Blissdom: Things learned, Friends made.

If you missed my initial brain dump, you can find it here. But now we’re on to the really good stuff. 


This was the view from our balcony. Which, is reason enough to have an amazing weekend, right? 

It was actually my first time to go to the Newcomers meet up on Thursday night. It’s a chance for new people to connect with others as well as the community leaders and it ended up being right up there with my favorite times of the conference. I had the opportunity to talk to so many fabulous people! 

Some of the sessions I went to were a perfect fit for me. 


Scott Stratten kicked off the weekend on Friday morning. The thing that stood out the most for me, was him saying “you shouldn’t do anything for your business (or blog) because someone said you should.” Why do I do the things I do? To do what everyone else is doing? Each post I write, each review I say yes to should be because I want to do it, not because I feel like I have to. 


Anna Epp is an amazing photographer that did a Rock your camera session. Last year, during one of the evening events, I handed her my point a click and asked her to take a picture. She just looked like a nice lady, but I had no clue who she was. Of course she said yes and my roommate was gasping and poking me in the ribs the whole time. That event led to a twitter conversation, me getting a DSLR, then to me taking her session this year. I can’t believe all the things I learned from that session! 


Megan Jordan spoke right to my heart. As she talked about multi tasking being a myth and the power of focusing on doing one thing well, I felt like I had a wake up call. She talked about time wasted scrolling the internet and “just one second-ing” your child’s childhood away. My favorite quote of hers was “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” Wow. 


Jon Acuff is an incredibly talented speaker who told us that honesty is the most powerful tool in blogging. I could quote him all day, but “Fear only gets loud when you do things that matter” is still ringing in my head. He also said “The starting line is the only line you can control”. So often we fear starting because we can’t plan the finish. But we don’t have to. The finish line shouldn’t be in stone. 


Good stuff, right?! And that wasn’t the half of it! I also have the pleasure of seeing old friends and meeting new ones. My roomies were, Heather, Rachel and Natalie. They are precious and I’m grateful for the friendships that the internet has brought me! 

It was my first time meeting Heather and I want her to be my neighbor. She is a blast. 

This is my travel buddy, Kelly. Who we found out after following each others blogs for awhile, that we live 2 miles apart. She has an insane wardrobe.  

I got to chat with AP and Jennifer on a couple occasions. Sweet as they can be and such wonderful mommies. 

The folks at Bissell did my eyelashes. Because you know, vacuums and beauty go hand in hand. Hehe. They were over-the-top, dramatic awesomeness. 


I’ll call these the ones with the hearts of gold. Mandy and Mandy are always such uplifting and encouraging women on their blogs and I was so happy to hug their necks! 

Then there was this guy. And although the coffee he represents was delish, he made me giggle. But obviously, a picture was needed. 

And who thought I would break my tradition and NOT get a pic with this studly man? Chris Mann is always so nice wandering around the conference chatting with us and not just popping in for his performance. 

And to top it all off, I got a super professional headshot taken while at Blissdom.