While Ruthanne was here last week we staged a funny photoshoot. I had forgotten that I didn’t share these with you already, so when I noticed them on my flickr page I knew they were perfect for today’s post.

Last Thursday we were playing around and having fun on my birthday. We were chatting it up at my kitchen table with our laptops open like we do best.

This Thursday I’m cleaning my house and cooking up some enchiladas and Mexican chicken to feed our visiting pastor for our revival tonight. Our visiting pastor also happens to be my uncle.

Yard work is so exhausting. Here’s a fact: we never rake leaves. We have very few trees up close to our house and my husband prefers to mow our leaves into tiny bits and let them disappear on their own. It’s not near as swoon inducing.

Isn’t Ruthanne prurty? She’s lost weight, ya’ll. Since Blissdom even!

Disclaimer: Melissa thought I was doing a guest post about an entirely different subject matter.

I’m a rule breaker and I didn’t do what she said.

I really just wanted to wish her a happy birthday, so allow me to warn you . . . . the post is kinda mushy and may cause your gag reflex to kick into overdrive. ::snort::

{Cups hands and yells}

Happy Birthday, Melissa!

I want to thank you. Thank you for . . . .

Cheering me on

Listening to me

Being my encourager

Not being afraid to correct me when I’m wrong

Your weird tendencies. It makes me feel better about myself. ::snort::

The laughter

Giving me a place to vent my frustrations

Offering up solutions

Rejoicing with me over an accomplishment

Thank you for your friendship.

You have blessed and enriched my life tenfold.

P. S. If you dare complain about your edible birthday treat I’m bringing you, Imma gonna bring the hurt on.

P. P. S. I mean that in love.

P. P. P. S. But, seriously. Don’t mess with me.

——————————————————-

I asked Ruthanne to write a guest post. She sent this to me with instructions not to read it. How? How I ask you, do you post a bunch of words without reading them? I can’t even take a shower without reading the instructions on the shampoo bottle, even though I’ve read them before. So, since I’ve read it, I have to comment and say, Ruthanne is such an awesome friend. I know you’re jealous that I got her first. She’s coming over today and bringing me homemade peppermint patties. That’s how nice she is.

All giveaways are moving to my facebook page today. Come join in over there.

The last pup went to his new home tonight.

But we got a lot of loving in the days before he left. By Saturday afternoon he was the only one left. We had two days with him to play.

And say goodbye.

This weekend I got some fun shots of Clementine and her best friend. They are 13 and it prompted me to ask on Twitter, do you remember your best friend when you were 13? And, are you still friends?

There’s so much packed into just a few short days that it feels impossible to even write about it. At a small panel I attended on the last day we were asked to tell our name, blog and what one thing we took away from Blissdom. I sat panicked, my heart beating furiously because I had no idea what I was going to say when it was my turn and I tend to freak out when I have to speak out loud in a crowd. I grasped frantically for the answer, was it something in the awesome opening keynote by Brene Brown? What about the amazing ending keynote by Scott Stratten? Had any one thing from the sessions stuck with me?

What came to mind was this:

and I tried to put that into words.

So, when it came my turn I said, “What I took away was that the community of people and friendships we develop online turn out to be just as important and real as the friendships we have in our offline, everyday lives.” (Though probably not as neatly. I’m sure I stuttered and shook as I spit it out.)

Blissdom 2010 was different from Blissdom 2011. This year I went knowing there were people I wanted to see again and spend time with. People whose blogs I read and feel like I already know, like Edie, Emily, Nester, Melissa, Patty and Gussy. And it was such a joy to hug their necks and chat a short while. It’s never enough time.

Patty from Serendipity

I also met some new people. People whose blogs I haven’t read, but now I want to. People like Jessica, Shannan, Nish, Ashleigh and Abby. These people I sat with, ate with, listened to and now call new friends.

And then, because Ruthanne is crafty, I was able to meet and hang out with some of her friends, the crafty girls who blog. People like Jessica, Mique, Jeanette, Lindsey and April. Crafty girls have the best blog cards. They come with handmade goodies.

The crafty crew in our room where I made a fabulous first impression.

It’s really more like a reunion than a conference. And it’s so much fun. You really should go next year.

A few memorable moments:

sitting on the floor between sessions talking writing with gwen, emily and shannan

late night hanging out in our room talking everything with edie and patty

watching jessica freak out to mat kearney singing

supper and great conversation with maggie, abby, ashleigh, nish and ruthanne

being in a flashmob, feeling terrified and incompetent, but excited (thanks to emily, nester and robyn for helping me practice)

Me with Edie and Emily. Love these girls.

I am so tired and I don’t think my brain is working well to write a post, but I just had to. I had to say hi from Blissdom. Wish you were here. Maybe you are.

I watched chick flicks all the way here while Ruthanne and Kristan kept their eyes on the road. It was such a great trip.

I’ve had so much fun meeting and talking to people and when I have some downtime I’m going to link to all of them so you can meet them too. But right now I have to get ready to go out again. Blissdom is a busy place.

More Blissdom photos can be found on my flickr stream.