Beauregard Parish always has something going on! Take a look at what we have to offer and I hope to see you at some of these awesome events! *more events to be added as the are announced*

March 23 – Breakfast with the Easter Bunny https://fb.me/e/121DAKOu2
March 30 – Easter Eggravaganza 5K and Easter Egg Hunt https://fb.me/e/evi9r34LQ https://fb.me/e/1u4fMhgSa
March 31 – Easter at FirstNorth https://fb.me/e/1uNvJcl8g

April 13 – Louisiana Doll Festival Pageant https://fb.me/e/6B60ZGzX7
April 20 – Louisiana Doll Festival https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090110269187
April 19-21 – Vintage Market Days at the Fairgrounds https://fb.me/e/1itoTqaKF
April 26 – Bob Sewell Golf Tournament https://fb.me/e/55rgtElYa

May 11 – Watermelon Festival Royal Tea Party https://business.beauchamber.org/events/details/beauregard-watermelon-festival-royal-tea-party-1485?calendarMonth=2024-05-01

A couple years ago I did a “shop local challenge” and shared all my favorite places in my area. I’ve been working on revamping that as new businesses have come or gone for a few weeks now so I wanted to share! As a business woman, a referral is the biggest compliment I could ask for and I know my fellow business owner’s love a good shout out too! I love to eat and shop, so here goes nothing!

Let’s start with RESTAURANTS! Because let’s be honest…Katlyn doesn’t typically miss a meal and I don’t want you missing one either!

– Start your day off with a kick start at Coffee Connection with a fresh brewed coffee and lemon blueberry muffin
– Low on energy? Stop by Golden Nutrition and snag one of my favorite Georgia Peach
– Sweeten your day with some rolled ice cream from Curled Creme Co
-Bring your kiddos for Mickey Mouse Pancakes at the Waffle Shoppe
-Swing by Cecil’s for game nights and the Tiger Burger
-Shrimp and grits oh my! You better slide on into The Stadium and try that breakfast bowl
-Grab chargrilled oysters at Steamboat Bill’s
-If you’re craving steak, grab the Steak Tips at Double D’s
-You’re missing out if you’ve never had the the carne asada at El Viejo Tony’s
-Finish off your pizza dinner with the Cinnamon Bites at Gilbert’s
-Chocolate Peanut Butter is my go to smoothie flavor at Planet Nutrition
-Get some kickin’ chicken at Chicken Depot
–Lou Lou’s Cupcakes & More has delicious cupcakes and cakes
-Grab local produce from the DeRidder Farmer’s Market. With different businesses set up at all times, you’re bound to find something fresh and yummy

Not feeling the items I listed? Check out their menu and get your favorite!

Need a new wardrobe, gift ideas or just need a minute to enjoy some local shopping? Stop in these LOCAL businesses!

-Add a little sparkle and Judy Blue to your life at Dear Me Southern Boutique
-Stay shabby chic with an outfit from West Mane
-Looking for that unique gift? Check out Louisiana Cajun Culture
-Jazz up your closet with an outfit from Holly at The Rustic Cottage
-Refreshen your skin with a Blackberry Magnolia Scrub from Avery Grey Soap
-Looking to add a little decor to your home? Check out Huckleberry Cottage Farms
-Ready to boot scoot boogie? Step on in to Hooks Big D Corral for your new western look
–Nothing Fancy has a little bit of it all
-You’re bound to find a treasure at Treasure City Market
-Personalize shirts are their thing, stop by Bayou Vinyl so they can do the dang thing!
-For a house warming gift, check out LaTeDa Boutique

Have you gotten something great from one of these places? Let’s hear about it! Don’t see one of your favorites on here? Let me know and I can add them to list with something you love about it! *This definitely isn’t everywhere in DeRidder, but these are a few I have purchased from before*

Many of you have probably heard this saying or even said it. But here I am with the real tea…

Something that I’ve seen and genuinely bothers me is that too many people are SUPER OPEN about “spilling the tea”. Especially about topics, issues, drama that doesn’t pertain to or involve them. I can say there’s times I’ve been guilty and honestly there’s not a single person out there that can confidently say they haven’t been this person. BUT one thing you can do is grow from that. Don’t be the tea spiller, sis. The only tea you need in your life is loaded teas and good southern sweet tea!

