Blog Party 2008

The blog party has been on my mind all year to this point, especially because every time I'd check Annalisa's blog I would see the countdown to it on her sidebar. This was often anxiety-producing for me, especially when I checked her blog Saturday morning and saw all these zeros!


Saturday morning as Kristi, Michelle and I were sitting on the couches in our pajamas talking about the day we had a funny conversation that went a little something like this.

Kristi: What would you like me to do? I'm trying not to take over the party.
Me: I WANT you to take over the party!
Kristi: Oh good! (She then hopped off the couch and went shopping.)

I had been thinking Kristi (aka The Idea Factory) would come to Utah and get things moving, but it turns out she was holding back so as not to step on my toes. Meanwhile I was waiting for her to do her thing. It's a good thing we had that conversation early in the day, phew.



After that happened I was able to relax more and offer my suggestions without fear because I knew she'd make things great.


Lelly was kind of enough to make calls to various Hampton Inns and to book the room for us (she works for Hampton Inn) even though she wasn't able to make it to the party herself. I really appreciate her doing this for me, and hope next year she can come and enjoy herself.


Kacey from Doodle Bug Stationery donated the darling name tags for our party, along with 4 sets of stationery to be given as door prizes. Thanks Kacey!


Everyone brought a food item to share and we ended up with a fantastic variety of salads, desserts, and appetizer-type things. Regrettably, I was too amped up to eat until the very end of the night so I missed out on most of it. I did manage to eat a several of Barb's homemade truffles, a Krispy Kreme donut, a piece of Crystalyn's tastalicious chocolate-chip bundt cake, and Lindsay's fruit pizza (notice a pattern here?). It was 1:00am, what was I to do?


I was so excited to meet Barb and Kelly (FYI--they're sisters in law) in person. I have been reading and commenting on their blogs for a long time now and feel like I know them, so it was really fun to put voices with their personalities. I was so happy they came to the party! (They came from Canada and Oregon.)


I had to take a self-portrait during the party. This is when everyone was gathering for the big, group photo. Notice Amy M. waving in the background.


I had asked Wende, Crystalyn and Amy M. to be our official blog party photographers for the night (Kristi's brilliant idea) and was able to relax and set my camera down because of this. They captured a lot of fun shots of the night and made it easier to enjoy the party. Thanks girls!


I love this random shot from the middle of the party. It's fun to see everyone visiting and to get a feel for the room.


Having Kristi there was like having a celebrity in the room. Everyone was so excited to meet her. I think she actually managed to talk to everyone too, I'm not sure how she did that. (LtoR: Elisa, Janae, Kristy, Lindsay, Erin and Kristi.)

I was hoping our question and answer session would be better, but I think passing the microphone ended up changing the dynamic and keeping people from chiming in as much. I thought we would have a better discussion about blogging in general, though it still ended up being informative.


Tip Junkie Laurie took notes and did a very thorough job of posting the information on her blog. Thanks Laurie! (It was fun to meet in her in real life too.)


I was really happy with the turn out for the party. There are many more blogging friends I wished could have been there, but for those that made an effort to be there I was definitely thankful.


This is one of my favorite photos from the night (I think Crystalyn took it). I love the perspective on it, love that you can see the D.J. set up, love the clear focus on my sister Robyn taking a picture of me in the distance with the microphone. I had no idea the photo was being taken, so I love the candidness of it. I just think it's cool.


Kristi did a great job on the microphone giving out the door prizes and having people introduce themselves. It was a huge relief for me not to have to up front all the time (that's so NOT my thing) and was a great way for everyone to get to know Kristi's fun personality better.


Sweet, new blogging friend Ryann (who doesn't have a blog, but is a reader) ended up winning the huge amount of ribbon Kristi brought as a door prize. Kristi named Ryann "Miss Blog Party 2008" because she stopped us and introduced herself at Women's Conference and because she had such great things to say about her love of reading blogs and how they have touched her life. She is a great example of how we never know who is impacted by the things we share on our blogs.


Overall, I wanted the party to be a place for blogging friends to come together to be united in their online friendships, to feel comfortable and happy, and to recognize that they are part of something special. I kept telling people over and over again that it didn't matter if they didn't know many people there, that we are all united by a love of blogging (even those who don't actually have a blog themselves) so we are in good company and already have something in common. I truly believe this and really hoped people would ignore their feelings of shyness and their insecurities and just talk to everyone. I hope people were able to do this, I know I did.

**Do you have any questions about the party?
What could we do to make it better next year?
Will you come to the party next year?
If you have pictures to add to my smugmug
gallery, email me so I can give you the sign-in info.
stuart_jill@hotmail.com**

A Hot Date

Since Randy made plans to head up to Adam and Amy's house to help Adam finish putting together their new backyard play set, Amy invited Whitney to go home with them after game night Friday night. That meant Randy and Whitney were gone all day Saturday.

