Okay, y’all. So apparently when I leave town, I also kind of mentally check out of when it comes to blogging. Which, normally, wouldn’t be that big of a deal. But when I’ve committed to write for 31 days, that’s kind of a fail. But it’s okay.

I’m back at it today.

The Influence Conference has met every expectation I ever imagined and more. The encouragement, inspiration and huge welcoming feeling make it the best conference I’ve ever attended. I can’t say enough about how great it has been.

We got to hear Emily Freeman speak yesterday, and I found myself sitting there, listening to her, and choking back tears at nearly everything she said. What a gift she has! She has this ability to speak straight to you and stir something in your soul. She’s down to earth yet full of wisdom. If you haven’t read Grace For The Good Girl and don’t subscribe to Chatting at the Sky, you should do it now.

I got to FaceTime with Todd and the boys this morning and that made my day. My boys love FaceTime!

Being here with Nina has been so much fun. We’ve had lots of time to sit and talk and just rest. And taking her by my high school was fun, too!

I wanted to share something with you all that Emily Freeman said to us to encourage us yesterday. She said, “Pay attention to what makes you cry. Your tears are tiny messengers from Christ that will help you tell your story.” Those tiny messengers. They show up a lot lately. Motherhood has made me a hormonal mess. But they are a reminder of what I feel passionately about and Emily’s beautiful words helped me realize that I should be paying more attention to that.

I hope you’re all having a great weekend so far. The Gamecocks play LSU in Baton Rouge tonight. Cheer for us from where ever you are. Unless, of course, you’re cheering for LSU.

Well, I missed Day 10. It was an intentional break for my sake and my family’s sake.

I spent yesterday preparing to leave town today, which meant getting myself ready and getting the boys ready. Lots of laundry, errands, and packing.

I never regret having a quiet day.

Today, I spent 10 hours in the car driving to Indianapolis for the Influence Conference. I don’t mind a good long road trip. I can sing. I can listen to talk radio. I can drive for 7 hours without stopping at all.

The drive was going well until the very last hour. There was a horrible accident and the interstate was closed. Thankfully, my parents were able to check the news and get me back on track since I really had no idea where I was.

I had some entertaining chats with Nina and Crist on the drive. I was thankful for that when I found myself getting sleepy.

Nina and I both made it to the conference hotel right around the same time, and I was so excited to see her! We got to hear Jessi, Hayley, Moriah, and Casey kick off the conference.

Nina and I are staying at my parents’ house instead of the conference hotel. I couldn’t be this close to my parents and not stay with them. I’m excited to have a few days to visit with them.

I’m also excited to learn a lot tomorrow and meet some great new friends at the Influence Conference. I’ll be sure to share all I can!

P.S. Have I mentioned how freeing this series has been for me? I love blogging, but the “what do I blog about today” burden has totally been lifted for the past 11 days. It may not continue like this after these 31 days are over, but I’m just glad I decided to do it this way for myself.

Today was a pretty exciting day for us.

Hayes met with his speech therapist and early interventionist this morning at our house. He is such a ham during these sessions. I think some of it is because Hudson isn’t around and he has the full, undivided attention from his new friends.

I’m absolutely thrilled with the way it’s all going, and I’m just so thankful that South Carolina has this available to us. Hayes played with Sarah, our therapist, and she helped me understand some of the reasons that he may be having delays with some of his sounds. Now that we’ve met and worked with Sarah, I’m remembering so many other cues that let me know that he wasn’t ready to make the “b” sound or the “p” sound. It’s all so interesting! And I’m excited to learn.

Our real estate agent took us to see a few houses today. We actually saw a lot of houses. We aren’t much closer to making a decision, but we keep telling ourselves there’s no reason to be in a hurry. We close in just over a month on our house, but we do have family in town that we can live with until we’ve made our decision.

We had a Holiday Market decorations meeting tonight, and a big Holiday Market meeting. I can’t believe Holiday Market is less than two months away. The decorations are going to be so cute, if I do say so myself. I can’t wait!

I leave on Thursday morning to go up to the Influence Conference- and see my parents and Nina. It’s always a challenge to prepare to leave the boys for any amount of time. Just lots of packing and lots of list-making. I’m just hoping for safe travels and an easy weekend for my boys.

I’m totally humming a little bit of Philip Phillips in my head right now. Because I’m thinking about home.

We have a contract on our house. This has been a long eight months. There were days when selling our house was all I could think about. Then there were days when I didn’t think about it at all.

There were days when I questioned whether or not we should keep trying to sell it because I do love it here. And then there were days when I felt like the walls were closing in.

But in a month, we’re scheduled to close on our first home. And I have a lump in my throat just thinking about it.

I’m thinking about the week after we moved in and our neighbor stopped by and said, “Wow. Y’all really don’t have any furniture. You’re just rattling around in here.”

I’m thinking about the stork in the front yard when we brought Hudson home from the hospital.

I’m thinking about Fiona’s little smushed face waiting for us in the front windows when we pull into the driveway.

I’ve lived in Columbia since the spring of 2004. I’ve lived here for eight years. That is the longest I have ever lived in one place. And these years have flown by.

When I moved here, it was just to attend grad school at the University of South Carolina. And I had “grand plans” to move to a huge city and be a big time event planner when I finished school.

But when I graduated and was offered a job at a law firm, I decided that I wasn’t ready to leave this great city that sometimes feels like a small town. And two months later I met my husband.

And eight years later, I’m still here. And I love it.

We love our church community. We love the local “flavor.” We love the boys’ preschool and we love our friends.

And in the next few months, we’ll be looking to settle down into a home that will take us to the next place in our lives. I know that God has a great sense of humor, so I can’t say for certain that we will “permanent Columbians.” (Although we’d love nothing more than that.)

I know that as long as Todd, Hudson, and Hayes are with me, I can go anywhere He sends us. Whether it’s down the road, across town, or across the world on a mission.

We’re very excited, and a little bit nervous, as we move forward and make plans for the years to come.

*My friend, Ellen, is writing a great 31 Days series called Abide: 31 Days to Love Where You Live. And her posts inspired me to write this today.

*This is the 8th day in my 31 Days of Back to Basics Blogging.