It’s easy to get caught up in the drama and all the gossip and wanting to know who’s doing what and what’s happening. But when you really look at the big picture, all of that is none of your business unless it involves you. And ultimately, there’s always 3 sides to every story. His, hers and the truth (or party 1, party 2 and the truth, etc. – you get what I mean). Always getting caught up in “what’s going on” doesn’t bode well for you. The less drama and gossip you let into your life the simpler your life will be.

The funny thing is, people don’t need to know all the drama that’s going on in you life. When you open up your entire life to people, you leave yourself vulnerable to the outside world. The less you share with people, the less you have people trying to get in your business. Same goes for the less you involve yourself in other peoples drama, the less likely you are to get drug into it.

A drama free life is the best life. AND that’s the real tea, sis. Please excuse me while I go drink a loaded tea.

I fight a lot of depression. I hold things in. I burst into tears at the first sign of a confrontation. It’s just something I’ve always done. It’s the “normal” to me. No one understands it. No one wants to. It doesn’t make sense to anyone, even myself.

I’ve struggled with feelings toward family, feelings toward life, feelings toward myself and just feelings in general. I feel A LOT. It’s often joked that I have enough feeling and emotion for my whole family, but it’s true. I’m so soft hearted and I’m not afraid to admit that.

I’ve had a lot on my heart that HURTS. Hurts so much that most people would just get rid or unassociate with whatever was hurting them so much. But I can’t. That’s not who I am. I hate confrontation, I hate knowing people don’t like me, I hate knowing that I’ve upset someone. I hate that kind of stuff.

The other day I confided in a friend about something bothering me and she gave me the best advice, write it off your heart. Which is crazy because I used to write everything that bothered me when I was in high school and college. So today I started a “write it off your ❤️” notebook.

Whatever is bothering you, write it off your chest, heart and mind. Once you write it down that’s it. It’s gone. If it keeps coming back just keep writing it away. Get the negative feelings, hurtful feelings, painful feelings, all of it off your heart. Better your self health.

You can’t fix everyone. You can’t change what people say or how they feel. No matter who they are. Pray for them. Pray that God brings them the peace that you want. I hope that everyone has peace. But to get that peace, it starts with yourself.

Be you. Be happy. Let it go.

As I lay here this morning and hold this sweet angel, a ton of thoughts and emotions go through my head. I’ve often struggled with self image. Through high school, college and it was much harder after becoming a mom.

Cameron tells me all the time how pretty I am and that “I’m not a kid anymore” so that I understand I’ll never be the size I was when we met because I’ve had kiddos and formed into a woman’s body and not the body a tiny child sorority girl. And that’s ok!!

You know I always took what he said, but never truly accepted it. Of course it makes me feel good about myself, but I always second guessed the way I looked. But as I lay here with Peyton, one thing comes to mind and it honestly just changed how I feel. Of course I’d love to lose the love handles, giggly thighs and extra skin, but all of this doesn’t change who I am as a person. I birthed three beautiful babies with this body! One of which is a sweet baby girl. One thing I never want for her is to not feel good enough, pretty enough or not love something about how she looks. And that’s when it hit me. How can I want that for her, but not for myself as well?

I need to feel exactly how I’d want her to feel! I want her to always feel great about herself and know how beautiful she is. Appearance doesn’t matter. It’s what’s inside a person that makes you truly beautiful. I can’t wait to be able to show her just how beautiful she really is!

Here’s to accepting my not size 0 body!!

You’ve welcomed a new baby into the world and it’s all rainbows and butterflies, right!? Unfortunately, no. You are struggling with things you don’t understand. Thoughts and feelings you can’t explain. You burst into tears for what seems like no reason. You don’t want to be around people because you just want to be alone. People don’t understand. You can’t put into words to your partner what’s wrong, your family wouldn’t understand, you don’t even understand. Everyday you wake up and hope that today is a good day. You hope you don’t burst into tears over something you can’t control. You tell yourself that what you’re feeling is dumb or crazy, but you just can’t seem to break through that wall. You’re not alone!

This pregnancy was a hard one, so feeling all this stuff is definitely not something I wanted. I couldn’t be down, I have a new baby to take care of! I have a son, husband, house and business to take care of. I had people who wanted to come visit the baby. Truth is, I just wanted to be by myself and cry. Why? I’m not certain. These feelings were not something I understood. I couldn’t tell my husband what was wrong, I couldn’t tell people who wanted to come see the baby I just really didn’t feel like company, I couldn’t even tell myself it was going to be ok. All this was foreign to me. I knew I had to do something or my relationship would hinder, I would break down and things just wouldn’t be ok.

