Apologia Live Retreat ... and Winner!

Apologia's Live Division invited a few Texas homeschool bloggers to join them for tea, lunch, and chocolate cake this July. They also invited leaders of local co-op groups. They were hoping we could help them get the word out that they were wanting to encourage homeschool moms through their Apologia Live Retreats... and this year they had Austin on their agenda. {insert wild cheering here - it's so nice to not have to worry about getting a sponsor to attend a conference!}



You know... I live in Austin. And I love it when you put the words homeschool, retreat, moms, conference, and Austin all in one sentence. They sound really nice together. Just sayin'.

I had never met ANY of these great ladies before. In fact, I haven't ever used Apologia curriculum, either. So it was great to listen to them speak, get to know them better, and learn about their ministry: to encourage homeschooling mothers. I love finding other women who have a common savior, a common purpose, a common desire. It isn't an easy job to homeschool your kids, y'all. {Just in case you don't already know that.} We homeschool mothers need a lot of support. I love it that Apologia Live gets that - and aims to fill a gap that is deep and wide in this area. Not to say they are the only ones doing it. Of course. But - more power to them for being willing to SERVE in this much needed arena.



After our lunch, I was able to meet up with these other great Texas homeschooling mamas:

Katie Haggard of Boasting in My Weakness, Amber Oliver of A Classic Housewife (who I already knew, since she stopped in at my house once), and this other gorgeous Texas blogger who's name and blog escape me. However, my baby fell in love with her, so I'm sure I'll be getting to know her much better in October.


I got to have dinner with Katie and Amber on their way back home from Austin as a perk. Too bad they don't live in Austin. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only homeschool blogger around. It gets kind of lonely out here with the tumbleweed and longhorns...



And then there's this nice group shot (sans the fat lady on the right). This photo (and the others which are non-blog-material photos) made me want to start my new diet. I've lost 7lbs since this photo... and hopefully I will be able to kick my chocolate habit and get the last 15 lbs off before the end of October. Good luck, right? I have one month left until the Apologia gals are back in Austin at the Crowne Plaza Austin on October 21-22, 2011 - for the Live Retreat. {SO. Excited.} That almost made me want to get on the Wii tonight. Almost.

The real culprit for all my weight woes is this little guy:



And he's also the one of the big kinks in my homeschooling plans. But he's worth every pound and every distraction. And he makes a really nice conference partner... most of the time.

After I shared about the retreats and showcased Rachael Carman's Meet-and-Greet on my blog in August, I picked a random winner for the 2 copies of her book and the conference ticket they gave me to pass on.

Here below are the winners of the loot:

Jennifer of The Kindle Crew won the $119 Retreat Ticket! #woot {I hope you'll be at the Austin event!}

Mandy at Biblical Homemaking and Karen of Simply Living... For Him each won a copy of Rachael Carman's "How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. for Your Kids".

Thanks so much for entering and for hanging out in my teacher lounge here at Sprittibee. I need all the homeschool mom friends I can get. If you'll be attending the Austin Apologia Live Retreat, be sure to leave me a comment and let me know so I can make a point to match you up with your blog/face/name when we get there. I'm terrible with names, but I usually remember faces forever. I can't wait to meet you IRL.




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