For many different reasons and with much excitement, I’ve decided to set up a Facebook Fan Page. So often, people will write and say “I read your blog all the time …”. I’m completely flattered and so appreciative. I enjoy what I do and am happy that someone other than my family is stopping by!

We all have something to share and many times a blog can be very one-sided. I really hope the Fan Page will allow us to have dialogue and actually discuss issues instead of it just being my opinion on the matter.

Don’t worry, we’ll be doing more than discussing posts! I’ll share savings tips, hot sales, celebrity tidbits, and current events. I want you to feel free to post these things too. Oh, and don’t forget the giveaways and product reviews. They’ll be linked to the Fan Page as well.

So what are you waiting for? Hop on over … I hope you “LIKE” it there.

Many times in a natural disaster you can say “Well, unless you’ve been under a rock, you’ve heard about …” But, actually, this time – it seems a lot of people HAVEN’T heard what is going on in Tennessee.

Life is not good for one going through a disaster when the media is bombarded with two other HUGE news stories at the same time. They started the day with the oil spill in the gulf and about the time that TN went belly-up, the bomb was found in Times Square.

This is a picture of the house where we lived in Nashville. Thankfully, water never got inside. It lacked about 5-6 inches.

I lived in Nashville for nearly 7 years. When I talk about “going home,” I’m usually talking about Tennessee – even though it’s not technically my home. I loved the time that I lived there and many dear friends are still in the area.

Moving 15 hours away, I’m dependant on Facebook to keep connected. I’ve seen millions of pictures and posts of neighbor helping neighbor. It’s awesome to see, but anyone that has lived through a disaster knows … the worst is yet the come. Families facing clean-up, loss of possessions, jobs that are no more – the list is endless.

How can you help?

Text RED CROSS to 90999 and make a $10 donation from your cell phone! Nashville Area Red Cross is providing shelter to over 1,200 in the Middle Tennessee area. Relief work will be on-going!

Me & Heather Armstrong (Dooce)

I’ve been blogging since 2004 and somehow I’ve managed to never attend a blogging conference. I’ve seen all the posts and nearly die with envy every time as I see pictures popping up like wild on Twitter … but it’s  never worked out for me to leave work and family to attend.

With the Mom 2.0 Summit being [practically] in my backyard, I really wanted to go. There were some early conflicts that kept me from purchasing a ticket, so I had  counted out the possibility of this being “my first conference”. Some last minute changes opened up my schedule, but by that point, the ticket price was outrageously high. It was WAY past the Early Bird discount date, and even coupled with not having to stay in a hotel, it was still out of my reach. I was so disappointed.

Less than 24 hours before the first session began, I was sponsored. My sweet friend heard of a sponsor with an open ticket and put us in contact. It was a complete fluke that it worked out and even more crazy that it was a company that I had used religiously throughout both of my pregnancies. Amen. {More on this amazing company soon!}

I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. I mean, I thought I knew, but until you are actually there – you really don’t know. The Mom 2.0 Summit had three tracks to pick from. One was a personal track (I chose that one), one was a professional track (I’d chose this one if I had it to do again), and the third was for business people (product oriented).

Me, Heloise, & Sarah (@mainlinemom)

Friday’s summit began with a special keynote with Gretchen Rubin and Heloise. Yes, that Heloise … the one with the helpful hints in the society pages of your newspaper. She was lovely … as was Gretchen.

I did three sessions on Friday. All of them were very useful. It was great for me that they primarily focused on writing! I’d taken a conference day and needed to be able to say that I honestly got 8 hours worth of content! I learned so much about writing, community, and engagement. It’s something that I’m really striving for within my blog, but also REALLY working for in my day job. Our team spends a lot of time on these concepts and we are getting ready to have to face these topics again.

This is DEFINITELY me before riding in the Weinermobile

The highlight of Thursday, if we’re being completely honest, was riding in the Weinermobile. I mean, who woulda thunk that the Weinermobile would be available for our group. Too funny … or actually Bun Believeable!

Friday began with a keynote panel with Heather Armstrong, Gabrielle Blair, and Maggie Masongie. It was incredible. They shared, what to me, were next steps for where I’m at right now. I would have paid dearly to have been able to crawl into their heads for even more time. They were candid, funny and charming. I so appreciated their advice and mentor-like attitude.

The sessions on Saturday were not as strong for me although I did enjoy them all. (It was more the subject matter that wasn’t my favorite.) There was a live Twitter stream in every room. With several of the sessions, I could see tweets from other conference rooms and thought “crap … I should have done that session.”

