There have been many who have talked about how grief is an emotion many of us are experiencing during this pandemic… and it fits. I did a session last week on how to help high school seniors grieve and it was brought up how much the information can be helpful to anyone. Grief is something…

I will admit it. My anxiety has not been bad for the last three weeks and I have not understood it at all. Here is a world-wide crisis and my anxiety has been in check. Honestly, I have felt guilty about feeling this way. The lady with high levels of anxiety should not be okay…

I went to HEB today to pick up our weekly curbside grocery order. I act like this a common thing when in reality, it is only the second time I have utilized the service. I happily support HEB and not only the way they are serving the community, but also the way in which they…

Last night someone I follow on Twitter posed the question of what was our biggest source of hope right now. I replied, “the goodness of humanity is greater than greed.” I continued on with things around the house and later realized someone had retweeted what I said with a comment. The person said it was…

Last semester I was asked to speak during advisory to one of our middle schools about social media use. Advisory is less than thirty minutes. I was going to do the presentation six different times so each grade would be split into two groups. I was excited and terrified at the same. I will admit…

I am not one to think things happen in life for a reason. I don’t, nor will I ever believe, people die and catastrophes happen as some cruel way to teach us something. It is just not how my brain works. At the same time, I do believe during hard, different, difficult times, we can…

We have been planning our spring break trip for over a year. At first, it was going to be another Disney cruise the entire time, but in September, Matthew and I had the idea of changing it to a shorter cruise and surprising Keaton at Christmas with going to the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios…

Last night I had the honor of speaking at our education foundation’s gala. The theme for the night was superheroes. It has been a long time since I had pigtails and sat in a small chair in Mrs. Goodwin’s first-grade class. Although it is a distant memory, the way in which learning came alive in…

Today it was announced that I am the new Director of Behavioral Health at Round Rock ISD. I found out last Tuesday I got the job. I wrote the following blog that night (1/14/2020). A quote by Alfred Adler is under my work email signature: “follow your heart, but take your brain with you.” It…

Over the last year, I have gotten the opportunity to present on the importance of boundaries and balance for educators. I once wrote about it in a blog on the role of self-worth in self-care another blog talked about the role of control in self-care. During the same presentation a month ago I had the privilege…

Last year about this time I was trying to decide what my one word for 2019 would be. The previous year was ACTION and taught me so much. I settled on the word “believe” and as the year starts to come to an end, I can’t help but wonder and consider the impact of this…

I love having a six-year old to remind me of the spirit of Christmas… I have always loved this time of year, but to see it through his eyes brings me so much joy. Today we went to get breakfast, just the two of us, and then we went out to Christmas shop for a…

This week I had the opportunity to present to a few groups at work on balance and boundaries. The gist of the presentation was self-care is more than another item on your to-do list (pedicures, early morning workouts, diet), but instead it is the internal hard work of setting boundaries and saying no. The presentations…

The last few days I have been fortunate that my sister was visiting for Thanksgiving. While we are complete opposites and often do not view life from the same perspective, she is one of my favorite people and is truly my best friend. She knows me, supports me, and completely accepts me for who I…

I have been in the field of counseling in some form or fashion for 16 years… 17 if you count the first class I took as a graduate student. Most of my adult life has centered around being a voice for mental health, behavior health, mental illness… whatever you want to call it. I never…

Tomorrow is my mom’s birthday… if she were alive she would be turning 66… but to me she will forever be 44. It is odd thinking about her aging… I have no clue what she would look like now. On the way home from DFW today we were all talking in the car. Yesterday was…

Summer of 1998 was a summer of survival. I was living with my mom and by the end of August she would kill herself. Almost everyday that summer was survival. So many times at the end of the day I would watch the sunset and for the only time in the day exhale. I had…

I had the pleasure of leading more professional development today on a campus on self-care through balance and boundaries. As I have mentioned previously, it is one of my favorite topics and how I approach it has changed over the last year. Instead of listing the ways we can do self-care (pedicure, day out…) we…

Dear Keaton Carl, Happy Birthday!!! Today you turn 6 years old. Throughout these six year, I have not been one to be overly weepy about milestones or years as they pass. While I might miss elements of previous years, I love watching you develop into such a remarkable little guy… but this year for some…

I struggle with drawing attention to myself. I am the person who down plays having a PhD because it might make someone feel bad (I am working on this…). With my 40th birthday coming, my amazing husband and sister asked what I wanted. First, it was difficult feeling like we should do anything overly special.…