Brooke is hosting a link up over at her blog and I’m joining in. My roomies are Marsha from Other Such Happenings and Karin from Mommy Matters. They are both dear friends of mine even though I have yet to meet them in person. I can’t wait!

So here are the top 10 things my Relevant roomies should know about me.

1. I won’t be bringing Matthias. While I am sad about it I must warn you that the last time I got a full night’s sleep was well over a year ago. I may need someone to wake me up. Crying in a high pitch and making baby noises should do the trick.

2. I am likely to call home every five minutes to check on #1. Confiscating my purple BlackBerry may be a wise thing although I may start to cry in a high pitch and make baby noises.

3. I am just getting into Twitter (I’m not very good at it – just ask Dawn Camp) so you probably shouldn’t take my BlackBerry. I need the practice.

4. I like to give hugs so if you aren’t a huggy hug kind of friend then you should tell me now. Something tells me that you two would have no problem being straight forward with me. After three years of online (& phone) communication I think we are pretty comfortable with each other.

5. I don’t snore. I argue with Ryan all the time because he says I do. Matthias on the other hand does snore. *sigh* I so don’t want to leave him.

6. I actually gained weight after having Matthias so I won’t be my average size. The horrible circumstances of my delivery caused me to have to take steroids for a long period of time and the end result is that I am now, after losing 24 pounds, almost at the weight I was when I delivered Matthias. bleh. Just remember this is me before I got pregnant:

7. I have no clothes to wear to Relevant. I didn’t win the contest from Downeast Basics so I guess I’m t-shirt and blue jeaning it. I know that isn’t a word but c’mon, you know me. I make up words all the time.Karin leave your to die for wardrobe at home so you don’t make us look bad (gorgeous mama, you) and Marsha, looks like we’ll be taking plenty of photos from those angles that you swear by. I will need it. I doubt that you will though.

8. I wish Amy Stults was going to be there. I’m so glad that Marsha has met her in person before. At least one person in blog land will know that there are indeed 2 Amys!

9. I take a lot of notes and I am hard of hearing. I keep my brain in a notebook and I guard it with my life. It contains all of the “aha” thoughts and random ideas that I get. On second thought, maybe I should lose it because then I can’t start some new random project to take up all of my time. This is about my blog. my blog. my blog. *phew* Okay I am done giving myself a pep talk and I made notes of my decision in my notebook. Be forewarned that I also listen intently so I can hear to take notes. If I am in my note taking zone and you try to talk to me and I don’t reply then just tap me. If I ask you what that doesn’t mean like, “what in the world are you talking about?” Instead, it means, “What in the world are you saying?”

10. I heart both of you. much. much. much.

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Lisa is very transparent in this book. She lays it all out there. She takes the reader on a journey and towards the end you do feel as though you have a new friend in her.

I have 5 copies to give away. The retail value of this book is $21.99. The winner must provide a snail mail address so that the book can be shipped to them by the publisher. US only please.

Do you want to win?

Great! Then leave me a comment here (for those reading on Facebook you must leave the comment on the post at my blog: AmyBayliss.com). That’s it! Leave a comment!

But… if you would like additional entries:

• Subscribe to this blog via email (more giveaways to come!)
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• Mention this contest on any social networking site or blog (1 entry per mention)
• You can also digg it, stumble it, tag it, or any of the other ways of promoting a post that you can think of… I’ll give you one entry per promotion.

Contest ends midnight, (CST) Sunday, August 22nd. Winners will be posted Monday, August 23rd.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book for review and promotional purposes. I was not given any additional compensation. The opinions are my own and they are honest and forthright.

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Well, on Saturday my sister and I went shopping at the health foods store. I had a simple list: bread, chocolate milk, honey, chicken, and pineapple. Yes, chocolate milk. A girl has to have her daily intake of calcium and flavanoids. I’m sure I read that somewhere. So we perused through the store admiring the organic, non-harmful nail polish and body lotion all the while gathering my groceries. I even brought my reusable grocery totes to enhance the experience. There were goodies everywhere and the word “organic” seemed to make the calories disappear but I knew better. We were almost done browsing and shopping when we got to the bakery department and I turned around and noticed my sister was missing. Knowing someone wouldn’t mistake her for a dessert…

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I so looked forward to attending and up until the day I left I was printing off one sheets and a book proposal. Gosh, how much ink does one need to do this? I may very well have to claim some of this as expenses come tax season. Yes, I used that much paper and ink. The one problem I had with going was my wardrobe. You know I can’t find good clothes. I mean, you must remember this fiasco. I hate shopping. So what did I do? Not go shopping. I used what I had and pieced stuff together. I hated that too. Maybe I should have taken the “What to Wear” course that the conference offered.

