About Me

Making Your Life at Home Easier

Hello and welcome to my blog! At One Happy Housewife you can find simple solutions for making your life at home easier. Here you will find simple, no-fail recipes that are delicious and family-friendly as well as easy to follow organization and cleaning tips to help you maintain a clean and tidy home. I’ve even sprinkled in some family travel tips to help you enjoy your time away from home. I can’t wait for you to look around!

Meet One Happy Housewife

I’m Valerie and I’m One Happy Housewife! God has blessed me with an amazing husband and five wonderful (most of the time) children. I am originally from Honduras but have called beautiful Texas home for the past 8 years. My husband of 18 years and my children are my life. I love cleaning, organizing, baking, home decorating, going on dates with my hubby, and planning out and making lists for everything! I’m lucky enough to be a housewife and stay-at-home mom and do what I love every day.

I Wanted to Be Just Like My Mom

Ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to be a housewife and a stay-at-home mom. I remember always thinking I wanted to be just like my mother. She kept the house immaculate, and always decorated to perfection. She was always an amazing hostess, serving such delicious and tasty looking things every time we had company. My mom never rested it seemed. She was always doing something around the house. I can’t remember a day that she wasn’t waiting for me at the door when I came home from school. I was lucky to have grown up with a mom like her. So in my eyes, there was nothing better for me to be when I grew up.

I Also Wanted to Be Like My Dad

The thing is, I also wanted to be like my dad! Successful businessman and ever so organized! My father also got me started playing tennis, which for my teenage years was my life. I constantly traveled to play tournaments. I was lucky enough to visit some great places and meet some amazing people along the way. At the age of 16, I made the tough decision to leave home and go live in Florida at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. It was tough leaving my family, but it was the perfect decision for me at that time. My 2 years at the academy taught me to be independent and reinforced my dad’s teachings of hard work. So with the thought of following his footsteps, I finished high school and went on to study business and economics at Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, TX.

I Met My Best Friend and Soul Mate

With hard work and determination, I graduated with honors in 1998. More important than that though, I also met my husband Ryan two weeks before school started our freshman year. It was love at first sight, and I was lucky enough to go through my 4 years of college with my best friend and soul mate. Ryan and I got married the summer after graduation, and thus started my life as a housewife!

We Started Our New Life

We lived in Dallas for a short while as newlyweds. It was tough being away from both of our families, but we were thrilled to be starting our new life. Ryan worked long hours to support us and I was at home being a housewife, but feeling a little lonely. We went for a month-long visit to Honduras and it was then that we experienced the joy of being close to family and the much more relaxed pace of life down there. Immediately, we were hooked and knew that’s where we wanted to be.

We Made a Move to the Tropics

After only a short year in Dallas, we decided to move to Honduras and work in my father’s construction business. We lived in Honduras for 10 years. Our two oldest children were born there. We were blessed to work with my dad, which made it ideal for raising our boys. They would either come with us to the office or they’d stay with my mom in her house, which was 30 seconds away. I learned so much working with my dad. He was always so organized. His office was an impressive display of organization and lifetime achievements. Everything had a place, and he always had a to-do list on his desk, always! He would say “You can’t forget it, if you have it written on your list!” One of my favorite tasks while working with him was taking his half crossed out lists and making them into his new list. To this day, he and I still make lists everyday, with the items we have completed perfectly crossed out.

Heading Back to Texas

In 2008, we decided to pack up and move back to the US. Since the boys were of school age, I thought I’d go to work and give teaching a try. I worked as a substitute teacher for a little while and they soon offered me a full-time position teaching high school Spanish. As luck would have it though, God decided to send us a little surprise, our third boy! Ryan and I decided it would be best for me to once again stay at home so we could raise our new baby the same way we had our older ones. I don’t regret that decision one bit!

God Calls Us on a New Journey

Last year, God led us on another journey. He was calling us to adopt a child. We always talked about adoption, but never felt it was the right time. This time though, God was being loud and clear. So we decided we wanted to adopt one older girl. Of course, as is always the case, God had other plans for us, and we adopted not one child, but two, a 10-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy. Add these two to our 15, 13, and 5-year-olds and here we are with 5 children! What an adventure it has been. It has not been an easy road but things have finally begun to settle down.

Taking the Plunge Into Blogging

For many years now, I have wanted to share so many ideas, tips, and recipes that I’ve learned in all my years of being a housewife and a stay-at-home mom. I felt like there was no better time than now! I hope with this blog I can help you make your days at home a little easier and happier. Join me as I share some of my favorite things and tips on all things home!

Thanks for visiting and I hope that just like me, you can also be One Happy Housewife!