Ideas for a More Welcoming Home
The Celebrate By Lisa Lou Journal explores hospitality, family traditions, etiquette, conversation, and the habits that strengthen life at home. These essays offer both the reason gathering matters and practical ways to begin.
Hosting Tips & Resources
Put the Phones Away at the Table
The people we love should never have to compete with our phones for our attention. Does this look familiar? I recently went back to a...
Teach Social Skills to Your Family: It Matters
Good manners are not about knowing which fork to use. They are about how to treat other people. Good manners are simply how we show...
Why I Love Texas Tech Football
Why do I love football? Yes, I love the traditions, the rivalries, the tailgates, the uniforms and, of course, cheering for my Red Raiders. But...
17 Table Manners Every Child Should Know
The family table is where manners become habits, and those habits can affect a child’s future. As a little boy, Caz Jr. loved dressing like...
Making Overnight Guests Feel Welcome
The extra hours beneath one roof often create the memories we remember most. One hot Houston summer, the air-conditioning in our bedroom went kaput. My...
17 Pitfalls Every Hostess Should Avoid
Your job is not over when the doorbell rings. A ladies luncheon at my house. Soup and sandwiches, and I never bothered to hide the...
The Knife Passed Beneath the Table
My grandmother never let what she lacked keep her from opening her home. My grandparents, Mamma and Granddaddy Williamson, with my mother, in West...
Keep the Celebration Simple
Why simplicity is the secret to great hospitality. Entertaining is not the focus. Hospitality is the focus. Have you ever watched a duck glide...
Long After We Are Gone
The legacy we leave is built one day at a time. A well-worn Bible sits beside a family photograph. One tells our family’s story. The...
If You Can Keep It, Part 3: The Republic Begins at the Table
Where a free country is preserved Ask most people where the future of the country is decided and they will point you to Washington, D.C....
If You Can Keep It, Part 2: Republic, Responsibility, Reason
The citizen's part in keeping a free country Every year as the Fourth of July rolls around, I get the same question in one form...
If You Can Keep It, Part 1: Freedom Isn’t Free
What a free country costs This time of year, the flags start going up on porches and in front yards, but for 2026, the celebration...