So, me and the family wake up at early thirty on Friday morning (don’t ask how early) and headed to the airport. On the way there everyone was pretty sleepy so there wasn’t much talking going on. However, once we got to the airport things changed. My babies started crying. Oh, can I tell you I almost did not get on that plane? I haven’t left my babies overnight in so long. I mean years. It was all I could do to go through with it. But, I’m glad I did. It turns out as soon as they got to McDonalds to get breakfast they were fine. I guess the good ol’ golden arches saved the day again.

The trip there was fine. We even arrived 15 minutes ahead of schedule so I got to hang out with some of the girls right away. My good friend LauraLee Shaw from Selah was one of the first I got to see. Then we also met Lisa (she doesn’t have a blog) and Shelly Wildman from Life on the Wild Side. I loved these ladies immediately. I’m so glad we got to get to know each other and spend time together at the conference. I also got to meet many more of my “imaginary friends” over the course of the weekend. I love that they aren’t “imaginary” anymore!

Before I even got off the plane Dawn Camp from My Home Sweet Home Online had text me about having lunch. She was already hanging out with our friends Tina from Antique Mommy and Jo-Lynn from Musings of a Housewife and can I just say that Jo-Lynn’s purse totally matches her header? Oh it was so cute! So the three of them, LauraLee, Shelly, Lisa, and myself headed over to lunch where Heather from Especially Heather, Mari from Mari’s Morning Room, and Lisa Boyd from Simply His were waiting for us. Oh was I ever excited to hug Heather! I have been following her amazing story for so long that she is like a sister to me. I love that girl! I have a great story about Lisa Boyd too so I’ll share that with you soon.

While we were munching away in walks Nester from um, hello, you know where to find Nester and Emily from Chatting at the Sky. I must say that they are sweeter and cuter in person than they are on their blogs. I was so excited to finally see them. Later on I got to meet Jen from Beauty and Bedlam and what a sweetheart she is! I was in bloggy friend heaven. Over the course of the weekend I also got to hang out with Hillary from The “Other” Mama, Mary from Giving Up On Perfect, and Allison from Anointed With Grace. Did I mention Sophie from Big Mama sought me out to hug me? Oh she is the greatest! But… on Sunday morning I got to sit down to breakfast and a meeting with two of the most amazing women I’ve ever met: Lysa and Holly. We chatted about some upcoming events that we will be partnering together on and just had a grand ol’ time. A grand time until I flung a pineapple into my bosom and Holly laughed hysterically. I just love when a woman can laugh with a friend. I certainly found it hilarious. It was definitely a weekend of being humble.

I met so many more great women but gosh, I don’t want to forget anyone so I only listed the ones I actually got to hang out with. I also want to tell you all about my publisher and agent meetings (woo hoo!) and the things I learned during the session. I also have so many God moment stories and boy did He ever speak to my heart at this conference. I want to tell you all of it but I will save that for another day since I am currently putting on a homeschool conference – online – and really should be focusing on that.

So tell me this… if you could meet any of your bloggy friends who would it be and why?

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She Speaks is likely the most informative, encouraging, uplifting, and Christ-centered conference that I have ever attended. I learned so much more than just how to be a good writer and win over publishers and agents – which I hope that I have done and it’s looking really good for moi but only time shall tell. The most profound lesson that I learned that no matter how we use our voice – speaking, blogging, writing, tweeting… whatever way we choose should be for the glory of our Father; even if no one else listens. We speak for an audience of one.

I also finally got to meet many of my bloggy girlfriends. I had so much fun with these ladies. I have made some friends for life. And forgive me but for fear of leaving anyone out… I will not list them all but I will let you in on a few snippets of my weekend with my girlfriends.

Dawn and Lisa chaperoned me around on a few occasions including one mad dash to the airport because a waiter named Chris Copernicus had to tell us the story of how sweet tea really is the center of the universe and especially in hair salons that double as pastry shops. don’t.ask...really.