I had to take a big step in asking for help. Some once told me Postpartum Depression is real and it doesn’t discriminate against anyone. It’s ok if it happens to you, but make sure you do what you need to in order to take care of yourself. Ask your doctor for help, do something for you, ask your partner for help so you can get a minute alone, Jan our to your favorite song. Whatever you have to do, do it for you. It’s ok to need help. You’re not alone.

Some of us are perfectly fine and just would like to hear from you, but some of us are really not ok. And that’s ok!

As a momma, have you ever just had a new baby and I felt on could nine? Like nothing could tear you down! I’ve been there. The amazing feeling of having a new person to love in and nurture. It’s like no other. Even when you’re on the top of the world, these mommas still need to be checked on. I mean just being cooped up at home for several weeks can still take a toll on you. Next level boredom kicks in sometimes.

And on the other hand, have you ever been the momma who has a beautiful, healthy newborn baby and felt so much pain inside? Like your emotions are on high. You have feelings that you can’t explain. Feelings that you can physically tell yourself are silly and that you shouldn’t feel them, but you just can’t get past that mental block. Whether it’s guilt, image issues, separation, etc. it’s definitely not something to ignore. I honestly never imagined experiencing any down feelings. I have the most beautiful girl in the entire world, but the mental things I’m feeling right now can truly tear you down. Sadly not all outsiders understand why you’d feel that way. When you try to explain it it’s hard. I know truly how lucky I am and I love her with everything I have. For me, the feelings I have aren’t making me have separation from the baby at all. They are feelings that are making me have a separation with myself. It’s also super easy to put on a front to others so they don’t see the pain from the outside because “you’re supposed to be strong”.

People don’t always ask how you’re doing or check on you as a momma. Most people check on the baby. Check on new mommas that you know. If you truly care about her, this is the biggest help you can offer her. I promise it will mean a lot to her. You never know when checking on someone will open your the door for them to talk to someone about how they are feeling.

A close friend once told me, Postpartum Depression is real and it doesn’t discriminate. That was the realest thing anyone has told me lately. It was truly something I needed to hear. I can also say after obtaining my PhD from Google University, if you feel like you are suffering from Postpartum Depression, please speak with your health care provider. Just because you’re post baby, doesn’t mean they stop caring for you. Don’t let it linger on.

For this pregnancy, I knew a C section wasn’t in my birth plan. I’d never had one before, so I didn’t want one this time, unless it was medically necessary. Sometimes, our plans don’t always go as planned. My gut kept telling me to prepare for a c section, but how do you prepare for something you’ve never experienced? Especially something as severe as that. You don’t. You can ask 100 questions and reach out to friends who have had them before, but ultimately everyone handles things and heal differently. There are so many things you can read about and be told, but there are so many things I didn’t know to expect.

I won’t lie, I underestimated a c section. It’s not easy and it’s an experience like no other for sure. They tell you that you won’t feel the pain, but you’ll feel pressure. Well pressure can definitely be painful! Just not the kind of pain you’d expect. Everything is so uncomfortable. I remember squeezing my husbands hand with tear filled eyes and him cracking some kind of joke to make me laugh, which is probably a terrible idea when they are cutting on you and digging around. But it was the support I needed. I wasn’t prepared for exactly what kind of pressure I’d feel, or the nauseas feeling you get once they start trying to deliver the baby or the shakes you get afterwards. I must have read 100 websites and the doctors explained everything to me step by step and thoroughly multiple times, but until you experience it you’ll never fully understand.

Fast forward to once things start wearing off and they are having to check things and mash on things to make sure things are doing what they are supposed to after. Definitely wasn’t prepared for that and each time I either cried or it took my breath away. I’d like to think that I have a decent pain tolerance, but this experience proved me wrong. Then the next morning comes, when they tell you it’s time to move around. That was one of the most painful experiences I’ve ever had. Everyone kept telling me the more you move the more it helps, but make sure you rest. At first I was like how am I supposed to move around a bunch and rest!? Well I will say everyone was right. The more I moved the more it helped, but I won’t say it was easy to move around at all. It got easier with time. Let’s not forget the first time I had to sneeze or cough. You don’t realize how much you use your abdominal muscles until you can’t. Talk about a pain in your side (actually, your front lol).

