Refreshed, Renewed, Revitalized!

I just returned home from my first ever national Innkeeping Conference. As an educator and conference planner, I’m a big believer in educational conferences and this one was a winner! The opening keynote impressed us with The Magic of S.I.L.K. I loved P. Allen Smith’s slide show presentation and would love to visit his Moss Mountain Farm. I’m kind of going kicking and screaming into the whole social networking thing, but appreciate the tips and techniques shared by Buuteeq. The Trade Show was eye-opening and really gave me great resources for moving ahead as a lodging leader in our region. Plus, the whole time I was there learning from the educational sessions and the trade show, I was also gathering tips and information from other innkeepers from all across the country. What an exciting, innovative and professional group! I left Little Rock refreshed, renewed and revitalized! You may count on some upgrades and changes in coming weeks at Blessings on State and in the next few blog entries I’ll detail some of the coming transitions, including linen lines, décor, gardens and web site.

Please stay tuned….

I Have Followers!

I have followers! Does that scare you as much as it scares me?? I'm working hard to establish this blog and I've just started in with Twitter. I have to tell you it was kind of exciting when I got my first followers! My first follower here is Deanna from Home Haven, and the oldest continuously published newspaper in Illinois is following me on Twitter - no pressure there! Following me... following my words. Viewing the photographs I post. Wow. What a responsibility! What shall I say? Shall I be funny? Inspiring? Heartwarming? Motivational?

And... We Have Snow!

Finally, happily, I can report that we've had a measurable snowfall this season! If you look closely, you may see some actual snowflakes in this picture! I love the way our home looks as it's robed in white. It will be pretty tonight, too, with the lights on the flocked pine roping adorning the front porch. Our guests last night were a retired couple driving separate vehicles as they move from their long-time home in Michigan to their new home in Kansas. They'd watched the forecast and were confident that they'd drive out of the snow fairly soon.

Winter in the Midwest

I'm a Midwesterner. I grew up in the Heartland. Farm country, cold winters, snow drifts, the whole works! I love living in the Midwest because we have four seasons. Well, we did have four seasons.

The calendar currently says that it is winter. On occasion, the thermometer says that it's winter. It's almost cold enough long enough to make it feel like it's winter. Then we get a day like last Thursday when the temperature nearly hit 60 degrees! In the Midwest. In the Heartland!

Un-Decking the Halls

I don’t know about you all, but I’m still celebrating Christmas here at Blessings on State. I’m still celebrating the Savior’s birth. The nativities still show Mary and Joseph with the Christ child. The trees are still up and the stockings are still hung. I’m still listening to Christmas music. I’m even still enjoying some remaining Christmas cookies!

I’ll have to give in at some point. The cookies are almost gone and it will soon be time for the decorations to come down. I’m amazed at those who take all their decorations down the day after Christmas. Their homes are cleaned and totally back in pre-Christmas order by the end of the year! Our home is clean, but I can’t think of taking down the Christmas décor until at least the first or second week of January.