Heather eats cheese hamburgers and she is definitely all about the buns. Has anybody seen her hair?

Nester and Emily really are the cutest sisters you will ever meet in your life.

I also must say that Antique Mommy just isn’t that antique. She is such a fireball. She totally heated the place up with her last speaking evaluation. Can’t wait for her to post the details about that.

I am shorter than most every blogger I met at She Speaks and most of them told me so. The number one thing said about me at She Speaks was… “Gee, I thought you’d be taller.” Yes, they did.

My roomie… LauraLee, Lisa (who doesn’t have a blog yet) and myself in front of the amazing P31 banner.

Here is a pic of me and Lysa TerKeurst. She is just so many kinds of cute in person. We’re going to be doing some collaborating real soon. I can’t tell you what yet but you’ll love it. Yep, you will.

I have so much more to post about this amazing event including adventures I’ll be taking with some of my new found friends. I’ve never encountered such an amazing group of women before and I’m so glad that my pops in love saw to it that I could be there. Thanks Dad. I hope I make you proud!

More about She Speaks: She Finally Speaks

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Tiany, Tracy, Darnelle and myself all decided to get together for a “girls evening out.” Well, our husbands may not let us get together ever again because 6:30 quickly became after midnight. We had closed down Starbucks and never even realized that we had been chatting it up for six hours straight! When we finally hit a pause in the conversation everyone picked up their phones to check the time. A loud gasp revealed our simultaneous shock as we realized why our husbands had been texting and calling to make sure we were okay. Six hours, y’all and we only had one small coffee each!

Tracy and I met through blogging and after the military transferred her family here she began attending out homeschool co-op. We became fast IRL friends and found we had a lot in common. We are both the “Jack-of-many-trades” type. Tracy is a licensed cosmetologist, professional photographer, photoshopper, homeschooler, co-op administrator, and pastor’s wife who does not wash clothes. We’re not alike in the “does not wash clothes” department. Yes, I’m jealous. I intend to have her kiddos train mine to use the washing machine. Maybe then Andrew will stop bleaching things on purpose. You know, peer pressure.

Tiany and I also met through blogging and she noticed that we attended Healing Place Church then realized we must live close by. Uh, yeah. Try less than 10 minutes away from each other! On occasion, we’ve seen each other at Wal-Mart from across the store but we’ve never actually sat down to chat together. Getting to do that last night was so awesome! Tiany actually met her husband in Paris where she was attending college (oh, oui) and he has traveled all around the world as a musician. She has four little handsome cuties and runs the social networking site: The Homeschool Lounge. We also had an animated discussion about how happy we all are that she got rid of that pink design she had over the the lounge. Ask her about how much of a difference a design makes as far as hits and readers are concerned. She learned the hard way!

And then there is my Darnelle. I love D. I’ve known her for a few years now. We actually used to work together at another ministry and quickly became friends. She is a good listener and she tells you like it is. Besides that she has raised a few music playing geniuses so she knows her stuff. And man oh man can that woman write. She is good y’all. She has graduated two of her kiddos from homeschool high and is now working on the last three – all girls- who are still at home. Bless her heart.

We asked some poor guy to take our picture. He had a hard time but he did end up getting the shot. Look how purdy we are!

After getting over the shock of realizing that we had been so caffeinated that we chatted for six hours straight, we decided to hug and go home to our husbands who likely thought we had run off with the circus. Before we left Tiany gave us this great little gift bag of stuff. What a treat and such a good idea! She had some chocolates with scriptures on them (they were good too, yum!) She also had a little posty note pad, small scented candle, a bookmark, a cutesie little card, and a mommy card. The Starbucks guy also gave me a bag of freshly ground coffee, for no apparent reason, and I happily took it home. It was a great night. I love my girls!

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Oh! Look how cute we are….

It’s Mary, Gabby, Cyndy, me, and Susan (Forever His). Ignore my hair. Unless you are familiar with Louisiana humidity then you can’t truly appreciate “frizzy” hair. After I carefully straightened and styled it still had to go up. We had even more frizz on the this day because it was storming… just like it has been for the past couple of weeks.

We got to sit really close on both days. That made me happy!

Susan got to sit really close to Thelma Wells. I love that lady. I wanted to take her home with me. Mama don’t play no games. She is a no nonsense kind of gal. I appreciate that.