I felt like such a wimp afterwards because so many people told me how they’d do it again, they opted for one or how after just a few days they were moving around great. But truthfully, my recovery was MINE. I couldn’t recovery exactly like someone else. I had to recover however my body was supposed to. I’ve seen tons of articles about how c sections are the easy way out, I beg to differ. I’ve delivered with an epidural, delivered without one when I was having the worst back labor and then now a c section. I’d never pick a c section again unless it was medically necessary for the baby’s health. I am though, very thankful for my doctors, the incredible decisions they made and a safe delivery of my beautiful baby girl. She’s the perfect final addition to our family!

So many people push “breast is best” and shame moms when they aren’t breast feeding. Trust me I totally understand how nutritious breast milk is for babies! Personally, I never breast feed Brodie because we never made that transition because he was in the NICU so long and we had to teach him to eat from a bottle. So I pumped. I pumped as long as I could. Unfortunately after 3-4 weeks, there was nothing left to pump. I was so discouraged. I tried everything, but I know those weeks he was able to receive that were crucial. With Peyton, I knew how I felt about breast feeding. I honestly wasn’t comfortable trying to “breastfeed” and it was a mental thing that made me uncomfortable, but I would pump for her all day long to make sure she got the nutrients she needed. This time though was a struggle. It was much harder than it was in the past. After a c section your milk takes longer to come in, which I didn’t know that until now. For the first couple of days while we were in the hospital I tried hard to pump and pump and pump, but there was nothing. A couple days after we got home things finally started working! Yay! Right?? Well from there, it was even more struggle. I was able to pump for exactly one week. One whole week and that was it. After one week, it was gone. I tried EVERYTHING. Did it by the book, talked to a lactation consultant, Googled EVERYTHING under the sun and tried everything to keep it going, but for whatever reason, that was it.

We live in a world where parents get shamed so quickly because they do things differently than what “society” thinks they should. What people don’t consider is, maybe there’s a reason. Maybe they just can’t feed their child only breast milk. But I guarantee they are feeding their child and that’s what’s most important. Trust me I idolize those that are able to pump and store MONTHS of “the goods” for their baby, but for some reason it’s not meant for me to produce that way. Even with Brodie, I never produced enough to have a stash. We always had just enough for each feeding. For my littles, they will get food. They will get whatever I can provide for them and that’s what’s most important.

So if you are a momma like me who just can’t provide “the goods” for long periods of time, don’t be discouraged. Don’t let society make you feel less of yourself. Don’t feel bullied or pressured by others. Take care of your baby the best way you can. Fed is best!

If you would told me 4 years ago that I’d be having another baby, I would’ve laughed at you. It wasn’t in our plan. After the difficulty of loosing a child, it was something we discussed and we weren’t ready and once time passed, we realized that we were so happy with what we had. We were content.

Fast forward to July 2019, BAM, positive pregnancy test RIGHT before we were going on vacation. Which we were staying on a vineyard and I was super excited to finally try some of our friends new wines. No wine for this mom to be!! That was also a crazy pill to swallow. I had more fear than anything. Telling my husband, who was on board with the no more kids thing, was the hardest thing I’d done. And I couldn’t even get words out. I just tossed the test at him while we were packing. Great deliverance, right? Of course I’m the moment, there wasn’t anything we could do. Just go on vacation and make the necessary appointments for when we got back. I had messed up my birth control patch a couple months prior to that. So I knew that I had messed up. But now that she’s here, it wasn’t a mess up. It was just how the plan was supposed to be. She’s something I never knew I needed. Our family needed her. She’s no replacement of our sweet Cooper Ray, but our tiny caboose, Peyton Rae, is the best addition. A family that’s been wrapped around everything boy, just got a little pink sprinkled into it. Pink and bows are things we aren’t used to, but it’s something I look forward to.

When you think about relationships you had growing up, my mom was someone who was there through all the ups and downs in life. Sure there were times she drives me crazy, but she was there. I hope that Peyton and I have a bond like no other. I’ve been a boy mom for so long I guess it’s time to mix things up a little! And hopefully I can master this bow thing!!