I think I am at a odd crossroad with my blog and job. I could have easily fit into several tracks here. I needed a clone.

With that said, I have now learned that it’s easier to decide what conference is for you after you attend one. I now know what sessions really resinated with me and which ones are still challenging me days later. In the future, I’ll look for conferences that are catered that direction. There are a zillion great conferences out there now … I can’t wait to really dig into the offerings.

I would recommend Mom 2.0 Summit. It was well-run and completely organized. The speakers were top-notch. Even the sessions that weren’t my favorite were led by completely qualified and engaging women. The entire experience was very inspiring and motivating.

Now … to put it all into practice!

Enjoy this video – a highlight of my weekend.

Many of you know that Don and I have a long history with the Marching Arts. He still teaches competitive drumline and I, after teaching color guard fulltime for 18 years, now just dabble in it on occasion.

Last weekend, I began seeing many Facebook posts from former students saying things like “Pray for Hodge”. I finally put enough information together to know that he was a Page High School student that played in the drumline, but couldn’t ever get any additional information.

Today, almost by accident, I found a link to his CaringBridge site. CaringBridge is the most incredible website for conveying hospital information. Parents and family members can update friends around the world of breaking information and there is a place for photos. It’s such an amazing way for people to stay on top of current patient news without crowding the waiting room … which can sometimes be a problem.

Today, as I was looking at Matt Hodge’s CaringBridge site which is written and updated by his dad, I was able to see Matt’s picture. In his snapshot, I saw hundreds of drummers that I’ve taught before. His accident could have happened to anyone and it could have been one of my former students.

The thing that struck me more than anything else was … he was someone’s son. That could be my child laying in that hospital bed one day and I would be begging people to drop to their knees and pray for his health to be restored.

That’s what I’m asking you to do today. Pray for Matt Hodge.

Last week, I wrote on being intentional when you pray for your child. Tim Hodge, Matt’s father, tells of several things that students are doing to be intentional about remembering to pray for Matt. I wanted to do something myself, and I didn’t have to go far before I knew what it would be.

Tim Hodge works for BigIdea. Yes, the same BigIdea that does VeggieTales. He’s been a longitme writer/director for them. Every night as he’s drifting off to sleep, my son Avery listens to the VeggieTales CD “Boyz in the Sink – Live from Paducah!” I bought this CD because I used to live in Paducah … now I know that God is using this CD, that my son treasures, as a reminder for me pray for someone else’s little boy.

Let’s all join together to lift up this entire family!

I’m sure all of you have heard about the terrible monorail accident at DisneyWorld this weekend. Our hearts have been broken for all involved. It’s so sad.

I can’t imagine anyone loving DisneyWorld more than our family. I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve been. I’m thinking that the kids have been 4 times in their life so far … which is not bad considering we live 15 hours away by car. Avery loves the monorail so much that we actually own a monorail … it takes up half the gameroom floor when it’s out, but we spung for the full set! Heck, I’ve wondered how we could buy extra track and have it mounted to the ceiling!

Avery and our first Monorail Pilot

We’ve loved riding in the front of the monorail. It’s a thrill that I’m so glad we got to experience.We’ve assumed that DisneyWorld (and their insurer) will cease that practice.

From the mom of a little boy who’s dream is to one day drive the monorail to the family and friends of the monorail pilot that was killed … my deepest sympathies. We’re so so sorry for your loss.

To see Austin Wuennenberg in action, watch this video! What an awesome kid … definitely perfect for his job!

One year ago today, many of us stayed glued to our computers as we heard of the tragedy surrounding Steven Curtis Chapman’s family. In the blink of an eye and in a horrible accident, their precious little Maria was gone. I know that I, for one, will never forget that day.

During that time, I pondered why God would let a tragedy strike such a remarkable family? I wondered what I would do if such a horrendous thing were to happen to me? I hoped that my faith would be as strong as theirs and that I would rest in the assurance that my child was back with her Father.

I have followed the Chapman’s on their journey. I read the People magazine article and watched the Larry King interview. I prayed for the family to experience nothing but joy as their oldest daughter, Emily, was married, and hoped for a spirit of thanksgiving as they married off their son, Caleb, a few weeks back.

I know that this family will never forget sweet little Maria. What family could. From the videos that the Chapman’s have shared, she looks like a spunky little girl full of laughter and smiles. But, I will tell you, my heart hurt this morning as I read Mary Beth Chapman’s post “A Mother’s Heart”. This woman has endured what no mother should have too, and anyone with a child of their own can not read her words and fail to feel her pain.

I urge you to read her post. I can’t help but believe that her truth is a help to many other women dealing with this same loss.