Thelma said, “Stay true. Stay real. There is freedom in reality. Besides that, in reality your expectations aren’t that high.”

She also said, “All of our choices should go through one filter; the filter of the Holy Spirit.”

Mandisa had me crying, laughing, dancing, and shoutin’ “Amen” over and over again. That girl can sing and what a testimony she has!

Then… then… they started playing “Shackles.” Susan nearly knocked me over to get out of the seats and into the aisle. Then I had to duck and dip every other move to avoid the swatting of my nose and possible decapitation from her violently swinging arms. Somehow saying that she likes to dance seems very inadequate. We all survived though.

Stormie Omartian was awesome too. I bought three of her latest books – “The Power of Praying” ones that I didn’t have.

Karen Kingsbury’s notes:

1. Love the characters God has placed in your life.
2. In every story there is an adversary (Satan).
3. Jesus is the hero in our story.
4. You are currently writing your won best seller.

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Why is is that everyone must be identified by their blog name? I feel as though I should walk up to people and say, “Hi! I’m Amy from In Pursuit of Proverbs 31″ except that I changed that blog over to this one, Amy Bayliss. Maybe I subconsciously did not want to be known as IPOP31? I guess it could be worse. I could be known as myblog21847 or “Hi, I’m Scatterbrained!” You do see the repercussions of choosing the wrong name don’t’ you?

Anyway, this post isn’t about blog names or being scatterbrained (don’t argue). It is about me going to the Extraordinary Women’s Conference and getting refueled – again! Whew! God is good!

So back to blog names (hush), I don’t think everyone yet realizes that I’ve moved or some are wondering why. It’s simple. I needed for things to be less complicated. And… I was a bit confused about some things God spoke to me about. I know that never happens to you but just bare with me here. Sometimes I try to take the ball and run with it before He is done letting me know what it is for. Don’t all shout “Amen” at once. I knew He wanted me to help women in every aspect of life and even gave me specific areas to focus on. I also knew that He wanted me to incorporate the help of other women to minister. Now, I just assumed that meant it should happen on the IPOP31 blog and I wanted to be able to maintain my own blog too so I started this one. Then He clearly spoke to me and said that this ministry would not be one of just written words but spoken and that it would be a community of women supporting and loving each other through life and their walk with Christ. A Woman Inspired is the foundation of that. God gave the idea to my friend, Marshie (aka Our Homeschool and Other…) and she shared the vision with us and so of course, Amy and I put it into action and God began to fuel it from there – major fuel! So, I knew there was no sense in maintaining IPOP31 since I had this one too and I preferred to be called by my name anyway. “Hi, I’m Amy Bayliss” sounds much better than – we’ve already been there, nevermind.

So if you were connected with me at IPOP31 but aren’t following me here or subscribing to this feed then would you do me a favor and change it over to this one? Then you can hear all my ramblings about life in online ministry and all the stuff that goes along with it. I may even tell you the story about how my husband almost checked me into the loony bin due to my overly excited reaction to Lysa Terkeurst (LysaTerKeurst.com) calling moi! I might tell you. Let’s just say it involved jumping on the bed, spilling coffee, and almost knocking over a bookshelf to grab her books and show my husband just who in the world she was. But like I said, I might tell you the rest. I don’t want her to think I’m weird or loony just in case she ever caught wind of this outrageous post that has gone on way too long. Just FYI: Lysa is so the real deal. Her, Holly, Marybeth, Renee, and the rest of her peeps have been so kind and supportive of this whole ministry. I just adore them and if you haven’t been to their sites go check them out. You can find a list here: Proverbs 31 peeps.

Anyway, just to kick it up a notch, I’ll throw in some tickets to the upcoming A Woman Inspired Ministry: Online Conference that will happen in June. You’ll get to learn all about how to start an online ministry, promote your blog, how to write catchy blog posts (not like this one), how to do some design and maintenance on your blog, all about utilizing Twitter, and Facebook and so much more! We just added five more speakers (including Mary Snyder & Leah Adams) to the line up but I have yet to add their info to the site. I’m on vacation right now remember! You’ll just have to trust me that you will not want to miss this conference! Attendees to the last conference be sure to comment and let them know why they don’t want to miss this one!

