I was in a state of blissful ignorance when I ordered the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred on a late September day. I’d heard it was effective, but not much else. I lost my innocence in a hurry when I ran out and threw up in the middle of Day 1.

Yes, I did.

Obviously, that first day scared me a bit and I only did the workout 3 more times until a couple of weeks ago when a doctor’s appointment made me realize that I’m actually having health issues—primarily excessively swollen ankles, which can lead to blood clots—from lack of exercise. My doctor recommended walking 2 miles a day, but winter temperatures brought Jillian and the Shred (what does that mean, anyway?) to mind.

I watched the DVD counter carefully: it was somewhere between the 15- and 16-minute mark when my body decided it had had enough on that first day. When I finished and lived to tell, I posted it to Facebook, as I have every time since then. The crazy thing is that other ladies are jumping on the 30 Day Shred bandwagon with a growing number either ordering it or dusting off neglected copies.

It’s a personal victory every time I pass that 16-minute mark and it’s getting easier. I finish stronger than I start and my ankles improved by the second day.

I’d thought of starting a private Facebook exercise support group, but then we wouldn’t keep adding new members. We sometimes exceed 50 responses in the comment thread on a status update. It’s fun to laugh, compare notes, and encourage. Believe me, I need encouragement to keep slipping that DVD in the player each day.

I’ve currently punched and lunged and crunched and jump roped and chest flied/flew/flown and listened to Jillian talk about “phoning it in” for 7 days (not counting the original 4) until I think I could recognize a “false message of lethargy” just as quickly as the next gal.

I won’t name my fellow Shreders here, because there’s “no shame” in bailing (I turned that one around, didn’t I?).

Have you ever tried the 30 Day Shred? Did you finish? Did you switch to levels 2 and 3 or stay at 1? Are you doing it now? (Do you want to?)

[Yes, that's an affiliate link up there. If you decide to order the 30 Day Shred, feel free to click!] and my

The 30 Day Shred Facebook Support Group is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Create is the word that’s been on my heart recently and suddenly I see it everywhere. Creating was God’s first recorded act:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” ~Genesis 1:1

The New Testament begins with a description of Jesus Christ as the Word:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” ~John 1:1

Ideas are swirling around in my head incorporating graphics, photography, and words. I’m praying for the time, ability, and inspiration to create in this new year!

Do you have a particular word or resolution for 2012?

My Word for 2012: Create is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

I love the favorite things party idea guest post at Nester’s this week. At the bottom is a linky for posts about favorite (under $30) items, so I thought I’d play!

I am hopelessly addicted to Raspberry Lemonade Blast Blistex. It smells and tastes delicious (not that you’re supposed to eat your lip balm—which I don’t—but it does taste good). I don’t see it very often, so I snag some whenever I can!

Tazo Wild Sweet Orange is one of my very favorite hot teas (I’m not a coffee drinker). Do not confuse it with Tazo’s Orange Blossom tea, which is blech!

I love NYX’s Jumbo Eye Pencil in Yogurt. It’s smooth and creamy and a good everyday color, which also works well at night.

I discovered Goody’s DoubleWear Collection of ponytail bands/bracelets and headbands/ necklaces at Bloggy Boot Camp. A Goody’s rep stayed in the bathroom and doled out hair accessories all day. It was a brilliant marketing move and I seemed to leave with another pretty or functional item everytime I made a pitstop. My hair is too short now to use these as hair accessories, but I love them as jewelry!

You can’t beat $3.50 for a concealer that works! I love the Midas concealer from The All Natural Face. (I use some of their other products, too, but this is my favorite.)

I’m going to sink into a deep depression when we finish watching all the episodes of White Collar on Netflix. They’ve hit the magic formula: characters that you care about and a cast that really clicks.

Hop on over to Nesting Place if you want to read other lists or add yours to the linky!

What are some of your favorite inexpensive things?

Favorite (inexpensive) Things is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

When I made the last-minute decision to join the other 31 Dayers for October, and the even more last-minute choice of “real life” as a topic, I was concerned about having enough blogging material. Would my life—my. real. life.—be interesting enough to fill 31 days?

I really hoped so until last night, when it got a little too interesting.

