This weekend I got to go to an amazing event.
An event you might have heard me talk about, tweet about, squeal about. Blog Sugar, a Christ-centered blogging conference put on by three amazing ladies that I’m honored to be in the company of: Rachel, Andrea and Jenn.
An event that God knew I needed to be at. I know this because I won my ticket in a giveaway on Amy Peter’s Studio back in April. We had a lot of personal stuff going on at the time and if I hadn’t won the ticket I probably wouldn’t have been there.
The verse for the conference was Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” and let me tell you I’m feeling nothing less that that goodness as I sit here and type. I’m hoping the words that come out make sense, yet I have no sense of how to even organize or gather my thoughts. I was challenged, inspired, overwhelmed, and all that in the midst of the tears that still form just thinking about the amazing speakers I heard and the friends I made. It reinforced every reason why I love blogging and that it really doesn’t matter what my friends think, real life, amazing and true friendships can form through blogs and social media that can extend into real life. I know this because I lived and breathed it this weekend. And friends if you don’t believe me you can scroll through the millions of pictures in this post. Each of these women are my friends, my REAL LIFE and ONLINE friends and I love and cherish each and every one of them.
Yesterday I was exhausted physically and emotionally, but in an unexplainably amazing way. I also had to say goodbye the the three amazing ladies who stayed at my house this weekend {miss them already!}: Jacqui, Carrie and Meagan. After an afternoon relaxing chasing around my overly rambunctious children, I debriefed with my hubby on the incredible things I had learned about myself and my blog. He intently listened to everything I said and was truly excited for me. I wanted to cry all over again with the reminder of an amazing hubby who loves and supports me and my “life is a blog post” madness.
I’m about to share with you a ton of pictures! All these women have amazing blogs and I hope you will click on every link and follow every person. And if you’re stopping by today for the first time and I didn’t get to meet you at Blog Sugar, please follow me. I’d love to get to know you!!
I have to say these lovely ladies I was more than a little excited to meet. I actually sat right being a certain Little Miss Momma, eek! It was awesome!!
Casey and I
I had the awesome privilege of sharing a Blog Sugar table with these ladies!!
I thought it would be fun to try and organize a little Pre Blog Sugar dinner with people flying or driving in for the conference. When I tweeted it out I didn’t expect to have all these lovely and amazing ladies tweet me back saying they wanted to have dinner with little ol’ me. What?! We had such an amazing time!
Rachel and I
This lady is the heart and soul behind the Blog Sugar Conference. She’s amazing, inspiring and I’m beyond blessed to be able to call her my friend.
I’m sure many of you know this lovely lady, Lisa Leonard. Her blog is amazing and {eek!} she’s the newest sponsor of my blog. I was so excited that I had the chance to meet her. She really is every bit as beautiful as she is on her blog.
Here’s what I took away from this weekend:
God Gave me a story, it’s my job to tell it.
You need to be who you are, no apologies
God made you for a purpose that no one else can fulfill
God never intended me to be average, and so I tell my story, which is why I was given it.
Your blog is a unique gift to you, God gave it to you, not your neighbor.
he calls me wifey says
i'm so happy to have met you last night. you are such a sweetheart and i'm excited to start following!
~Andrea
p.s. i still think you could rock the red hair 😉
Lindsay says
SO happy to have met you! YOU are adorable! LOVING our pic! 🙂
Heather says
So fun to see all of these familiar faces! You ladies are ROCKSTARS!! Love it! xo
Candice @ Made With Love says
I still can't believe how amazing and inspirational the night was! I feel as though I totally walked away a different blogger than when I arrived, and I'm loving it! 🙂
Megan says
Thanks for sharing! Envious of you ladies that got to go to Blog Sugar 🙂 I will definately be checking out all of these lovely blogs!!
SoSoBella says
wonderful post. wonderful photos. i attended too, didn't take one photo 🙁 next year for sure 🙂
Genn says
Hi Alissa!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! I wish I got to meet you at blog sugar! i will definitely be looking for you next year! can't wait to learn more about you through your blog. xo,
genn
Eisley Rae Clothing says
So happy to see that you had an amazing time. What a bunch of beautiful ladies!!
Heather :: AFD Jewelry :: says
You got some GREAT pictures (I'm partial to the first one – ha!) Loved meeting you! Blog Sugar was amazing!
Nancy says
I didn't get to meet you either… But I'm already looking forward to the next blog sugar! I love your photos of all of those talented ladies. I am definitely going to check them out. Yay! I hope you have recuperated. My mind is still going non stop!
Jenelle "rella ella ella" says
so happy to have finally met in person 🙂 i feel the exact same way about blogsugar, I needed to be there. Can't wait for all our handmade market fun to come
Denise says
well said.
love all the pictures.
Denise says
well said.
love all the pictures.
mel @ the larson lingo says
So great meeting you!!!! Can't believe we didn't get a picture together…FOR SHAME! Next year!
ashley @ little miss momma says
You take the best pictures–and you really captured just how fun the event was! It was so great to meet you, you are so sweet and I just think your blog is super cute! i have visited you many times before 🙂
Jami says
You are a rockstar! I love you!!!
Handbags*N*Pigtails says
Im laughing at myself thinking back to Sunday. When the light went on for both of us and we realized who we were standing there looking at:each other!:)
You're an absolute doll and it was a pleasure finally meeting you in person. Your enthusiastic hug helped me cope with the overload of the meet & greet session. It was all so much to take in. Next year it'll be like old times:)
Hope your week of "back to normal" is going great!
hannah singer says
alissa! love the pictures! so glad we met, and thanks again for getting dinner together;) xo