So subscribe and follow then leave a comment letting me know you want to win. I’ll choose five who are already subscribed and five new subscribers to win but I will only post the winners here on the blog so you’ll have to check back to see if you’ve won. Thus, the bonus plan of subscribing and following. Simplifying things people, simplifying. I’ll let you know on Monday who won and I’ll tell the story about my grandma shaving her Little Debbie mustache.

Thanks much!
Amy Bayliss (formerly known as In Pursuit of Proverbs 31)

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I met Susan (Forever His) online a almost two years ago. We began communicating by email and a friendship just blossomed. I learned of her amazing son Jordan and his steady victory over the symptoms of his brain tumor. She would bless me with tickets to Mercy Me Concerts which would end up being a life cleansing and restoring event for me and I helped her with her blog design and maintenance. We both have a love for scrapbooking and, of course, our Lord.

We’ve been planning a get together for a while but it seems floods, hurricanes, and numerous other things always changed our plans. Finally, two weeks ago, on a Saturday, we got to have lunch with them at Susan and Rick’s home (which is beautiful btw).

Jordan was there and so was one of her precious little grandbabies. We had a fabulous lunch: roast with rice and gravy, corn on the ob, bread and cookies and king cake for desert. YUM-O!

After lunch the boys went for ride in the golf cart with Jordan and Susan and I looked through scrapbooks and chatted the evening away. We finally left so they could get to Saturday service at church.

I love my bloggy friends – epecially the ones who become irl (in real life) friends!

Have you met any of your bloggy friends?

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Have you ever sat down with a group of friends to have a joyful, encouraging visit only to have the momentum start swinging in the direction of gossip? I think we all have. If you are a woman then I believe it is pretty safe to say that you have at least once in your life entertained the thought of joining in or have actually participated in gossip. Some of us have even been clever enough to mask it as prayer or concern, haven’t we? But we have all learned right? [insert laugh] So what do we do when we are around those who haven’t?

1. Speak positive about the person who is being targeted.
When someone becomes the focus of the conversation and is being projected in a negative light, speaking positive things about the person will usually cool down the heated discussion. Something as simple as, “Susie? Oh, I just love her hair. Don’t you?” can give you control of the conversation.

2. When you are approached by someone who is known to be a gossip,try to be the one to start the conversation.
Some people still have a difficult time overcoming the battle of gossiping. When you are being approached by such a person it helps greatly if you set the tone for the discussion.

3. Be upfront about your convictions toward gossip.
Sometimes you just have to know when to speak up. If you are constantly bombarded with gossip from a particular group of friends or a specific person then let them know that you have a hard time hearing things that you have no business knowing. Don’t be judgmental towards them but let them know where you now stand.

Try something like this: “Ladies, I’m sorry. I know I’ve participated in these discussions many times but I just can’t anymore. It is bad for me and it isn’t good for those we are talking about. If we could let’s just change the conversation because these people aren’t here to defend themselves and if you don’t want to change the conversation then I’ll be happy to walk away while you all talk to each other about it.”

4. Redirect the conversation.
I know ladies who are awesome at the fine art of redirecting a conversation. I honestly think that in the spare moments of life, they think of things to say to redirect a discussion gone sour. In the middle of hearing, “Well did you see what Sindee wore to church on Saturday?” she interjects and says, “Oh forget that! Let me tell you what I experienced with my bra the other day…” and of course, she regains control of the room. No one is worried about Sindee anymore and the mishap with the bra pinching up the back of her shirt as she walks through Starbucks brings lots of laughs.

5. Pray.
We can make it a point to pray before we gather with a group of friends and we can also make it a point to pray as soon as all of your friends arrive to the gathering. Speaking words through prayer such as: “Father, help us to keep our conversation pure, lovely, and of good report” are often all you need to prevent a friendly evening from getting ugly. If you can’t do that or if it is forgotten, praying silently helps to purge your heart and requests for God to intervene.

I know we have all been the targets of such gossip and most likely we have all been sharers of these so called “juicy morsels.” With that said let’s remember that no one is perfect and we can’t expect them to be. The only person we can attempt to control is ourselves. If you work to change yourself in this area then you will not only have saved your soul from these negative words but you could very well be a shining example to your friends.

What do you do to avoid gossip?

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• Tell Your Time: A revolutionary way to get more done!
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