I also urge you to commit to pray for this family. Mary Beth gives several points in her post of specifics that we can pray for.

The Chapman family has helped bring thousands to Christ. Let’s help make sure that they are lifted up to complete the work that lays ahead for them!

This is my sweet friend, Gery, and her adorable son, Evan. Aren’t they beautiful?

I met Gery almost two years ago. Our kids go to the same daycare.

Actually, it goes a little deeper than that …Our kids are in love.

Oh yes, I’m speaking of Gery’s son, Evan, and my daughter, Piper. And, yes again … they are both 4. But, believe it or not, their love has lasted longer than some married couples I know. Nearly two years.

Evan is about 6 weeks older than Piper, so if it came time to move Evan to a new class and not Piper – even the daycare workers knew that they would have to wait. They can not be separated! Both of them would cry so pitifully that it just wasn’t worth it.

Luckily, they are cute and charming and downright adorable. Otherwise, it would be disgusting.

Thankfully, our families have gotten to know each other. We enjoyed a great New Year’s Eve together and have had a ball reading each other’s crazy Facebook status’. (My husband, Don, and Gery’s husband, Bill, could get into a lot of trouble if left unattended for any amount of time!)

When I was told that I got to visit a local Massage Envy and that I could invite a friend, I immediately thought of Gery. As fellow working moms, I made our appointments made for the day before Mother’s Day. I figured we could start celebrating/pampering ourselves a little early.

Our appointments were at 1:00 PM, so we arrived 15 minutes early to fill out our paper work. One of the “check boxes” was to indicate whether you wanted “light,” “firm,” or “deep tissue.” I wasn’t totally sure of what that meant (I’ve since looked it up on the Massage Envy website), but I thought that “Deep Tissue” sounded good, so I went with that.

From the lobby we went into the Tranquility Room and waited for our therapists to get us. Gery’s arrived first, and mine (Julie) was just seconds after.

The therapy room was dark and definitely relaxing. Julie asked me several questions so that she could tailor the experience to exactly what I was looking for. A huge plus for me was that the bed had a bed warmer. I am so cold natured … this was heaven for me!

The 50 minutes flew by. Deep Tissue was definitely the right choice for me. I didn’t have any knots or soreness, so it felt heavenly to me. I can never seem to fall asleep during a massage, but I was certainly more relaxed than usual. It really was wonderful!

Gery and I met up after we were done. We were noticeably more relaxed. We talked on the way home about how we should do this more often. I think most all moms are guilty of putting themselves last in the pampering category. So, this was a great Mother’s Day treat for us, and a good reminder that we have to take better care of ourselves in order to be the best wife and mom that we can be.

Something that I learned at Massage Envy was that they offer monthly plans! I had no idea. For a very discounted cost, you can get a one-hour massage each month. I’m definitely considering it. AND, the contract is good at any Massage Envy location!
It was a great day. Thanks to the manager, Stephanie, and to all the great therapists out there that have loved on all the Mommy Bloggers in the past week.

Thanks to my friend, Gery, for being a great sport and coming with me.

And, special thanks to these little cuties for introducing us

My friend, Katy, and I got caught in the rain on Friday night. We had big plans for a girls night on the town. No husbands and no kids. We should have known that it wasn’t meant to be.

We started off at the Olive Garden. As we were leaving, the heavens opened up and it rained like I’ve never seen it rain – until again today!

Katy and I ran to the car, even though a passerby who was noticibly more dry than us told us that you get less-wet if you walk. We ran as fast as we could. After we got in the car, we noticed that no one else was as wet as us. We didn’t have a dry thread on us. The more we looked at each other, the harder we laughed. We were a mess.

However, instead of spending 1:40 looking at Zac Efron, we spent 1:40 shopping at Bed, Bath and Beyond and Kirklands. It was a fair trade.

And, we didn’t see anyone we knew. Thank goodness.

I crossed the 1,000 vote mark today. Thanks friends for helping me in this fantastic endeavor!

If you haven’t yet visited the site, check out Mommy Madness Houston.

This precious gal is my friend, Jessica. It seems like she’s been pregnant for a year. Bless her heart, we’ve been praying for her angel, Quinn, to make an appearance and she’s not ready yet.

I could go through the trauma of telling you what she went through last week thinking that she was going to be induced THREE different times, but I’ll let you read it on her blog.

Let’s all pray for Jessica and Quinn. Pray for a safe (and quick) delivery of this sweet little baby girl, and for them to get deluxe accommodations at the hospital when the time finally comes for Princess Quinn to make her grand entrance.