My journey as a driver began in reverse, no pun intended. Most of us initially drive a modest, new-driver kind of a vehicle while our parents quake at home, praying we—and the car—make it back in one piece. As an adult, I more fully appreciate the generosity of my daddy, who let me drive his ’73 Mustang, a car he ordered when Ford decided to quit producing them as convertibles (thankfully they returned again in 1983).

All the boys wanted to know what kind of engine sat under the hood, so I asked Daddy. From that day forward I’d answer, “a 351 Cleveland” as if fully understanding what that meant. Which I didn’t. I just knew that when you really gave it the gas it pulled back for a split second before surging forward in a delicious sort of a way. Not that I ever did that, but in theory I think that’s exactly how it would happen.

One day I asked, “Daddy, is the Mustang a hot car?” His response? “You tell me.” Yeah, I knew the answer to that one.

Good times.

Fast forward to the mid-80s when motherhood initiated the progression from mini- to maxi-van, as I call the 15-passenger I now drive. My E350 packs a lot of horsepower, but let’s just say I haven’t experienced the primal thrill that only a muscle car can deliver in well over two decades.

Until my trip to BlissDom.

When Chevy told me they’d sponsor a vehicle, I had no idea they’d offer a 2012 Camaro Convertible. A 2012 Camaro Convertible.

We spent one week together and I wish I’d counted how many people took a spin in her with me or my husband: the car is irresistible. Kids lined up in a restaurant parking lot one night when some homeschool families ate out together after classes and my husband rode them around the parking lot a few at a time until everyone had their chance.

One night I cruised through Nashville in it with a bunch of girlfriends and honestly, it felt like high school again in the very best sort of way, laughter and music and smiles all around.

Sara Sophia made the trip home to Atlanta with me and then my husband and I drove to Birmingham to pick up our son who flew from Dallas, TX, that day. I’ve never owned a car with a stereo like this, or one that can play music from my iPhone. My phone isn’t overloaded with music; I prefer to add songs that are special in some way.

I don’t have words to describe the three and a half hour trip home from Birmingham—the feel of gliding along the interstate at night, eyes closed, accompanied by songs I love the most—but I felt the magic in it and knew it was a night to remember.

The last tune was Home (When Shadows Fall) from Paul McCartney’s newest album Kisses on the Bottom. That song holds the power to make me cry, especially poignant as we neared home returning one of our own to the flock.

I can honestly say that hardly a day goes by that I don’t think about that sweet car. Fondly. When I see one on the road I smile and sigh.

It’s one dreamy ride.

I’ve joked about driving a convertible again someday when the kids are grown and gone. It’s not a mid-life crisis if you’ve planned it for years, right?

Thank you Chevy, so much, for a dream come true week for this van-driving mother of eight.

Daddy, is this a hot car? is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

1. Every guy needs a mushroom mustache, 2. @chevrolet has just made me a very happy camper & ensured an unforgettable ride to #BlissDom, 3. Sweet sitting behind the wheel of this Camaro. Thanks @chevrolet!, 4. Signs of spring, 5. @mera_koh is a breath of fresh air #blissdom @merakoh, 6. Lovin’ the photo talk from @mera_koh #blissdom @merakoh (waving @myfunkycamera), 7. #blissdom #loraxbliss @thelorax hanging with The Lorax, 8. Sitting here with the world changers. :) @sirobles @jessedlane @keelymarie @simplemom @thegypsymama, 9. Southern comfort: pulled pork, baked beans, mac ‘n’ cheese, cornbread

1. If you want to check out the new Tote & Shoot from @shootsac find me at #blissdom, 2. Rascal Flatts at #blissdom !, 3. Seeing friends (in)RL: priceless @simplemom @holleygerth @inspiredbryant @thegypsymama, 4. Instagram session at #blissdom with @jasonhudson & @thepanicroom, 5. @MilkMustache scrambled eggs & cheese & bacon w/a bagel (& Harrison, of course) #blissdom #getmilk, 6. Purty lemon centerpiece #blissdom, 7. @michaelhyatt at #blissdom, 8. The power of shoes #blissdom, 9. @hellosarasophia & I are cruising home in style from #blissdom thanks to @chevrolet

Fridays are a dear diary/camera phone sort of recap of the week’s events, where you’re invited to share your camera phone images in the linky at the bottom of the post, too. If you’ve written a post with camera phone photos, that’s great, but if you just want to link to one on flickr or elsewhere, well that’s fine.

I’m sad to say that last week I missed Camera Phone Friday for the first time in 52 weeks. This week I’ve been sick and my instagramming has been slim, so here are the shots from last week.

What did your camera phone capture this week?

