobody loves throwing parties and having company over more than I do. Hospitality is my charism. I realize some of this stresses people out, but it is life-giving to me. My love is found in the details. All my work to make it beautiful was my gift to Will and I so loved doing it. Mr. Whitaker was a huge part in making it happen. He's such a keeper. While I ...

While I've written about mine and Scott's love story, I don't think I shared about our engagement and wedding story (coming in July!). It's important to note that my own confirmation took place an hour before my rehearsal dinner. Crazy, I know. Twenty years into this Catholic gig and Will's Confirmation was my very first one. We had a slew of family and Godparents in town for Will's big day and the weekend did not disappoint. There was cornhole and good food, ...

Our last year before the teenage years with our oldest girl and I keep shaking my head. Not possible, I think. But, it's happening so I best jump on board. Anna-Laura is officially 12 today and that means one thing: sappy letter from Mom. Here goes. Dear Anna-Laura, If I could give an award for kid who has changed the most, it would be you. Hands down. And, please know, those changes have come in all the best of ways. ...