This weekend’s She Speaks Conference was both a surreal and a “coming home” sort of experience. Surreal, in the sense of hanging out with well-known bloggers, writers, and speakers; comfortable in meeting other women - the bloggers - who are interested in and familiar with the same things that I am. In how many social settings could I engage in meaningful conversation about IP addresses? You tell me.

The day started with a four hour drive, arriving just in time for a lunch date at Chili’s with Robin, Valerie, and Lisa. We got our I-don’t-actually-know-anyone jitters out of our systems, a perfect ice-breaker before heading to the conference.

Robin and I have emailed back and forth a lot and even talked on the phone once, so I was psyched about getting to meet her. We recognized each other immediately and really clicked. Amazingly, we were signed up for exactly the same sessions throughout the weekend.

Friday afternoon’s bloggers’ reception was the perfect way to put faces with fellow bloggers (around 100 of us) in the sea of 560 conference attendees. I met 14 ladies whose blogs I’ve designed, as well as 4 who are presently in my queue. Sophie (BooMama), Shannon (Rocks in My Dryer), and Melanie (Big Mama) were the featured speakers for 3 blogging sessions throughout the weekend.

Shannon and I are originally from towns about 40 miles apart in Arkansas. We could have Called the Hogs, but that might have frightened people.

Renee Swope (The Journey of My Heart & HeBrews Faith Cafe) was one of my earliest P31 clients.

Sophie was every bit as sweet and Southern as expected. What a precious and witty woman, capable of using the word “organic” intelligently in a sentence without referring to food items. She brought the house down during the Blogging Q & A when she referred to “pimping your post”!

Being Lysa TerKeurst’s blog designer is certainly one of the claims to fame of my little SAHM web design business, Barefoot Blog Designs. After all the calls and emails, it was a sweet meeting. Not only is she an inspirational speaker, she has a gift for making others feel special and valued, and that’s no small thing.

This is a group shot, and in order from left to right are yours truly, Shannon @ Rocks in My Dryer, Jo-Lynne @ Musings of a Housewife, Big Mama, Annie Downs, BooMama, Robin @ Pensieve, Valerie @ Valerie at Home, Lisa B. from Simply His, and Sarah @ Genesis Moments.

There was a block of time on Saturday afternoon when the speakers and writers had meetings, but we bloggers were at loose ends. What it created was a perfect opportunity for the “seasoned” bloggers to pull together some tables, pick each other’s brains, and discuss topics that would have been beyond the scope of the sessions.

Oh, and to gab, too. Bloggers have more than the average share of words per day, which is why we blog some of them, thereby sparing our families.

My husband confiscated the laptop for the weekend, telling me that I needed to be a normal person. In this crowd, the absence of a laptop was not normal, so that one backfired on both of us.

Heady with new friendships and a touch of silliness, we hit the local outlet mall, where we tried on outrageously expensive shoes in Off 5th. From left to right: DeeDee @ Fiddledeedee, Missy @ It’s Almost Naptime, me, Tina @ Antique Mommy, and Robin @ Pensieve. I don’t know about the other ladies, but I couldn’t have lasted 5 minutes in those painful-but-pricey heels

I have to tell you, meeting Tina was a thrill for me because she is one of my favorite writers. Missy was cute as can be and totally tops me in the childbirth category; she has 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year olds!

DeeDee and I snagged a last minute photo op with Marybeth Whalen and realized that all of us are scheduled to speak at the Heart of the Matter Online Virtual Conference. [At this point I could probably say we're scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention and no one would notice since I've probably lost 95% of the people who started reading this increasingly long post.]

Marybeth is my ticket to this P31 ride. She contacted me a week and a half before last year’s conference about designing her blog, and the rest has been blessing upon blessing showered upon me by these kind and generous women.

We had a relaxed visit in my room Saturday night with our feet propped up and our hair down, so to speak, which is entirely natural considering how much we have in common: homeschooling moms, well-known authors and speakers, lots of kids, authors for the Homeschool Blog Awards, Southerners. Meeting her was one of the great treats of the conference for me.