Camera Phone Friday: Oops! I Missed a Week Edition is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

You didn’t think you were only getting a BlissDom recap with Smilebooth photos, did you? (But oh, weren’t they fun!) Here’s what my camera and I saw last week. I usually skip the watermark on photos that I’m in because I didn’t actually take them, but it looks like I flubbed a bit. Oh, well!

This was a big happy moment during the new BlissDom Handmade Marketplace when I first saw some of my (in)courage and DaySpring friends. And Annie(!), who finally returned to the U.S. after galavanting around an extended visit to Scotland.

As a Community Leader for photography, I was assigned to both of Me Ra Koh’s sessions, Shoot Like a Woman pt. 1 and 2. Golly, I loved her! The woman is smart, funny, genuine, and inspiring. That’s her husband in the middle picture; they are really cute together.

Yep, that’s Rascal Flatts. Joe Jonas sang before them, but that’s when Holley, Tsh, Lisa-Jo, Stephanie, and I were cruising through Nashville acting like teenagers in the Camaro (which will rate a post of its own) and eating Southern comfort food at Edley’s Bar-B-Que with in-the-know local and new friend Keely (who is responsible for the amazing photos you see from the Compassion Blogger trips).

These last four were just after Rascal Flatts, and then as we walked back through the Lorax-themed room, a splash of pink and yellow and orange and fuzziness.

These are from the Michael Hyatt session. I was excited to hear him speak and he didn’t disappoint.

I missed Camera Phone Friday last week, so I’ll cover two weeks tomorrow, and those photos will fill in the gaps!

BlissDom 2012 in Pictures is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

I‘ve always considered it a red flag when blogging starts to feel like high school. You know what I mean, right? The insecurity, competition, endless popularity contests. Last week at BlissDom, however, I experienced the flip side again—the freedom of youth mingled with the wisdom of experience.

Ugly emotions surface when you compare yourself to others, when you weigh your worth beside someone else’s and find yourself lacking. Here’s the thing: there will always be someone who does it better than you, whether it is write, photograph, craft, build brand relationships, or whatever.

But is comparison and competition really how adult friendships are formed?

And isn’t this ultimately about friendships?

Online friendships are forged in the comment box and the email conversation and the Skype room and the phone call, and cemented at conferences and local events and if you’re really, really lucky, while cruising the streets of Nashville listening to Paul Simon in a sponsored Camaro convertible with red racing stripes.

Or acting silly in a Smilebooth.

For me, this BlissDom conference wasn’t about keynotes, concerts, sponsor suites, and swag—although I certainly enjoyed them all—it was about connecting deeper and growing friendships that distance doesn’t diminish.

BlissDom 2012: Like High School, Minus the Angst is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

1. Valentine’s Math, 2. Where have you been all my life?, 3. David Oakleaf & the Open Road

You may have noticed that I was a lazy Instagrammer this week. Yes, I admit it. My iPhone has been the center a lot of attention this week (my attention, that is). The battery life has dropped dramatically over the last few months and I thought maybe it needed replaced, but a friend who works at the Apple Store said it’s usually software corruption and not battery issues. So . . . I made an appointment at the Genius Bar and we wiped my little phone clean (minus the contacts, which were reinstalled).

I was slightly traumatized but really excited about the possibility of my phone working as intended. It turns out the battery is fine and I haven’t maxed out a 32GB phone after all: the software corruption made it look full.

Unfortunately, when I synced the phone back up at home the problem started again, even through I only reinstalled about a third of my usual apps. Wednesday night I did a full restore from my home computer, even fewer apps reinstalled, same problem. Now I’m slowly deleting more apps trying to find the culprit. I wish I’d made a connection between an app newly added at the time the battery life decreased, but I just thought I’d caused the battery problem.

My phone feels a little nekkid now, but I’m hopeful I’ll find the culprit. And photos? I think there are currently 2 photos in my phone’s library (the last 2 in that collage). {sniff, sniff}

Speaking of the collage, that Land O Lakes Cinnamon Sugar butter spread is some heavenly stuff. I’ve eaten it on an English muffin with a cup of tea every morning since I discovered it at BJ’s.

That photo on the end is from a concert last night by David Oakleaf and the Open Road. David is my cousin’s boyfriend and a real sweetheart (talented, too). He’s got a new CD coming out in March!

Let the Bliss Begin!

BlissDom is a yearly highlight in my blogging world and this year marks my 4th BlissDom conference—I wouldn’t miss it! I’ll be a Community Leader for Photography. I wrote a pretty comprehensive post on my BlissDom experience last year, including videos of the FLASH MOB! (a year later and it still requires all caps)

Every year I do a BlissDom attendee-only giveaway and this year will be no exception. Watch for it!