Flashback: In August I was invited to a blog press day with the author, director, and two actresses from the The Help. I left the house just in time to make it into Atlanta, but forgot something and had to circle back home. I punched the gas when finally leaving my subdivision; unfortunately, a policemen waited half a mile down the road.

He promised to get me on the road again in a hurry. I hoped he’d see my record—only two tickets ever, one in high school and one in the early 90s—and send me on my way. Unfortunately, he just wrote up a ticket lickety split.

I needed a little help . . .

Once the initial fear/paranoia/repentance cycle wore off, I promptly forgot about it. October, the due date, seemed like an awfully long time away.

But guess what? October comes.

At the grocery store Thursday night I had the startling revelation that it was in fact October and that my ticket would be due soon. Afraid of forgetting again, I made a mental association: the thick chain necklace around my neck was like the chains of the law. Dramatic I know, but it worked. I found the ticket lying in my nightstand drawer where I placed it in August.

There may be 31 days in October, but apparently my court date zipped past me on the 4th. The back of the ticket said, in all caps: IF YOU FAIL TO APPEAR TO ANSWER THE CHARGE, A WARRANT WILL BE ISSUED FOR YOUR ARREST AND YOUR DRIVER’S LICENSE SHALL BE SUSPENDED BY THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF DRIVER SERVICES.

We called both a lawyer and a policeman, family friends, who assured us that this does happen. It didn’t really make me feel much better. “A warrant will be issued for your arrest” is an unsettling phrase, especially when it applies to you.

I imagined driving to the clerk’s office to pay the ticket and being cuffed. The hubby and I saw Courageous this week, so it was a good time to remind him that he was responsible for me (for better or worse, right?) and to please not dare go to work in the morning and leave me here afraid to leave the house.

He called a co-worker to explain the situation and they had a good laugh at my expense.

“So she’s on the lam,” his buddy joked to my husband.

That’s me. A fugitive from justice.

My husband called the county clerk’s house first thing in the morning and paid the ticket, the $65 late fee, and thankfully the 4% credit card processing fee to handle it immediately over the phone instead of through the mail, although they said he could.

I hope you won’t mind if 31 Days of Real Life is a little less exciting next week.

Have you ever forgotten anything this big?

31 Days of Real Life: On the Lam is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

I assign keywords to my photos upon import to my computer. My blog posts are given both tags and categories.

Years ago I received a bracelet as a gift with the word “inspire” on it. I saw it as a personal call to action in my rolls as a mother, homeschool teacher, blogger, and friend. Later I ordered another bracelet with the word engraved on it.

It makes me think every time I put it on my wrist, with the words facing me.

Have you ever thought about how you’d keyword or tag yourself? What are your descriptors?

One of My Tags: Inspire is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

I ordered each of my daughters one of my favorite tote bags, each in a different design, from DaySpring at the end of April because they were on sale. I later found out that these bags are on clearance—when they’re gone, they’re gone—so I ordered three more. Now I’m considering stocking up for teacher gifts for next year.

Here’s what they look like. Find them on this page at the DaySpring store (or click the pic). Originally $14.99, now you can snag ‘em for $5.99! The Veggie Tales and Really Wooly bags are slightly smaller (I ordered them for my 6-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son) and are on sale for $4.99.

The “compact eco-friendly bags” on that page are a great deal, too. They weigh next to nothing and roll up and snap together very small. I keep one in my purse and pull it out when I’m getting just a few things at the store. I just ordered a second one of those, too.

I like to stock up on DaySpring mugs for gifts, too. This red mug is one of my favorites.

New Product with my Quote!

There’s a new product at DaySpring with a quote from me on it. As you can imagine, I ordered it immediately! Check out the “Bless This House Handmade Block” and my video below for some giggles.

Great Deals and a New Product at DaySpring is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

My mother called winter clothes camouflage clothing. Jeans and turtlenecks don’t tell your secrets. They mask those extra pounds: the arms, legs, and tummy that didn’t benefit from a resolution to start exercising this January.

I’m having trouble getting excited about the warmer temperatures predicted for this week: tomorrow we’re on target for a record high. I didn’t even think to pull out last summer’s tube of sunless tanning lotion until this weekend. Nothing makes you look more trim and toned than a pseudo-tan, right?

