By far, the very best thing about being at Blissdom this weekend has been connecting.

Connecting with friends.

Connecting with readers.

Connecting with some of my very favorite bloggers.

And getting to know all of them a little bit better.

I am so impressed with so many of the people that I met and how real and genuine they were.

Here are some of the people I met and was brave enough to ask for a picture with….

Amy from Mom’s Toolbox is such an amazing person. She has been such an encouragement and a real friend to me for a long time. I absolutely adore her!

Amy has started and hosted Reading the Bible in 90 Days, which has been such an amazing adventure. On Friday morning, some of the Bible in 90 Days readers got together for coffee. Here we all are (back row) Allean C., Kimberly of Raising Olives, Toni of The Happy Housewife, Melissa of Multi-Tasking Mama, Cheryl of Advenures of a Somewhat Crunchy Mama, (front row)Aubrey of Freeman Bits, me,  Amy, Connie of Smockity Frocks and Mandy of Pennies and Blessings.

Kim of Mom Tried It is another amazing personwho has some of the best ideas ever on her blog! She brought a sweet gift for Jenny, a pair of pink cowboy boots. Those sweet boots are Jenny’s very first present. Thank you so much Kim!

Kimberly of Raising Olives, an amazing homeschooling mom of soon to be ten, and Connie of Smockity Frocks, another amazing and homeschooling mom of soon to be eight, were able to get our pictures before the Savvy Blogging event.

Connie was my roommate along with Liz of Hoosier Homemade. She is one of the most down to earth people I’ve ever met…ever!

I just cannot tell you enough how impressed I was with Amy of Amy’s Finer Things. She is unbelieveably real and authentic to who she is. I admire her even more than I already did if that’s even possible! I feel like I need to thank her…just for being her.

Lora Lynn of Vitafamiliae is one of the bloggers that I have read for the longest. I adore her, her writing, her family, her parenting, her blog.

And lastly, but definitely not leastly, is Erin of Closing Time. Erin has been a reader and an incredible encouragement to me for so long! Erin didn’t actually attend Blissdom, but she was able to come to a meet-up with some Christian women bloggers at TGI Fridays. Being able to meet her was such a blessing to meet her and chat with her. It really gave me an appreciation for being able to connect with you all.

Building and making these connections was the best part of the weekend…truly something that I will hold on to forever!

Well, this is the last night of the Blissdom conference as I’m sitting in my hotel room reflecting and actually enjoying a little bliss.

This weekend has been so full.

And fun.

And busy.

And at times overwhelming.

I’m looking forward to sharing more about it with you over the next few days.

I’ve made some important decisions and had some thins confirmed within my spirit.

Things about this blog and where I see it going, or not going, even.

I have learned a lot….so much!

But I am ready to get back home.

To this

And this

And why didn’t I take a picture of MC before I left???

I’m ready to get back to her too.

And I’m ready to see my husband, my very best friend, and tell him all about it.

I’m ready to get back home and experience my true bliss….being with my family and loving on them.

The following is a guest post from my good friend Ann at Housewife6Diva who is hosting a Blissdom Bloghop this weekend!

When my sister and I moved out of the house, my mother photocopied all her favorite recipes and put them into a sturdy photo album binder.  There are all kinds of family recipes from our homemade ‘Road Trip’ Chex Mix, to Almond Biscotti, and even a photo copy of an “M&M Specials” Cookie recipe in my own second grade handwriting…

Over the years I have also added countless recipes from magazines and websites.  Unfortunately, many amazing cooking blogs and websites do not have printable or printer friendly recipes.

Here is my solution!

Whenever I find a wonderful recipe online, I copy/paste the text into a Word document.  I then, copy/paste the web address, along with the header image or their blog button image – this way when I’m cooking I remember what website I found the recipe on… and sometimes I borrow a picture of the finished product.

I have found this to be a great way to organize my recipes too because I never forget which website they came from – and because I include the web address, I can share them with easily with friends!

(Note: all the blog images are borrowed and not reproduced or sold in any way – that would be a copyright infringement!)

How do you organize your recipes?

How do you print out your favorite recipes from the web?

Thanks, Ann, for posting this great tip!!

Last weekend, I gave Will fingerpaint and let him play in it to his heart’s content.

After just one look at the mess when he finished, my husband declared this to be my Friday Fail!

Visit My Blessed Life for more Friday Fails.

This is just a quick post to let you know that there will be no Friday Favorites this week.

I just don’t know what kind of time I’ll have to post while at Blissdom.

Those of you that aren’t going to Blissdom, be sure to check out the Blizzard Bloghop over at Houshold 6 Diva.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Yes, as the sign says, “I’m going, Y’all!”

I’m really am going….and really, I cannot believe it!

Blogging has meant so much to me over the past couple of years. It has been a way to build community, to communicate with family, to develop hobbies, to share the ups and downs of life, to grow in my faith, and so much more.

Before leaving Germany, I had a several things that I was really looking forward to upon arriving back in the states…going to the Blissdom blogging conference in Nashville was one of the biggest of them.

And I am actually leaving in the morning!

Someone may have to pinch me before I’m going to actually believe that this is truly happening.

This has been a crazy week around here and at times I have wondered if I was crazy myself for even considering leaving my husband and children to go have fun at a blogging conference, of all things!

Thankfully things have settled down.

My mom arrived here yesterday to babysit EA, MC, and Will while my husband is at work.

Everyone is {finally} staring to feel better from this cold that’s been passed around our home.

My bags are packed…mostly anyway.

But the butterflies and insecurities are still here.

And, no, I did not accomplish everything I had planned to for the big trip.

But I decided to let some things go in order to focus on just having fun and enjoying my first blogging conference.

There is so much to learn and so many new {and old} friends to meet!

Tomorrow morning I will begin a much awaited adventure.

If you’re not able to go, stay tuned, I will be posting as much as I can from Blissdom. And if I’m too busy enjoying life to blog it, then I’ll be sure to have lots to fill you in on when I get back home.

And if you will be there, I cannot wait to meet you!!