I’m also giving a major shout out to Chevy who is SPONSORING ME A CAMARO CONVERTIBLE to drive!!!!! Obviously, that requires all caps, too. My kids keep asking me what color. I have no idea, I just know I’ll be jumping up and down and screaming thank you when it arrives.

I have no idea what I’m going to wear. When I finish this post I’ll do day 22 of the Jillian Michaels – 30 Day Shred (affiliate link!), so I’m definitely getting in shape. Weight loss? Not so much.

So that’s me at BlissDom this year: the girl with new muscles driving a muscle car. Mwah!

What did your camera phone capture this week? Link up a post or an individual photo on flickr or another site in the photo linky below!

Camera Phone Friday: One Week Until BlissDom Edition is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

I‘ve found that although memory is increasingly splotchy, I rarely forget a photo, the cement that holds moments and memories together. On this last day of 2011, I’m strolling through the year in images and revisiting the posts that illuminate them. I hope you enjoy it, too.

January

SNOW! (That’s big stuff in Georgia.)

Snow Ice Cream made me popular with my kids and the neighbors, too. (Click that link to learn how to make it.)

(in)courage gals at Blissdom

The BlissDom Flashmob (I cannot believe I was in not one, but two flashmobs this year!)

Facing Fiona (the healing is in the comments).

February

Father/Daughter Dance

March

Baseball Season Begins

Striking a Pose at the High Museum

April

Spring

Enjoying my New Lens

Field Day

Easter

May

A Baptism on Mother’s Day

A Team that Prays

Spring Concert

Strawberry Picking

Memorial Day

June

Year End Carnival with Homeschool Group

A Graduation

The Instagallery (in 5 1/2 years of blogging, this is currently my most popular post ever)

Blood, Sweat, and Song in Alabama (part 1 & part 2)

July

Homegating

Homeschool Heroes at the Southeast Homeschool Expo

August

Lake Time

Family Time and Meeting a New Cousin

Disney Summer Social

September

The Hubs (and three friends) Ordained as Deacons

(in)courage Girls in Hilton Head

Mother/Son Outing

Worldwide Photo Walk

October

Disney on Ice

The Relevant Conference

November

Veterans’ Day

Thanksgiving

December

Straight No Chaser Concert

Christmas

The Defense of the Faith Seminar at Church

If you made it this far, you’re probably a member of my family thanks for hanging in there with me! Going through my flickr stream made me realize how much I love seeing the Instagram (camera phone) photos from the year, too. They’re less a record of the big events and more of the day-to-day.

Can you believe tomorrow is a new year? Did you capture this one in photos?

2011: A Year in Pictures is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

I love BlissDom, where blogging moms feel like rock stars for four days. In an everyday life filled with cooking, cleaning, laundry, and homeschooling, it’s a fun and welcome change of routine. (Thanks Alli and Barbara!)

One of my boys—my oldest child at home—turned 16 that week so I took him with me. It was a no-brainer: be a loser mom who misses her son’s 16th birthday or a cool mom who takes her son on a four-day trip to Opryland Hotel in Nashville. I am so thankful for the fine folks at DaySpring who not only gave him a job while he was there, but provided him with food, friends, and male fellowship in the sea of estrogen that is BlissDom.

That’s us being silly on the way back to our room after the (in)courage beach house party, which I told him was in honor of his birthday.

DaySpring and (in)courage

Speaking of DaySpring and the second annual (in)courage beach house party, they had a gorgeous suite full of products, which they gave away both during and after the event. My son loved the “Everything is Beautiful” canvas on the top row of this collage, so it’s ours now.

I can hardly describe what a blessing it is to be part of something like (in)courage. Not only is there a strong sense of community in the website itself, but among the authors as well. I love spending time with these women and I’m looking forward to good things in store for (in) this year.

Journey of a Flat Friend

My buddy Sprittibee couldn’t make it this year—her new baby bee was born just three days after the conference ended—but I took her along with me in spirit. “Flat Heather” had a great time!

Sponsors

BlissDom’s sponsors ROCK!

I participated in focus groups with Freschetta Pizza and Unilever’s Don’t Fret the Sweat campaign on Saturday. After years of buying the cheapest name brand pizza that I could find, I have now given myself approval to indulge in adult pizza, too. Freschetta had both a scientist and a chef who spoke to us about their production process and I’m impressed, especially with the taste.

The Brick Oven Spinach and Mushroom pizza is to die for.

I shot a BlissTV segment for Unilever with author Rosalind Wiseman, but it’s too soon to know if any of my interview will make it into the finished product. I brought home Rosalind’s book Queen Bees and Wannabees, which looks like an interesting read.