{Photo from Amy's blog}

So Landon and I ended up having a little date. We went to Target to buy a birthday present for his friend, then went to see Horton Hears A Who (we both really liked it). It was fun to spend time alone with Landon, he just cracks me up. As we were standing in line to buy popcorn I said, "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" He paused for a second and then said, "No, do you?" Apparently he's old enough that I don't have to monitor his bathroom needs so closely; I just hate leaving in the middle of a movie so I was trying to avoid that.


This is a very grainy self-portrait of us in our seats waiting for the show to start. We snarfed that popcorn and made it even yummier by pouring some Reese's Pieces into it. I saw a young mother who was there with 3 little kids (brave soul) taking pictures of the kids in the dark while the previews were showing. I had to wonder if she's a blogger too.


After the movie we came home to wrap the birthday present and to do a little Sing Star action before the birthday party. Landon was so sweet and kept thanking me for taking him out and said, "It's fun to hang out with you." What a love he is.

I ended up having an hour or so to myself before Randy and Whitney got home so I actually finalized my Sharing Time plans (yeah me!). Normally I would dilly dally that time away and then be bugged at myself.

I also finally got the Evite for the blog party sent out (that's a load off my mind). If I somehow missed sending it to any of you please email me and let me know. There's a ton of people to keep track of and it would not be a stretch for me to miss someone. (stuart_jill@hotmail.com)

**Have you seen this movie?
Do you put candy in your popcorn?
Are your kids funny?
Did you get your Evite?**

Official Announcement

Guess what? The wheels are already in motion for the 3rd Annual Blog Party. I just wanted to give you all a heads-up on the dates so that you can plan accordingly. This year we've arranged it so that it corresponds with BYU Women's Conference since so many of you come to Utah for that already, plus we're hoping that since school will still be in session that means family reunions won't be going on at the same time and more people will be able to make it.

{Blog Party 2007}

Saturday May 3, 2008
7:00pm-until it ends
Location: To Be Determined

{Blog Party 2006}

Last year's party was a good time and was twice as big as the year before. I don't know what to expect for this year, so if you want to receive an official invitation in the mail I need you to email me (stuart_jill@hotmail.com) and give me your mailing address and your blog address (If I already have your address on the good mail list then you don't need to email it to me). Our blogging community now goes beyond a friend of a friend of a friend, so we want to make sure we're not just sending an open invite to all the world. Also, that means you lurkers might want to start commenting more regularly so that someone can account for you, ha.

**What do you think??
Do you want to come?
Any suggestions for the party?**

Questions & Answers

At the blog party last Saturday almost everyone answered a sheet with 4 blogging-related questions. The answers are interesting and similar. I thought you'd all like to see what everyone wrote and then add your opinion too. Enjoy!


What types of things do you find inviting on a blog?

• --I love pictures and blogs that are not super busy aesthetically.
• --Lots of pictures, personal stories, talking about personal struggles.
• --Pictures, funny stories, personal stories that I relate to, especially ones that make me cry, and travel.
• --Banners, pictures, honesty.
• --Definitely pictures. Not too busy.
• --Photos, personal stories, links to favorite sites, product reviews.
• --Pictures, thoughts that inspire me, feeling connected with others.
• --Photos, words (deep thoughts), design, reality (the good and the bad), inspiration.
• --Pictures, layout, content, games, recipes, contests, deep thoughts, travelogues.
• --Pictures, sharing recipes or just life experiences.
• --Pictures definitely.
• --Pictures, wit, thoughtful posts.
• --Color/layout, pictures (my biggest obstacle to posting, unfortunately), new ideas to try.
• --Pictures, title.
• --Pictures, fun ideas, similar interests.
• --I enjoy the photos.
• --Pictures, links, pleasing colors, black text, sidebar interests.
• --Pictures, blog designs, sidebars, just about anything.
• --Love seeing others' personalities come out through layout, color choice, pictures, links.
• --Pictures, ideas, recipes, updates from friends, good and struggles.
• --Pictures, honesty about their life, not too cluttery looking, shared insights and mistakes.
• --A profile picture, preferably one that actually looks like them.
• --Craft ideas--Pictures (probably because I'm so bad at taking them, I like to see really good pics)
• --Funny stories
• --People that are obviously similar to me and I could easily be friends with, but would never be presented with the opportunity.
• --Keeping in touch with friends
• --Really great writing (because I'm so bad)

What types of things turn you off from a blog?

