“I wish I had that much energy” is a phrase we’ve all heard an adult say while watching an energetic child running around in circles. While work routines, aging, and mundane adult tasks can definitely take a toll on our energy levels, we may be taking for granted that lethargy is the norm. This month, let’s dive deeper into how food and other typical American lifestyle habits are not optimizing our energy levels.

Craig Campbell, professional mixed martial artist and owner of Texarkana Combat Sports, grew up in a family shaped by military service: both of his grandfathers and his father were ranking members in the military (one grandfather even participated in Operation Red Dawn, which led to the capture of Sadam Hussein). In Craig’s family, discipline was a key part of everyday life. He grew up surrounded by structure, resilience, and a drive to excel.

Rattan furniture. Patterned curtains. Fine china on display. An increasing number of folks are moving far, far away from stark minimalism and shifting into a new trend, dubbed “grandmillennial style.” This fresh design term was coined by Emma Bazilian in her 2019 article for House Beautiful. Also known as “granny-chic,” this style reinterprets vintage design trends and merges them with modern aesthetics. Floral prints, ruffles, and antiques are given a modern, fresh styling for an interior design trend that is sure to stay.

Nothing makes you feel like a museum exhibit faster than teaching teenagers how to use a rotary phone. They were clueless—but not as if they thought it was a fictional piece of steampunk cosplay technology, mind you (well, at least most of them: “I had a toy phone like that when I was a baby,” one of them said. “I had no idea they were real!”).

From age 10 to 18, Amy Meadows served as the unpaid pianist for her small church in De Kalb, Texas—an early start that foreshadowed the career she would inhabit as an adult. She has been on staff at First United Methodist Church for 21 years, not only playing the piano but also working with the children’s choir, adult choir, and praise band. “Offering music in worship provides an outlet for me to use my gifts for God’s glory,” she said.

In her circles, Angela Warren is known for her service to others. She is a volunteer with Las Amigas Social & Civic Club, Top Ladies of Distinction Inc., and the National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc., Beta Rho Chapter. “Whether it’s helping with programs, events, or outreach, I enjoy contributing to work that positively impacts students and families,” she said. “I like being present and supporting the efforts of others in the community.”

Though she now works with adult students, Kadie Allen began her career in early childhood education. In particular, her experience as a special education teacher helped her realize her passion for nontraditional or atypical learners.

In 2017, Karen Rayfield was ministering at Church Under the Bridge when she met a young woman in desperate need of housing. Karen reached out to her friend Dorothy Ware, who had access to a residential space where the young woman could live temporarily. From that day on, Grace House was born. 

Grace House is a Christian transitional home for mothers and expectant mothers ages 17–27 who have been displaced, are homeless, or are at-risk for homelessness. The one-year program, which is associated with Church on the Rock, includes regular church attendance and Bible study, as well as counseling and practical support.

For the past nine years, Principal Kim Cody has led Redwater Junior High with dedication and gratitude. A seasoned educator of 42 years, she spent 28 years teaching high school math in New Boston and Foreman before transitioning to administration.

“I could not talk about my career in education without mentioning Ms. Anita Baker,” Kim said. “She was instrumental in my decision to become a math teacher. Math wasn’t always my strongest subject, but she made it fun and approachable. She showed me that teaching isn’t just about the subject; it’s about loving students for who they are and meeting them where they are. Through her, I learned not only to love math, but also to love my students fully.”

Approaching four years of sobriety, Memorie Gilliam can hardly believe the life she has built for herself.

“I absolutely never dreamed of the life that I have today,” she said. Two years ago, she landed a full-time sales job in the oil and gas industry—“a very demanding job, but I love it,” she said. One year later, in September 2025, she was married, gaining not only a husband but also a fourth child.

Dr. Loren Robinson moved to Texarkana in September 2019 after accepting a job offer from CHRISTUS St. Michael—as their vice president of medical affairs. Six months later, the COVID-19 pandemic tested her mettle.