My calendar is marked for next year’s conference.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the blogger portion continues to expand. Wouldn’t a blog conference for Christian women be an amazing thing?

For more summaries, visit the blogs of the other She Speaks attendees.

Mother’s Day has stirred thoughts about the mothers in my life, past and present. My mother passed away 4 years ago in March. I still miss her. In some ways I am very much like her, in others not as much. She was very visual, like I am, and had strong opinions about what constituted “tacky” (or in some cases, “high tacky”!). Although my tastes in color and design are often bolder and more adventurous compared to the more conservative and delicate ones that she preferred, I know I am very much governed by the internal “tacky meter” she passed on to me. I think it’s helped me in my blog design business.

My sister and I always loved this picture of Mother; I don’t know her exact age, but I would say early to mid-20s. She looks so glamorous, doesn’t she?

This picture shows “The Golden Girls” - my Aunt Thelma, Grandmother, and Aunt Mayme. They’ve all passed on, but their imprint on my life will live on as long as I do. I just wish I had written down all of their family recipes!

This is my Aunt Linda, possibly the only person who reads this blog daily (Hi, Aunt Linda!). She is my mother’s sister and a grandmother figure to my children. Her daughter, Laura, is like a sister to me.

Here is my mother-in-law from last Christmas, pictured with my dad. She hasn’t been able to visit for a few months because her house is for sale and she’s spending a lot of time taking care of her parents in Kansas. She is a real sport and tags along to all of our ball games, classes, music lessons, etc. when she’s here.

Last, but not least is my new stepmother, Frankie. My dad’s wedding at the end of March is one of the big events that I’ve been meaning to post here (along with our father/daughter dance). I’m not sure how in the world this happened, but there was a fluorescent lighting filter on my camera lens at the wedding, so all the pictures have a red tint. That pretty much explains why I haven’t posted. I can’t tell a story without pictures, and it will require an extended appointment with Photoshop to doctor all 186 of them from that day.

Frankie is a beautiful lady both inside and out, and we all love hear dearly. It is sweet to see how excited my kids are to have her as their new grandmother. She makes my daddy happy, which means a lot to me.

Speaking of weddings, my sister is getting married IN TWO WEEKS! I am so incredibly happy for her and Steve. This is just after she caught the bouquet at Daddy and Frankie’s wedding. I am taking pictures at the wedding so feel free to leave me links to any great wedding photography sites or blogs. I need inspiration and ideas!

My Mother’s Day was extra special today. I saw all of my children, including my oldest who no longer lives at home. Here am I with my 2 oldest boys. Handsome aren’t they?

This was my first Mother’s Day gift, a day early during a nature hike. We were told that these are rare azaleas native to our area. They made a sweet bouquet from a sweet little girl (who complained to me this week when she didn’t see any pictures of herself on the blog).

This was a special note I found waiting for me in the dirt yesterday. I was last in our party at the end of our walk, lagging behind taking pictures, if you can imagine that. Can you read it?

Visit my photoblog for a picture of my youngest sweetheart from yesterday.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

When my daughter spilled today’s mail across my bed this morning, the first thing that caught my eye was an envelope from Robin (Pensieve). I won one of her contests last week during the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival! Look at my awesome goodies: $10 Starbucks giftcard & Mary Engelbreit surcies.

I confess I spent quite some time rummaging through Robin’s archives searching for a definition of the word “surcee.” I found that there are several ways to spell it and that it’s a very Southern term, which obviously means I needed to learn it, now didn’t I?

If you haven’t visited Pensieve, Robin’s blog is a lot of fun and very interactive. We “met” when we discovered that we share George Clooney as our “celebrity soul mate” (some goofy quiz), but we keep finding additional things we have in common. I can almost guarantee we’ll meet IRL someday.