Photographic Evidence

I even have proof that I was there! I’m so glad I passed my camera around and got some photos with these lovely ladies: Jenn, Ruthanne, Melissa, Edie, Abby, Amber, Sara, and Ashleigh.

Jenn is a fellow Quaver Advisory Council Blogger, and Abby is their PR whiz who brought us on board.

Like my fake curls?

THE FLASH MOB!

The experience of BlissDom this year was THE FLASH MOB! Around 90 of us were part of a secret Facebook group that contained videos, individual “wave” info, and everything else needed to pull off an Improv Everywhere-style event.

At the end of the closing keynote by Unmarketing’s Scott Stratten, Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA” started playing and the flash mob began. We popped up dancing in multiple “waves” throughout the double ballroom. I was in the second, or blue wave.

At one point we all moved toward the front of the room, into the space between the stage and the front tables, and that’s where we finished the song. It was just a phenomenal experience, an adrenaline rush!

Kudos to Jana for recording the videos, organizing this, making us believe we could do it. She truly enabled a dream-come-true moment for a lot of women.

Because I can’t get enough BlissDom flash mob, here are two versions, edited and unedited:

BlissDom ’11 Buzzword: Vulnerability

If I had to summarize the “theme” of BlissDom this year, it would be vulnerability. Brene Brown, opening keynote speaker said, “When you tie yourself to what people think, you lose the capacity to be vulnerable.”

I can say without question that I have allowed a fear of vulnerability to inhibit what I write in this space.

Scott Stratten’s closing keynote was excellent, too, with quotes like “It’s not my job to tell my market HOW to consume my product. I just want them to consume it.”

This post has turned into a compilation of all the smaller BlissDom recaps I could have written.

If you attended BlissDom, what was your favorite moment?

Following My Bliss is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
~Psalm 98:4

In November I wrote about the top secret trip that I took, working with a new music brand. Finally, the time has come to spill the beans!

A group of music professionals and a few blogging, homeschooling moms were brought together as an advisory council for a new music program, Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music. While Quaver was unknown to us and the public in general, this amazing group of musicians, producers, and technical wizards had been crafting the program for years.

They treated us to a fun getaway weekend in Nashville; picked our brains; fed us fine Southern cooking at B.B. King’s Blues Club; and gifted us with cool Quaver jackets and iPads for everyone!

I consider myself blessed to have been asked to contribute feedback when Quaver reached that point in its development.

I would like to introduce you to Graham Hepburn, the inspiration and embodiment of Quaver itself. Graham is guest posting for me today while I’m at BlissDom.

At the bottom of this post I’ll tell you how you can win a Quaver kit if you’re a BlissDom attendee.

BlissDom protects its conference sponsors, as it should. There’s no promoting of other brands there. After BlissDom, Quaver will be giving away a music program kit to an attendee. To be entered in the contest, just give your business card to Abby Barnhart, @dearabbyleigh on Twitter. Exchanging business cards is A-OK!

Abby is pictured on the right next to me in this photo.

What’s Quaver all about? Take a look!

Connect with Quaver Online:

• Website (site launch soon!)
• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube

31 Days of Encouragement: Make a Joyful Noise {Day 26} – a special guest post and a Quaver Music giveaway is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

The winners of the giveaway are:

• Alison at aPearantly Sew (God’s Heart for You necklace)
• Cyndi Spivey at Walking in His Grace (One Thousand Gifts)
• HopefulLeigh (One Thousand Gifts)
• Oh Amanda! (Mr. and Mrs. Mugs)

Ladies, just find me at BlissDom to claim you prize. I look like the picture there in the sidebar, only much less Photoshopped.

Winners of the BlissDom-Only Giveaway from DaySpring is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
~Psalm 119:114

This week’s BlissDom conference is the kind of environment that can open up our stored insecurities: new people, environment, situations. For some, it’s their first conference or trip that they’ll make alone.

God can provide us with a hiding place, safety and shelter from the troubles of the world.

I hope that I can be a safe place to stop and talk, for someone who needs it.

Please visit the other ladies participating in 31 Days of Ministry Online at A Woman Inspired:

• Amy Bayliss – 31 Days of Heart Matters
• Karin – 31 Days of Intentional Parenting
• Jen – 31 Days of Social Media
• Lisa Boyd – 31 Days of WordPress
• Karen Lewis – 31 Days of Praise
• A Martha Heart – 31 Days of Prayer

Links to all posts in this series, by topic, can be found here.

31 Days of Encouragement: A Hiding Place {Day 25} is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved