Category: Blogging

I’ve been going to blogging conferences for a long time, but I always learn something. Always. Here are a couple things I came away with after my 2.5 days at iRetreat 2014 in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

1) No matter how much technical stuff you learn, the best takeaway from a conference is the relationships you make. Exhibit A, the amazeballs women above, Joey and Steph. I had the BEST time with these ladies and now I’ve got two new forever friends, FER REALZ.

2) If you want to move forward with your blog or whatever is important to you in life, you need to silence your inner critic at some point and just GO FOR IT. Be willing to fail. This is a hard one for me.

3) Hershey, PA is a pretty cool place to visit. I am really looking forward to bringing my family back one day! Plus, you can’t walk two steps without tripping over a HUGE PILE of this:

4) If you need help, ask for it. If we are talking blogging, there are always other bloggers willing to help you promote or share your stuff if you are willing to do the same. Collaborate. There is POWER in partnerships. I think this holds true for just about every area of life. Struggling with a problem with your kids? Ask another mom. If she hasn’t gone through it, she probably knows someone who has. Reach out. Don’t try to do it all alone.

5) Don’t be a wallflower. You never know who is sitting next to you in a session or at breakfast. Open your mouth, introduce yourself, and be a person! You never know what kind of amazing connection might happen. You can lose a LOT by keeping to yourself.

6) I should never go anywhere without Emily.  I missed her A LOT! Also, when I was speaking, it was way too short, because I didn’t have her there to add in her brilliance. At one point I texted her: “I have never wished you were here with me so bad in my life!”

Also, the coffee might be gone after breakfast. When in doubt, get two cups!!

I loved all the people I met at iRetreat! It was great to speak as well – thanks for having me! If you guys haven’t checked out the organizers, the Double Duty Divas – check ’em out. I work with them on the Pampers Baby Board and I LOVE them!

That’s what I learned at iRetreat – have you gleaned any new life lessons lately?

So last week, after Emily posted her brilliant “Merry Christmas” post, she said to me, “What do you think about Mommin’ It Up taking the week off?” I was all, “sounds good to me”! We’ve never really done that before, but who doesn’t want a break over the holidays?

I gotta admit, it was nice to just chillax.

But now I’m all, “OHEMGEESOMUCHHAPPENEDONTHEBREAKANDWHATDOIEVENBLOGABOUT?”

So you might have to bear with us as we get back into the swing of things, and I hope you will! Because today we had one of the most epic text message conversations EVER, and if I can figure out how to translate it so that it’s expletive-free, it’s going to make a GREAT post. Right, Emily 
“potty mouth” Berry?

Here are a few photographic highlights of our break from my family:

 

 

We had an awesome Christmas and holiday break!

So, now it’s a new year. Lucky 13, y’all! I don’t really make New Year’s Resolutions, do you? I’d love to hear some in the comments – maybe you’ll inspire me!

Last week I had the privilege of attending Tory Johnson’s Spark & Hustle conference for women in small business.  It was a great experience!  I learned so much to apply in a practical way to the business side of this blog (and let me tell you it was SUCH a relief that everything was TRULY practical and applicable! You don’t always get that.), I got to hear from some inspiring women in small business, and I got to spend time with my friends Rachel and Luanne, awesome small business owners themselves!

My attendance at Spark & Hustle was sponsored by one of my favorite companies to work with, Intel.  They also sent me to the conference with a Lenovo ThinkPad Edge quipped with Intel’s Small Business Advantage tools.  These tools are awesome for those in small business who don’t really have a tech guy at the ready.  When I have tech trouble, my tech guy (aka my husband) is usually at work when I need him and not close by!

 The SBA tools allow your computer to take care of a lot of maintenance issues virtually by itself!  Here are some of my favorite features:

• Software Monitor – Did you know there are viruses out there that can come in and turn off your anti-virus software?  Eek!  Neither did I!  The software monitor feature lets you know when your anti-virus software has been turned off or compromised so you can take action right away.
• Data backup & restore- this feature allows you to schedule backups of your data (veeeery important, I have learned! The hard way!) and maintenance to run in the off-business hours so this important step gets done AND doesn’t interfere with your work day.
• USB Blocker – I LOVE this feature.  It allows you to choose which type of USB devices you’ll allow to be plugged into your computer.  So let’s say you don’t want anyone but yourself to be able to plug in a mass storage device – you can allow that only after the user enters a password.  Meanwhile, other devices like cameras or printers can be plugged in by any user.  A great way to keep your files protected from anyone who might want to remove them.

I’ve loved using Intel’s Small Business Advantage tools and I know they’ll be keeping me and my data in business safely and securely!   Thanks to Intel for sending me to Spark & Hustle and supporting women in small business!