Next I saw that I had an envelope from Compassion International with “Message from Your Sponsored Child” printed on the outside! In February I told about Guadalupe, the little girl we’ve recently sponsored. Although I’ve written and sent a picture, this is the first contact we’ve had from her. The letter was actually written by Guadalupe’s (or Lupita, as her mother calls her) mother, since she is only 3-years-old.

I was reading aloud to the kids, but when I got to “For Lupita and for me it was a great joy to know she has a sponsor. It is an answer from God,” I got all choked up and couldn’t continue. How many opportunities do I have to make such an impact on another person’s life? I know that Guadalupe and her family benefit much more from our $32 a month than we would. I also discovered that Guadalupe has a twin brother. I wonder if he has a sponsor?

The most touching thing was the picture drawn on the back of the letter. What a treasure! I love how excited our whole family is about this little girl so many miles away from us.

To find our more about sponsoring a child through Compassion International, click the button in my right sidebar or follow this link.

My 7-year-old daughter (a.k.a. Drama Queen) and her girlfriends at church often make plans to wear matching clothes on Sunday morning. She doesn’t understand why my friends and I don’t do the same thing. Last week it looked like we did. Black and white - often combined with polka dots - seemed to be the theme of the day among the ladies at church. It looked so amazingly well-planned and coordinated that one of my dearest friends, Michelle, nabbed three of us and we stepped out behind the church where her 7-year-old daughter (yea, Syd!) took a couple of pictures. The truly amazing thing is that Michelle presented us with framed, cropped, sepia-tinted photos this Sunday morning. Do I have great friends, or what?

My mother always told my that being nice matters, and I guess it’s true! I am pleased and honored to receive this award from Marybeth at Cheaper by the Half Dozen and Melanie at Queen of a Disney Castle.  Thanks ladies!

I never imagined that my blog would become a barren wasteland once my design business picked up steam, but that seems to be the state of things lately. Yes, I am alive and well and going to try to catch up a bit:

Amber at Trust in the Lord awarded me the Rockin’ Girl Blogger award, although she actually said: “I chose Dawn because she is a Rockin’ designer!”  Thanks, honey!

Someone (I don’t know who) nominated my blog to display the Fruit of the Spirit graphic, which you now see displayed in my sidebar. I am very touched by this, and don’t even know who to thank. Later I will write a more detailed post about it and what it means to me.

Last but not least, Brenda tagged me for a Random 7 Meme - prepare to be randomized!

1. I never would have thought of this until Brenda mentioned it on her list, but my shoe size is the same as my dress size.
2. My husband has asked me out on a date for tomorrow night tonight, which means there is an 99.9% chance I will be eating at Chili’s or Mexican.
3. One of my most recent blog designs, www.marybethwhalen.com, was inspired by a table promotional piece at Chili’s. Friends and family who have eaten with me there in the past few months can testify that I would pick up this particular item and study it intently, determining how to utilize the concept in a blog design. It was just a matter of time.
4. Our family could be making a big announcement soon (no, it’s not baby #9!) . . .
5. It is entirely possible that three members of my family will be getting married by the end of next year.
6. I am addicted to fonts and clip art.
7. I am currently on a mission to get people to update their web browsers. Mozilla Firefox rules!

The most quoted line in Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” is “Good fences make good neighbors.” If you read the entire poem, however, you’ll find that Frost begins with “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” and later writes:

He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors’.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
‘Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down.’

I am thankful for neighbors who look out for us; feed our dog when we’re out-of-town; invite the kids over to play; stand in the street, enjoying the kids and passing the time with us. My oldest daughter and I spent four hours in the emergency room early Thursday morning. We didn’t get home until 5 a.m. The next morning the younger kids were wired because Mommy was out of commission. I had my eleven-year-old get the little ones dressed and take them to one of our neighbors to see if they could play there with some adult supervision while my daughter and I got some sleep. Not only did they stay and play, she took them to McDonald’s for lunch!

Galatians 5:14

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.