Last Friday felt a bit like Christmas around here. I received rug samples for our studio remodel. (The story on that I’m looking forward to sharing soon.)

Some vendor samples arrived for my husband’s business that we were super excited to see. Tyson is an incredible illustrator and I’ve included a link to his website in my sidebar, if you’re curious.

The packages continued to surprise us when Tyson’s new watch band for his nano arrived… interestingly enough, one that he’d been trying to decide on since, well, Christmas.

We even had a huge meal, where we served salad to 17 hungry high school student as a part of my son’s youth group progressive dinner. This is such a cool group of kids, it was so fun to host them and be a part of their evening.

But hands down, my favorite moment of the day was when I found out that I had won entrance to the Blogging Seminar at this years Portland Home & Garden Show. You see, I’m really new to the blogging community and I’m not a writer by nature. So feeling compelled to put this blog together is WAY outside of my comfort zone. In fact, I almost didn’t even submit my blog to the contest.

When I originally heard about the seminar, it was listed as a private event; by invitation only. I was a bit discouraged, but at that point, my blog was just an idea on paper, so yeah… how disappointed could I be. I shrugged off the idea of going to the seminar and got started on Storypiece. But then last week, I discovered that you could enter to win a spot thru the PHGS Facebook page. At that point, I only had 3 entries. Should I even try? Would they even take it as a serious entry? Tyson was very encouraging and told me I really only needed to have one post for it to be a blog. So I did it. I sent in the submission. And I got in!! I think the good folks at the Portland Home & Garden Show invited everyone who submitted an entry on their Facebook page, but I don’t care… I GOT IN!!!

If I had listened to the doubting voice in my head, I wouldn’t be going to the seminar this Wednesday. I wouldn’t be getting to meet John and Sherry from Young House Love who will be a part of the event. If I had listened to the “maybe I shouldn’t”, I wouldn’t be getting the opportunity to meet with other bloggers in Portland who have a love of home decor and design like I do; who are writing about it and doing it well. If I had listened to the fear, I wouldn’t be pursuing something that I truly believe in… learning and writing about the things that make a home unique and interesting.

So even though I don’t feel like writing is my gifting and I’m still trying to find my voice… and I need to add a logo and get a new camera for taking better photos… and even though I’m living outside of my comfort zone… I’m loving every minute of it! This is becoming quite the journey and I can’t wait to see what’s next. If nothing else, it should make for an interesting story.