I've spoken at a couple of events recently and at each one I've touched on my writing. I have never claimed to be an amazing writer...honestly my grammar is terrible. I basically write what I feel like writing, and most of my posts are very personal which I why I wanted to give you a life update!


HOME:
We are absolutely loving our new home! I'm not going to lie and say I don't miss my old neighbors every day, but I don't regret our decision to move. I planned a dinner at Jack Allen's to celebrate Mother's Day and we were able to catch up. We've started making friends in our new neighborhood, and our old college friends live a few streets over so that's been fun.

What I'm loving most at this time is the splash pad and pool down the street. Almost every evening after school between 5 and 7pm we're playing outside. I get home around 5pm and Alex gets home around 6. I have a feeling we'll be at the pool almost every day this summer! I already have a little swim station in the garage to grab towels, sunscreen and toys.

We are taking it slow when it comes to furnishing our home. One because we don't have the money, and two because I can't commit to anything! So many styles and I'm terrible with interior design. I'm terrified I'm going to choose the wrong dining table or buffet and it will go with nothing. I have nothing on the walls and probably won't for months, and I've taken dozens of trips to goodwill to donate. I'll be sharing more videos and photos of my home soon. I filmed an empty house tour and will have it up on my YouTube channel by the end of May!

WORK:
Work is steady and not too stressful at this time. I had a very important deadline at the end of April and my days were NUTS, but it's slowed down a bit. I'm becoming more comfortable in my role after about 9 months, and I have an official mentor! I introduced myself to him at an IBM conference, and the following week I emailed him (he doesn't live in Austin) and asked if he would be my mentor and to my surprise he said YES! I'm extremely eager and excited to learn from someone who has great vision and over 20 years of experience.

FAMILY:
Turner graduates Kindergarten next week, and I'm excited for fun summer activities! He will be switching schools to the one in our neighborhood, and will be able to take the bus (heck yes)! During the summer he'll be attending YMCA camp, and will be staying with my mom/sis for a couple of weeks. It's sad when you're old and have a job, and don't get summers off anymore ; ).

We have the following trips planned:

- Salado, TX - 9th Wedding Anniversary

- Schlitterbahn Waterpark (New Braunfels, TX) - Celebrating Summer beginning. I used to go here growing up and it was my absolute favorite. I'm excited to take Turner for the first time with my nieces.

- Leakey, TX / Garner State Park - Family trip with my sister and brother-in-law's side of the family to the Frio River. We are staying at River Bluff Cabins which is right on the water.

- South Padre Island - I grew up only 4 hours north of South Padre, but have never been! Excited to take the family and for Walt & Whitney to see the beach for the first time! Partnering with VRBO for this trip.

- Mo-Ranch / Guadalupe River - Annual neighbor trip to my favorite place on earth in the Texas Hill Country. This will be our 4th year to visit Mo-Ranch with our neighbors. Check out a fun video here!

- Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - Ahhhh! So excited for this one! Quick trip via Southwest Vacations for Labor Day with my mom & sis. We are staying at an all-inclusive/adults only resort.

Walt and Whitney are in the same daycare near Alex's office, which he drops them off and picks them up everyday (thank goodness)! I won't go in to detail but let's just say three has been the hardest stage for raising twins (other than the newborn stage). I'm taking lots of parenting lessons from teacher Ralphie, and trying to create a safe and "calm" environment for my children. I want to work on my tone and when I raise my voice, so I'm focusing on how I react in situations vs. expecting my children to act a certain way. It's TOUGH! "It's a child's job to be a child. It's a parent's job to stay calm." - Ralphie



BLOGGING:
The year started off slow, but partnerships started picking back up this spring. That's normal as many companies are a little late to their marketing planning in the beginning of the year, especially in regards to working with influencers. I spoke at Mom 2.0 blogger conference a month ago about working with PR agencies and had an absolute blast. To be honest, my panel killed it! We got wonderful feedback from the attendees, and we ran over our one hour time slot. Everyone was very engaged and had lots of questions for us which I loved! The three of us on the panel plan speaking at a few different conferences throughout the year and in to 2020. I'll be writing a few blog posts discussing PR agencies and types of conferences to attend.

I don't have many blogging goals for the year to be honest, because I'm so focused on my day job. My blog has always come secondary to that, and at the end of the day sometimes I simply don't have the energy or time to write or do all the blogging things I "need" to do. I've thought about getting an intern, but not serious enough about it yet.
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There you have it! It's a busy yet wonderful time of life, and I'm beyond grateful. I really just can't believe the summer is already here. Time to start planning a ski vacation! Anyone else live for planning trips?