I have done so many different things over the years, but my number one passion has always been my family. One summer, my husband was in Puerto Rico on a mission trip, my oldest daughter, Kelly, was living in Thailand working with victims of sex trafficking & my youngest son, Jake, was getting ready to move out of the house and start college at ECU. 

My daughter, Rachel, and I, went on a last minute trip in June with some family, and while we were there I started to think about the next season of life I was about to enter into. Life had always been so full with three kids in the house - lots of friends, parties, sports games, etc. And with one daughter across the world, the other starting to get busier with her own life & my youngest moving out to begin his college and career - I started thinking about what my days would look like. 

So, sitting on the beach one day, Rachel and I began dreaming up this “crazy idea” to open a coffee shop. We had always LOVED coffee - we were multiple lattes in a day kind of people! We started brainstorming how we could make it unique, and thought it would be fun to make it a gift boutique as well with a coffee bar in the back. 

We called Kelly in Thailand and told her all our ideas. She loved it, but said “Dad will never go for that!” And we thought she was probably right. We knew my husband would never go for it, and that it was just a fun idea, so we kept brainstorming just for fun. 

Well, thankfully, we were completely WRONG! He came home from Puerto Rico, and when we told him our plan, he said it was a great idea! 

The next few months were a little bit of a blur. The day after we dropped Jake off at ECU in August, me and Paul went up to NYC to the Home & Gift Market just “to look.” We were walking around, taking everything in, when we noticed an entire booth that said it was 50% off the wholesale price. It was full of beautiful furniture and home decor, and long story short - we bought the whole thing! 

We had to extend our stay, and pack up all the merchandise ourselves onto twenty-two pallets. Then we shipped it home, stored it in an empty warehouse (thanks to a friend), and started looking for a space to rent for the store. 

Our long-time family friend, Vanessa, owned a boutique called, Swoon ;) They had just opened up in a little shopping center in Holly Springs, and so she convinced us to come to the same area.  

We knew NOTHING about how to make coffee. So we went over to Larry’s Beans in downtown Raleigh, and they taught us all about espresso & how to make a great latte. Kelly graduated from ASU in December, and moved home to help with the store. Once our equipment was installed in the store, we bought a bunch of gallons of milk & started practicing pulling shots & steaming milk. Then we started inviting our friends and experimenting with the recipes. And before we knew it, in 6 short months, our doors were open - January 5, 2013. 

So, in summary, I opened Thanks a Latte a little bit on a whim - thinking that I would be bored and needed something to pour my time and energy into. 

Well if you’ve been around here at all, you know that I couldn’t have been more wrong about the season I was entering into! A few months after we opened, Kelly got engaged right here in the Holly Springs store! And our family hasn’t stopped growing since. Nine years later, and I have two incredible son-in-laws and an amazing  daughter-in-law I love like my own. I also have NINE grandkids and counting! And a brand new store in Angier, NC. 

This has turned out to be the most busy and full season of my life YET. If I had known all that was coming, I don’t think I would have opened a coffee shop. But thankfully, God always knows better than I do. Thanks a Latte is such an integral part of our family now, and none of us can imagine life without it. It has been a part of so many of our large life events, and it’s been a door into so many of your lives as well. We have formed so many special relationships because of this little coffee shop idea we had on the beach all those years ago. We’ve seen people walk through hard and sad seasons of life - infertility, loss, sickness and divorce. And we’ve also been able to celebrate with so many of you - marriages, miracle babies & dreams coming to life.