Name Dropping, All the Feelings, and Playlist for Jenny - My Edel Recap

If I had not been able to attend the Edel Gathering the #1 thing I would want to know is what are all those bloggers I love really like? So that's how I'm going to start my recap. Tender, beautiful summaries of the talks and the atmosphere can be read at other people's blogs. But I'm gonna name drop. With no shame.

Nell. Nell is lovely. Absolutely, positively lovely. If Edel had a Miss Congeniality prize she would have won. Over and over again I saw her introducing herself to people, especially people standing or sitting by themselves. I loved that about her. She just seemed good. Wholesome. The kind of friend who would make you a better person.

Kelly. I was fortunate enough to meet Kelly (and her whole family!) before so seeing her again was extra special. Here's the thing I noticed about Kelly: we all already know that she's funny but she does not do it to boost herself up or to be loved. She does it to make you laugh. It's all about you, not her. I think it would be easy to write her off as having only the virtue of being hilarious but she's so much more than that. Kelly is selfless, smart as a whip, wise, and has a great deal of empathy. 

Calah. I wish I could have spent even more time with Calah, in a small group, really getting to know her. I have often read Calah as really bold and brave and tough. I still think of her that way but after speaking with her at Edel I now see all the gentleness and receptivity that I had missed before. It makes sense, because she isn't afraid of learning through her writing, but I'd never appreciated it until I met her. Also, she looked hot with her blonde hair tipped pink.

Jenny. Jenny was pretty much exactly who I thought she'd be: classy, smart, and really fun. She's not stuck up or full of herself but she also exudes confidence. More than anything she gave me the impression that she is a loyal friend, a rock one could cling to. I really liked that.

Kathryn. Kathryn and her whole family were amazing: generous, kind, funny. Actually, Kathryn was really funny. She has a great sense of humor that I had never fully appreciated from just reading her blog. She is also sure of herself, loving, and totally open to grace. Several times I caught myself thinking, "I think she actually likes me!" and I felt so flattered. Also, watching her and Scott parent older kids was a huge blessing for me. It was like a light at the end of the tunnel and I have already adopted some of the things I saw them do well. In fact, I even caught myself using a bad Texas accent while using her words to correct my kids.

Cari. I was a dufus and forgot the whole thing about Cari not being a hugger and I hugged her. But she didn't care. She was so gracious and pretty. I've always thought of Cari as sassy but you know what, more than anything Cari is caring, warm, big-hearted. She was even better than I thought she was going to be, and I already thought she was going to be pretty great. 

Deme. When I found out that Deme was also going to be staying at Kathryn's home I had a little bit of a fangirl moment. I was maybe most nervous about meeting her because I like her blog so much and really hoped we'd hit it off. And we did! She is so easy to talk to, so generous, so kind, so fun. She's the real deal.

Susan. Spending time with Susan is like being snuggled. She was wonderful and the whole time I was with her I felt all warm and fuzzy. One of the things I most admired about Susan was the way she was honest but still protected the privacy and feelings of others. This woman has class, tact, and is not a gossip. Watching her and Kathryn interact was also really good for my soul. They are both just a few years older than me but I could tell these two moms of older kids were connecting in a way I could not and they were really supporting one another. They seemed like old friends and had just met - it was so cool. See how good God is?!

Haley. Haley is so lovely that she let me take a selfie with her tattoo and was still nice to me. Like she just laughed it off. That is a woman with a lot of charity. All kidding aside, Haley is a bit of an old soul. While still being really hip and fun she also gave me the impression that her heart is anchored to Peace and Mercy and Love.

Okay, this form of name dropping is actually exhausting. There were so many women I had the pleasure of meeting: Molly. Sarah O. Christy. Stephanie. Sarah S. Adrienne. Kate. Leticia. Heather. Amanda. Lisa. And Lisa. Heather. Lauren. Leah. Cate. Arwen. Tricia. Katie. Sarah B. Michaela. And of course Jen and Hallie. And a beautiful woman who looked like Snow White but whose name I cannot remember. 

As I've been reading everyone's summary posts from Edel I am amazed at how many of us wanted to not show up at the last minute. The fear of rejection was super strong in me and I kept thinking, "What if all these women who think they like me meet me and don't like me? What if someone does ask me when I'm due? What if all they see is how nice I don't look?" I was embarrassed for weeks over how I thought people might think. That seems pretty dumb on this side of it, but that's what I was afraid of.

That's not what it was like at all, though. Women were friendly, kind, loving. There was no cattiness. No husband bashing. No soapboxing. No judging. It was wonderful. I felt like I belonged. These were my people! Catholic women who love the Church, our vocations, and social media. It was perfect.

Thank you so very much, Jennifer and Hallie (and Joe and Dan!) for organizing this for us. May God bless you.

Finally, I had promised Jenny a mix tape in Austen and then I didn't deliver. So instead I made a playlist of the songs I would have put on a cd for her had I not dropped the (disco) ball.
Warning: there's some minor language in songs 1, 5, and 9 you may not want your 3 year old singing back to you AND videos 1, 2, and 9 should be screened before you let your kids watch them.

#1 Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass
#2 Ingrid Michaelson - Girls Chase Boys
#3 Weird Al - Word Crimes
#4 Cake - Shadow Stabbing (it's on almost every mix tape I've ever made)
#5 Dierks Bentley - Drunk on a Plane
#6 Brad Paisley - River Bank
#7 June and Johnny Cash - Jackson
#8 The Head and the Heart - Cats and Dogs
#9 Twenty One Pilots - House of Gold
#10 Sam Smith - Stay with Me
#11 Sara Groves - When the Saints
#12 Mindy Gledhill - Anchor
#13 Ellie Holcomb - The Broken Beautiful

I hope you like it, Jenny!