“I worked with an incredible interdisciplinary team throughout the pandemic here in Texarkana,” Loren said. She was tasked with establishing the hospital as one of the first vaccine hubs in the area. Beginning in December 2020, healthcare professionals and others eligible for first-round vaccination received the Moderna formulation. Loren led this initiative while pregnant with her second child.

Shaun Walker is known for her resilience—a trait she said she inherited from her grandparents. “My grandmother used to say, ‘I can live in Hell for a year if I know I’m getting out the next,’” she recalled. “And that stayed with me. It taught me that situations are temporary—but growth requires movement. If my story does anything, I want it to remind people of this: there is still a way forward.”

When PA Theresa Hebert transitioned to practicing alternative medicine, she faced pushback.

“One of the greatest challenges I’ve faced has been practicing a more integrated, root-cause approach to medicine in a smaller community where that mindset hasn’t always been widely accepted,” she said. “Early on, this approach wasn’t always embraced and at times led to criticism. But I stayed committed to what I knew was right for my patients—taking the time to educate, to look deeper, and to treat the whole person rather than just isolated symptoms.”

My crew is full of women—blood, step, adopted, and honorary. I’m the oldest of an all-girls family, and, at one point, even all of our pets were female. It’s always been loud, and my dad is always outnumbered unless his sons-in-law are around. You’d think that growing up around that much estrogen would be a tumultuous environment, but we’ve always thrived in it. My people are hilarious, genuine, and supportive. Our communal strength comes from years of cheering each other on, giving life advice, and being humbled in ways that only a sister can provide. These women shape how I see the world and myself.

One of the area’s largest and oldest service organizations began as a gathering of 28 likeminded women on February 26th, 1926. They were people of varying interests and talents who all held a strong interest in the social and cultural welfare of Texarkana. They became the charter members of the Junior League of Texarkana. Now, a century’s worth of women have followed in their footsteps, continuing their legacy of service and voluntarism.

Established in 1885, the Nash School closed its doors for good in 1963, when the area was incorporated into the Texarkana Independent School District. The school was on its third building: the first, a one-room schoolhouse, was destroyed by a cyclone in 1894. In 1904, a two-story structure was erected on Highway 82, and in 1924, it was replaced with a larger building to support more students.

Local entrepreneur Cody Peek had been eyeing the historic property for years when it came on the market in 2021. “The day the [for sale] sign went up in the front, I bought it,” he said. “I didn’t know what it was going to be, but I loved the building, and I loved the potential that the building had, and I hated the thought of it not being something cool.”

On any given day in Texarkana, you might pass a business with crisp new lines in its parking lot or notice that a once-faded pavement suddenly looks fresh again. More often than not, that transformation is the work of Kiteco Property Solutions, a locally-owned company that marks pavement, stripes roads, and mills asphalt.

But the story behind this business didn’t begin with heavy equipment or a growing team. It began with the determination of a first-generation immigrant and single mother who saw a gap in the market and decided to fill it.

“My style is rich, like a big piece of chocolate cake,” said Kyle Barrett, Texarkana/De Kalb native and president/cofounder of Barrett Bergmann Home. “I love the word ‘rich,’ but not in the form of money. I love for you to walk into a space, and it absolutely consumes you with good feelings. It makes you want to sit down with a glass of wine or an old fashioned. I love the richness of sitting in my wine room with six close friends, soaking up that fellowship—and I want everyone to have that feeling in their home. When you burn a candle or crawl into bed, I want you to feel like a piece of chocolate cake is being served in front of you. I want you to think, ‘Oh my, this is so rich.’”

You may or may not have heard that, in January, the US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health and Human Services published the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which is typically published every five years. This version is for 2025–2030. 

As your dietitian for the next few minutes, I’ll walk you through what the dietary guidelines are and what updates were made in this version, along with my thought process as I interpret them. 

From a landscape once defined by military operations, TexAmericas Center is helping shape a new chapter for the Texarkana region. Under the leadership of Scott Norton, executive director and CEO at TexAmericas Center, the organization is steadily transforming historic ground into a vessel for economic growth.