Photo Shoot: Beautiful Baby Girl!

This sweet girl is the daughter of some friends of ours. She is such a sweet baby!

If you'd like to see more of this set, you can click here to see a few more!

Photo by Starshine Photography!

Uncle and Nephew

Sam came over to our house on Saturday. He and Brian were dressed alike, and they didn't even plan it! I guess great men have great fashion sense and that's all there is to it!

It was so adorable seeing the two of them swinging next to each other on the swing set. I'm not sure who had the most fun!

Based on the smiles on their faces, I think it was a tie!

Baby Birdies

Still no referral, but the dove outside the nursery windows is a mama! Actually, shortly after I took the last photos, I noticed the little baby birds in the nest. They're growing by the day!

He's a Mensch!

Have you seen this interview that President Bill Clinton gave to Jenna Bush Hager?

It was worth watching for the four minutes that it lasted. Besides the novelty of watching a Bush interview a Clinton, it was sweet to see their interactions. No doubt that Clinton has done some wonderful humanitarian work in the years since his presidency ended. But my favorite moment of this interview was when Hager asked him how he thought he would feel when Chelsea walks down the aisle.

The man paused and as his thoughts drifted toward Chelsea and her upcoming wedding day, his face changed from presidential to paternal, and the man was a downright sweetheart.

I think it is helpful to remember that the people who we most often know as talking heads delivering carefully scripted sound-bytes are also capable of thoughtfulness and candor--their human emotions run as deeply as our own!

Mary Poppins Moment

I had a total Mary Poppins moment today when I looked out the window of the room that will be our nursery to see this lovely lady sitting atop her nest.

Maybe we'll become mothers around the same time!

Wildflowers

This is the time of year when the highways and country sides are decorated with the brilliant colors of Texas wildflowers.

Their beauty inspires people of all ages.

On Friday, we drove out to Brenham where we met my sister and nephew to take pictures in the bluebonnets. Jilly really needs to work on having fun, don't you think? ;)

The weather was just beautiful, and so was the ranch where we stopped to take these pictures. (Many thanks to the kind owners who let us tromp through their flowers!)

It was a really great day!

TMI? I say, "Share on!"

So I just read this article about "Oversharing in the Workplace", which regales the reader with such horror stories as one worker having to hear his office buddy share a story about shaving his legs before a bicycle race, or another woman blurting out that her 16 year old son was conceived on her first date with her husband in high school.

All I can think in response to the article is, "Really? Have we as a society become so isolated that we can't handle hearing a male coworker talk about shaving his legs for a bicycle race?"

I'm not saying that appropriate boundaries aren't important, because they are. However, I think it's sad that we live our lives behind such well constructed walls that we find it hard to hear even such benign things as shaving ones legs for a race.

Okay, so admitting that you had sex on the first date with your husband might be inappropriate work conversation. I get that. But what I also get is that we are human beings with quirks and frailties, and I'm not sure that what we classify as "oversharing" really is "Too Much Information".

Maybe it's just a way to say, "Hi. I'm alive, and I fail, and I have joys and I cry sometimes. Am I the only one?"

What if instead of looking the other way while shouting "T-M-I!", we could look that person in the eye and say, "Dude! Did you have to borrow your wife's razor for that?"

At worst, we might feel uncomfortable. At best, we might make a new friend!

Para Mis Chicas...

I’m writing this post as I fly home from a week spent with two of my dearest friends. We had a fabulous week together in Charleston, South Carolina. It continues to be one of my favorite American cities.

As wonderful a place as Charleston is--and we went to so many cool places--my favorite moments of the trip were our evenings together at home when we just sat around talking, drinking wine and having dinner together. These dinners were Spanish style, of course, which means they included a big salad, a baguette, and a plate of sliced salami and strong cheese! In true Spanish fashion, these dinners usually got going around 9 or 10 pm and then lasted a couple of hours.

The three of us met in 2002/3 working for the same organization in Zaragoza. We became super close friends then and that closeness continues to this day. (And I really have no doubt that it will continue forever!)

As we parted at the airport, we hugged and cried and said our goodbyes. I’m blessed to have such special friends.

!Chicas, gracias por pintar mi vida de mil colores!

Charleston: Day 6 -- Isle of Palms

Today has been my favorite day of the trip so far. After a leisurely morning of sleeping in, coffee and breakfast, we went for a walk on the beach at Isle of Palms.

Tonight, we made predictions (and wrote them down!) about what our lives will be like three years from now when we hope to meet up again. May calls it "Three by Three"--every three years the three of us will endeavor to get together. We stayed up late talking. It was a rich time of friendship. I was a little sad this morning realizing that in two more days we'll all go back to our separate corners of the world (one of us in TX, one in the Carolinas, and the other in Spain), but I am so thankful and so content to have these women as my dear, dear friends. I love them.

I hope you all have a very Happy Easter!

Day 4: Angel Oak and Kiawah Island

Thursday, we drove out to Kiawah Island. On the way, we stopped to visit "Angel Oak". It is gigantic and beautiful!

Kiawah Island has a lovely resort where we had lunch...

And then we walked down to the beach.

May and I enjoyed a lovely walk 'n' talk together on the beach while Anne took a little nap on her beach towel. Doesn't she look like Audrey Hepburn in her little black dress?!

WOW!

Did you read the story/see the amazing photos of the woman who went paddle boarding on a 40 mile voyage to encourage her best friend in her fight against breast cancer? For two of the nine hours of her journey, she was escorted by a friendly whale!

Click HERE to read the whole story...it's totally worth the read!

Charleston: Day 2 -- A Walk Through I'on

I'on is a new development, but the architecture is full of Old Charleston charm. Pure architectural eye candy.