Why are we women so hard on ourselves? You would think I would have to actually do something wrong to feel this ashamed. Do men do this to themselves?

This week I start walking. Are you ready for warmer temperatures?

Not Ready to Un-Camouflage is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

You may have noticed that I link to The Nester fairly often. Not only is she sweet, funny, and someone I consider a friend, she constantly inspires me to take risks. Sometimes just imagining you can do something you wouldn’t have thought possible is a risk in and of itself.

This week Nester has posted a linky for posts about taking risks. Lately, my “risks” have involved taking inventory of what my goals aren’t as much as what they are (and learning to accept the difference).

Since I got my first DSLR three years ago, I’ve been trying to cram myself into a mold of what I thought I was supposed to be, to do: start a portrait photography business and also sell stock photography. Were either of those comfortable or desirable to me? No. I just thought I was supposed to do that sort of thing if I invested my money in this gear and my time and energy in the pursuit of this knowledge.

{Reading Melissa’s eloquent description of starting a traditional photography business drove it home to me: if I don’t feel that way about it—and I don’t—that’s not what I need to be doing.}

What do I love? I love to teach, to encourage, to inspire. I love the feel of my camera in my hand; the sound it makes; getting the shot all wrong and analyzing and experimenting until I get it right; editing until the finished product fulfills, exceeds, or redefines my original vision.

I love shooting events, like BlissDom; love capturing moments that define relationships or people; love details, the sublime mundane.

What do I want? I want to tie the things I love together—words, images, and the desire to teach and inspire (the photo is of my bracelet, a visible prompt, a reminder).

I want to write a book.

(It’s strange to write or speak those words— they stick to my tongue or my fingertips on the keys—both thrilling and daunting at the same time.)

What would you want to see in a book about photography for you, the everyday photographer?

National {not really} Take a Risk Day with The Nester 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

I had braces when my husband and I met. I always say it’s one of the ways I knew it was true love, since he fell for me then.

I remember feeling a little persecuted that I didn’t get braces until my junior year in high school. Couldn’t we have done this earlier? “You didn’t need them then,” was the doctor’s reply.

(Notice the closed-mouth braces smile in my senior yearbook photo?)

Sr. Yearbook Photo

My top teeth weren’t bad, but the bottom ones had begun to sink back. I was already self-conscious about my nose. This made it much worse, especially in profile.

Our orthodontist was quirky; I remember his crazy quilted pants and offbeat office decor. My sister and I had braces at the same time.

Our high school had open campus at lunch, meaning we could go out to eat. After braces adjustments, when my mouth was sore, my girlfriends and I went to TCBY for yogurt. It seemed like a brilliant solution, but I’ll never forget the time when I ordered M&Ms on top. Frozen, hard-as-a-rock M&Ms. Ouch.

My braces were removed on a summer morning after my senior year. Afterward, I drove straight to my future husband’s house to show off my new, improved smile. I’m glad my parents were able to do this for me. It made such a difference in my appearance and confidence. I still wear a permanently attached retainer to keep those bottom teeth in place.

Best High School Friends

Win Invisalign Braces for Your Teen

Did you know that today’s teens have a modern, no wires and brackets choice for straightening their teeth? Invisalign Teen, a series of removable and virtually invisible aligners that gradually move teeth over time to help your teen achieve a great smile and proper bite, is a clear alternative to metal braces.

Invisalign Teen is offering one mom the chance to win a new smile—valued at up to $5500!—for her child. Visit Blissfully Domestic for contest rules and entry requirements. There are five ways to win!

Read more posts in this series!

• You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile @ Pensieve
• Just Smile @Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• On Insecurity. And the ugly teeth. @ Musings of a Housewife
• 6th Grade Dreams and a Lifetime of Reality @ Moosh in Indy
• The Power of a Smile @ A Southern Fairytale
• The Value of a Smile @ Jenny On the Spot
• Show Me Those Pearly Whites @ Sassy Irish Lassie

{Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Invisalign and BlissTV.}

Just Show ‘em Your Smile is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved