blogging

The Becoming Conference

May 3, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 9 Comments

I’m so excited to tell you about two wonderful women—Jen Schmidt, from Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, and Jenny Martin, from Southern Savers—who are hosting an awesome conference in Asheville, North Carolina, called The Becoming Conference. The conference is centered around intentional living and will be held at the Ridgecrest Conference Center, August 9th and 10th. I’m so honored to be speaking in a session on Hospitality, with my good friend, Ruth. We’ll be sharing about the Heart of Hospitality and then showing some fun, practical ways to invite people into your heart and home.

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“Becoming 2013 is a weekend designed to encourage and inspire women to live intentionally by becoming more creative, purposeful, and frugal. As women, many of us desire to be more intentional with our time and financial resources; more intentional with our family and homes, but aren’t sure how to make that happen.

As we gather from all walks of life, we will tackle some of those day to day issues that typically seem mundane. Our desire is that you will leave, not only refreshed, but encouraged, empowered, and motivated with the practical and tangible ideas you have received. Hopefully, by tackling the mundane, they will now have a sense of magic.

If it comes to saving money, re-purposing, or creating, we want to cover it and the best part is that we are committing to making this affordable to all. If you gather a few of your friends to share the hotel room, the cost is under $100 per person which covers three meals, the conference, hotel room and lots of extra goodies. We also are offering four hands on, pre-conference workshops including Trash to Treasure, “Bring your own Furniture” Painting, Photography 101 Photo Walk and Full Coupon Savings Seminar.”

The tickets for this conference go on sale May 7th at 9am and apparently sell out fast, even though the venue is large and the conference usually draws 600+ women.

You can find out all the details regarding the conference and registration at their website. I’d love to meet you in Asheville!!

(They update their facebook page with announcements about the event, so make sure follow them there.)

Inspired

April 14, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 30 Comments

I’m sitting here in my maxi dress—which apparently I was too lazy to exchange for yoga pants today—with 3 day hair and not a stitch of make-up, watching the Masters with Stevie and barely able to hold my eyes open. I have not been worth a dime today, dear ones. And by that I mean, I cooked brunch and dinner, cleaned out most of the kitchen cupboards, washed two loads of laundry, and sat with a sick girlie all day. But other than that—completely worthless.
And it’s all on account of these pretty things.

{darlene, angela, shannon, sheila, myquillin, the queen of bean station}

We met at Angela’s cottage in the mountains and had a proper girls weekend, complete with lots of laughter, tears, hugs, squeals, coffee, chocolate, cameras, long talks, more coffee and plenty of antique shopping. The thing we ran a little short on was sleep. Which explains why I’m contemplating bedtime at 7:30 p.m.

You know what spending the weekend with 5 of the most beautiful, generous, creative women will do for you? It will leave you completely inspired, with your heart and soul full to the brim. I’ve been in a bit of a dry season with my creativity. Or maybe I’ve been using it up in different ways but today? If I weren’t so sleepy I could die, I’d be trying to find something to paint or hot glue right this minute. These women ooze talent and skills and passion for what they do. I tried to take it all in but we decided we needed to hire a transcriber next time to write down every word that is said, so as not to miss any of the goodies that get shared when that many women sit around and chat for hours.

But what I love most about them is their willingness to dive into the deep end. The older I get, the less small talk I want. Life is too short to pretend you’re okay so I love it when the real sharing and the real tears and the real healing flows. It was beautiful. I was so blessed by the faith and struggle of my friends who are brave and vulnerable and willing to share the hard parts of life.

Of course, two seconds later, we’re kicking like Sally O’Malley and doing hair tutorials like school girls. And then there was the talking about what supplements we take and what foods we can’t eat anymore and how we all need blepharoplasty. (remember the lack of sleep?)

Antique shopping with creatives is another joy of my life. This is probably my 3rd or 4th trip antiquing with bloggers and it’s way fun to see what all the other ladies are drawn to. Angela has a thing for ‘offbeat’ beauty, which I adore, so naturally she liked the Toy Museum sign. She’s from Texas. It’s go big or go home. Naturally, she and I are a match made in heaven.

I had trouble leaving psycho mermaid behind but I managed to show some restraint. And in case you’re wondering? Mermaids seem to be all the rage. Who knew?

I’ll show this later this week what I did get. ‘Divine’ is the only hint I’m giving you!

So, tell me what is the most outrageous or wonderful thing you’ve ever bought at an antique or thrift shop?

I think I scored mine this weekend. Can’t wait to show you.

xoxo,

p.s. Visit Angela, our gracious hostess, and see if you can guess the bloggers……

Where have y’all been all my life? And Blissdom

March 25, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 60 Comments

It seems like months since we’ve talked! I’ve missed you. Oh wait, was I was the one who left? And where has the month gone? I spent the better part of it sick so I feel like I should get a do-over. If you can believe it, we are STILL coughing and heavily laden with mucus. What gives? But I tried not to let that get me down this weekend at Blissdom. It was awesome, y’all, and I wish every last one of you could have been there. There is absolutely nothing like meeting your pretend friends in real life. It’s one of my favorite parts of blogging.
Have I ever told you how much I love Melissa. I ADORE her. She came with Ruthanne (who looks and is amazing!)

But I show you this picture to tell you one thing. I’m quite convinced that Blissdom is gonna be offering senior discounts to me next year. See those laugh lines on my face? Well, let me tell you something. I’m proud of my laugh lines. It means I’ve laughed alot over the years. But, I felt like the oldest girl there. This Blissdom was so different this year, and by that, I mean, WHY ARE BLOGGERS SUDDENLY SO YOUNG? There were so many 20 and 30 somethings there. I was the gramma in the crowd. I’m not making this up. In blog years, I’m like 65. Next year, I want the senior discount. And I’m pretty sure I deepened those lines while I was gone, from hanging out with Melissa alone. She is funny, that girl.

My roomies at Blissdom were amazing! Ruth could lead a blog conference on her own. She taught us more in the room than we learned in the sessions. And Heather was like our room mom. She was organized and always knew where we were supposed to be. How do I live my everyday life without her? I do not know. And Darlene and I finally got to meet and celebrate our Better Homes joys together! She’s pregnant and so much fun. She wore 4 inch heels to GNO, dear people. And sequined leggings. She’s a serious fashion diva, pregnant or not.

We spent a lot of time hanging around, recuperating, trying to figure out where to find some coffee.

(Darlene, Karin, Melissa, Heather)

I’ve known Karin for long time but finally got to hear her story. She’s amazing, y’all. And drop dead gorgeous, to boot. She has five of the most well-behaved little ones you’ve ever seen. And she homeschools them. All. You don’t even know. She’s my new hero.

Lindsey and Lisa were there and as beautiful and sweet as ever! (sorry for the grainy photo that’s missing Lisa!)

It was so good to visit with Jen! We never get to just hang out so we enjoyed some great girl talk this year. She’s one of those friends that can talk about scarf tying or go deep into spiritual issues. I love that about her.

I was also giddy with excitement to get the ‘Shaun Groves‘ email earlier this year!!! He invited me to travel with Compassion to Nicaragua in June. It was so wonderful to meet him this weekend. I also met Bri (who does all the hard work to the make the trip happen) and Kelly from Faithful Provisions, one of other bloggers traveling, who’s also a fellow foodie and coffee lover! We had lunch at Pappasito’s (new to me) which, according to Shaun, is baptism by Tex Mex. It was REALLY good. Jen just traveled to Peru with Compassion so she joined us and told us what to expect. I wish she was going on this trip too! I’ve already asked Shaun to bring his guitar so we can write a country song together. I may have forgot to mention to him that I channel Tammy Wynette. I also warned him that my heart is mush and I cry at the drop of a hat. He’s probably looking for a replacement, as we speak.

I met some blog readers, which is always so much fun!!

There was Samantha from Crafty Texas Girls, who was ADORABLE. And from Texas, so she gets extra points. What a sweetheart! So glad we met, Samantha!

And Amber, who was so sweet and encouraging!

I was so excited to finally meet Holly Mathis!! She’s just as awesome in real life! And she introduced me to Camille and Whitney English. Great ladies and oozing with talent! I finally got to meet Logan (organizer and planner for Allume this year!) She’s amazing and if you haven’t bought your tickets, do so fast, because they will sell out. I got to meet Claire , Calie, Jana, Heather , Kristi, Kasey (with a new book coming out!), Lauren, and a host of beautiful people that I’m forgetting. If we met and I’m blanking on your name or blog, remember I’m a senior citizen and show mercy and please let me know in the comments and I’ll link to you!! It was magical, the whole weekend.

And last but not least, I’ve got some good news to share with you.

A couple months ago, my life took a sharp turn in a slightly different direction and I was approached about writing a book. I signed with Jessica from Blythe Daniel Agency and have been deep in the throws of trying to learn how to write a book, which is WAY different than writing a blog. I’ve read a lot on the subject and am working hard to get my book idea ready to pitch. That’s part of the reason I have been so behind on other parts of my life. (ahem, what is this book club you speak of?) I met my agent this weekend and she is so wonderful! Thank you, Jess, for believing in me, often more than I believe in myself.

So, I’ll tell you more about the content of the conference later but suffice it to say, Jon Acuff is awesome. I heard him speak twice and even though I’ve heard him before and have read his book, he just gets better with time. He gave his new book, Start, to all of us and I highly recommend it to you. You should follow ~~stalk~~ him in all the places he can be found. His blog is one of my faves and if you haven’t checked out the funny stuff he writes on Stuff Christians Like, you should. You’ll gain a few more laugh lines and possibly start to catch up with me!

I’m gonna do a video soon about what we’re doing with book club but suffice it to say, it’s kind of on hold. I thought we could finish out the year with Augustine’s Confessions and talk about it in May or June. If you’ve managed to keep up, I’m so proud of you. I’m finishing The Aeneid and then going straight to Confessions. You won’t be sorry you read the others that were originally scheduled, I just can’t keep up. I’m awesome like that. Sorry it hasn’t been more organized.

All of this wonderfulness has left me a big ole ball of emotion. I’m so blessed that I can’t hardly contain it. My heart is full, I’m teary eyed. I’m so thankful for this space because it has made it possible for me to bind my heart to so many wonderful people, including you. Thank you for meeting me here, for being patient and gracious with all my fumblings, for encouraging me everyday with your messages and emails. You have made my life so rich.

Now, pray for me as I try to reenter the life of homeschooling and cleaning and cooking and wife-ing and writing. I love my family and am so glad to be home!!

And tell me what you’ve been up to—I’ve missed you!

Mwahhhhhh!!!
xoxo,

edie

p.s. In honor of all of us ‘older bloggers’, let’s give it up for Sally O’Malley. Heather made me laugh when she actually did her best Sally O’Malley at Girl’s Night in.

“Cause I can KICK, and STRETCH, aaaaaaand KICK. I’m fifty years old. Fifty yea-uhs old.”

Links to Love

March 9, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 16 Comments

Jeanne interviewed me as part of her Creativity Takes Courage series. She interviewed Melody Ross last month and now I’m in love with both of them! You’ll need to sign in to her site to view the video.

Emily just finished her 3rd book, A Million Little Ways. You can preorder here!

Jon Acuff’s new book, Start, will be out soon. He’s so talented and funny and you should follow him on Instagram and Twitter. He’s gonna be at Blissdom and I can’t wait to hear him speak again.

Speaking of Blissdom, I’m rooming with Ruth, Heather, and Darlene. HOLLA!!! Darlene has been digging around in my archives and found a 4 year old post, where I give a very sketchy make-up tutorial, with the brilliant help of Savannah. Turns out, I still use all those products. I’m thinking about updating it to include a few of my new items but I still stand behind my recommendations. And I still wear too much make-up.

And speaking of Ruth, she and I have become accountability partners for each other in our writing endeavors. This week our conversation went something like this:
Me: “Everything I try to say has been said before, but better. ~~I suck.~~ I find this to be a difficult task. ~~I’ll never write a decent book.~~ I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it.
Her: “Quit being so hard on yourself. Just put in the time and write and don’t overanalyze it. Your book will be awesome.”

Last week, the conversation was exactly the same, except swap the names.

I procrastinated my writing last week by cleaning out my closet. She procrastinated by starting a new series on her blog.
You should totally join up next week for Thrifty Thursday. Let’s all happily procrastinate at Ruth’s place!!

Tsh and EVERYONE ELSE I follow on Instagram (okay, not everyone!) is doing the Whole30 eating plan. She wrote about it here and it’s very inspiring. I thought about it for 15 seconds. I really should do it but it’s so hard core. And though I’ve always loved and admired her from, now I’m completely obsessed with all her podcasts. Check it out. But don’t go paleo because then, literally everyone I’m following will be feeling amazing. And then there I’ll be. I’m such a huge podcasting fan and I would love to try my hand (er, my voice) at it. That would be another good way to procrastinate writing, yes?

And then there’s Shaun Groves. LOVE him. He has Daddy Day with his kids, when he’s not traveling around singing. They recently made these book marks from this website. I know, ADORABLE.

Okay, I’m off for a run and praying the shin splint monster doesn’t rear its ugly head!

Hope your weekend is full of sunshine!!

Life. In Grace. On Purpose. For Them

January 2, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 61 Comments

Hey, you nerdy book club friends, the Plato discussion is up and I can’t wait to hear from you!

Right at this very moment, I’m hovering between two worlds. The new world of 2013 and all it’s hope and promise. And then all those things I didn’t finish in 2012 that try to pin me to wall to give an answer.
The glittery, angelic wings on which the hopes of 2013 flies are surely to win. But for now, I battle.
As we speak, I’m:

:: Working frantically to finish my ebook, which I had hoped to finish by my birthday, WHICH IS FRIDAY. Probably not happening.
:: Making list after list after blessed list of things that need to be done. I’m hoping that getting them out of my head and onto multiple sheets of paper will help my terrifically overloaded brain.
:: Already scared to death about a very awesome speaking engagement this fall, which I just said “YES!” to.
:: Planning a ‘Plato’ video for later today, which will demonstrate two things. 1. Plato was very smart. 2. I am not.
:: Making all sorts of plans in all sorts of areas of my life, including but not limited to: cooking, gardening, teaching, parenting, blogging, crafting, exercising, eating, reading, organizing, homekeeping, writing, and the list literally could go on forever.

Today, let’s check one thing off my to-never-possibly-get-done list, shall we?

I want to make this space serve you well. I’m so thankful that you come here to visit. I want to be helpful to you, while still being true to myself.

How can I do that better? What kinds of posts resonate with you? What do you want more of? Less of? What would make the site easier to navigate/use and share?

Tell me all about it. I’m listening. And taking copious notes.

Two things I’m doing to add value here:

1. I signed up with a new email service so that I can continue to provide an email subscriptions option for this blog. It will also allow me to send an email newsletter, which I hope to do once per month. The problem is that I haven’t yet been able to migrate the email addresses I already have into the new system. It looks like it may take awhile. I think that the old system is still working so you’re probably still getting emails from me when I add a new post. But if you haven’t subscribed to this blog by email, it will be the best way in the future to get all my correspondence. You can subscribe here! If you have subscribed in the past (before 4 days ago), I would be so happy and honored if you subscribed again, using the new system. Otherwise, I’ll slowly be adding you to the new system. Y’all are dolls, you know it? The January newsletter will go out in a week or so, so don’t miss it. Subscribe today!

2. I’m starting this little series called Life. In grace, On Purpose, For Them. And ‘them’ includes you. I want to find ways to serve you, my family and friends better. And you want to find ways to serve your people better. So, let’s join forces and serve well. We’ll meet here once a month for a link-up where we’ll link to posts about how we are living intentionally for others. January’s theme will be ‘time’. Because planning and goal setting and time-management are all the rage in January. How do you plan your time? Is it important? Could you serve others better if you were more organized and intentional with your time? (I’m screaming a silent YES!!!) What tools have you put into place to help you do this? What goals do you set for yourself? Are they all goals just for you? Or goals to help you devote yourself to others? Maybe you’ll just post about your resolutions but re-think them in light of service. Think about it, write about it and then meet me here January 30th, the last Wednesday of the month.

February’s theme is the bedroom. It’s the month of LOVE. How do we use that space to serve the person we share it with? You get the idea.

March’s theme will be ‘kitchens’. How can we use our kitchens to serve? You can post a recipe, an organizational post, a clean out your fridge post, a clean kitchen post, a menu planning post, or whathaveyou. Be creative and think of how you use your kitchen and how you can use it better to serve others. We’ll link up here on the last Wednesday of every month. I don’t have the whole year completely planned out so I’d love your input. Other themes I’m adding are: kids, online life, office/school, rest, reading, money, to name a few.

Soon, I’ll post a button for you to add to your site, along with a yearlong schedule to help you plan.

Let’s do 2013 with purpose, with love, with grace, for THEM!

I’m not sure if I’m posting all my goals this year or not. It’s a daunting list. You can find last year’s manifesto here, if you need a little kick in the goal-setting pants!

January, and her bad self, rocks my world EVERY year!

You can be sure I’m scribbling them down as fast as my little pen will write.

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Best of 2012, around the interwebs

December 31, 2012 by Edie Wadsworth 14 Comments

First, I’d like to send out a huge big hug and smooch to the wonderful, creative people who support this blog by referring to it, linking to it, telling their friends about it, facebooking it, tweeting it, listing it in your sidebar, etc, etc, etc. I LOVE you all and am so humbled and grateful for your love and support. Here’s to you and my favorite post you wrote this year! Since you’re all so blimey far away, I’ll just smooch Stevie instead. But just know that I’d hug and smooch you if I could :)))

(photo courtesy of Jessica, an amazing photographer and friend!)