Sam’s Pumpkin Soup for November issue of Houston Family Magazine

I like the idea of serving this pumpkin root vegetable soup in the actual pumpkin on our Thanksgiving table.

As we are all spending more time at home these days, let’s dedicate some energy into our dwellings and create a little cherished space. Whether you live in a chic apartment amidst the business of a city, an expansive country house surrounded by acres of land or a dreamy bungalow on the beach—home is where the heart is. And, if this is true, where does the soul live?

I just got off the phone with my sister, Lisa. She is the Chief Nursing Officer for the University of Kansas Health System St Francis Campus—which means her role asks her to oversee about 700 staff.

On a recent trip to California, to celebrate the girls’ birthday, unexpected experiences appear. Allie is finishing up a two-year program studying depth psychology. Sarah and I join her at the end of one of her sessions to take a few days of R&R, and start 2020 in a fresh and inspiring way.

Over a glass of champagne, the three of us make a rough plan of what our three days in California will hold. We all agree — time together, in nature, along with good food and wine are the top of our list.

DECLUTTER. ORGANIZE. LIVE JOYFULLY.

These simple words are the tagline. Don’t they just sound lovely to say out loud?

For me, yoga is much more than the time spent on the mat. Twenty years ago when I came to know yoga, I went to a weekly Wednesday morning class. I quickly began to notice that Wednesdays were a good day for me.

A master of yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar, says that “the light that yoga sheds on life is something special. It is transformative. It does not change the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees. It brings knowledge and elevates it to wisdom.”