• --If the posts are consistently depressing. Too many colors.
• --When the person isn't specific in their stories or personal information, making me feel distant.
• --Nothing so far...I love how everybody expresses in their own way.
• --Paragraphs super long--break it up! No photos.
• --Blogs that look like businesses, advertisements, pictures that aren't centered, words, words, and words without pictures.
• --Continuous negative rants.
• --Super long entries, blogs that only have "day to day" entries like "Today I..." mix it up instead.
• --I want every one's blog to reflect them, so it turns me off when it doesn't seem real.
• --Lack of updates, lots of complaining, any kind of pornography, black backgrounds, lack of pictures.
• --Long posts with no pictures.
• --Forever long posts with no pictures.
• --Nothing--I'm a book whore and a blog whore, anything for something to read.
• --Font or font color that I can't read.
• --Language, negativity.
• --Time needed to read long posts. Light color text or funky fonts that are difficult to read.
• --Colors that are bright and text that is hard to read.
• --Not much.
• --No current post.
• --Really long stories day after day.
• --I need paragraphs and pictures! I hate sifting through a huge chunk of text, especially if there's nothing insightful, funny or real about it.
• --Cartoons for profile pictures, it's confusing and off-putting.
• --Posts only about kids, not about themselves and what they're going through.
• --Fake posts that don't have a hint of real life in them.
• --Nothing- a blog is a personal thing. I don't care if they post long paragraphs, no pictures, cartoons as profile pictures, bad color scheme- whatever. Maybe they aren't computer savvy, maybe they don't understand how to post a picture (like me) or maybe they hate pictures of themselves (like me) my opinion- you can immediately tell if you are going to enjoy their blog based off of a post regardless of the fancy things going on. There are blogs I don't read because I don't think we would connect. They post about things I don't care about, so I don't make an effort to read them regularly. I don't expect them to change their blog because of me, because it is their blog. You take what you get.

{Our jazz-hands group photo.}

What do you love most about blogging?

• --Having a forum where I can get support. Reading about other people's lives, struggles and triumphs!
• --Getting a look into people's lives. Sharing common struggles. Connecting to people you wouldn't normally have thought you had anything in common with.
• --I can talk about myself for hours and people listen and comment! I love meeting and connecting with people all over the place. Everybody has things to offer and things I can learn from.
• --The shortcut to friendship! Outreach from the comfort of my own home.
• --The writing. I really like putting form to my thoughts. Next the connecting. I've become better friends with good friends and good friends with strangers. I've learned a thing or two, as well. Who knew about baby powder in the hair?
• --Keeping in touch with friends, getting ideas for parenting, crafting, creativity in general, spiritual insights.
• --Having a record of my thoughts, feelings and experiences; and being connected and inspired by such incredible women.
• --Connections with women I normally never would have met. Realizing I'm not the only one who feels overwhelmed...I'm not alone.
• --Friendships made, useful information, journaling, photo journaling, kindred spirits, reconnecting with old friends. Staying connected to the world while staying at home with my kids.
• --Posting pictures and stories about my children. I love that my children check it out, they feel special.
• --Knowing what's happening with my friends and family. And that women are going through the same "daily" stuff I am! And I have a record of my life!
• --Documenting my life. Keeping in touch with friends and family.
• --Community, spreading of ideas, the record of my life.
• --The comments that people make.
• --Meeting new people and knowing I'm not alone in my feelings and struggles with life.
• --Getting "inside" someone's head. Feeling closer to friends.
• --Feeling connected with so many women, feeling inspired, getting ideas on everything. Feeling like I am not the only one dealing with xyz.
• --Getting to know new people and knowing I am not alone with what I am dealing with in life and I'm not crazy!
• --I love the journaling aspect, the sisterhood, the creative ideas, inspiration, the examples of goodness, gratitude and generosity.
• --Keeping in touch so easily.
• --I love the way it has made me view my life as something interesting and worth documenting. I never knew I had so much to say and share. It's life affirming and motivating for me.
• --Getting caught up on lives.
• --Keeping friends and family in the loop.
• --Getting in touch with old friends that I haven't seen since high school.
• --Seeing amazing photos.
• --Getting great craft ideas.
• --Meeting friends in similar situations.

How have you changed since blogging?

• --I've started training for a marathon, lost 20 pounds and just do a better job at setting and keeping goals.
• --I'm more open to meeting new people.
• --I have learned to be more analytical and thoughtful about my experiences. I have also learned how important it is to take the time to invest in other people's lives. Most importantly, I have learned to STOP and enjoy life. Oh, one more thing, I have learned how much I love my sisters!
• --Much bigger support system!
• --Yeah, I'm more willing to meet people I "meet" online. I would never have done that before. And I admire people I might not have been friends with before.
• --I feel so enriched by documenting my own experiences and finding so much common-ness with so many friends.
• --I have become more outgoing, more thoughtful (used to be but this has stretched me). I believe I can be creative. My life seems to be inspired. Don't feel alone.
• --Thinking about others and sending good mail.
• --I have become more aware of lives that are similar to mine. Experience shared. Thoughts expanded. Reconnected with old friends. I have also become more aware of the similarity of most women. We are more similar than we are different.
• --I am more aware of what is going on around me. I take my camera everywhere now!
• --Still pretty new at it, but I can see the potential for it to be life-changing...who knows what will happen.
• --I HAVE MORE GUILT IN MY LIFE (because I don't write enough, nor do I comment enough!)
• --I have kept a more consistent record of my life--way better than a journal.
• --More aware of things I could blog. I'm a little better at journaling, but still not great.
• --New friends, more community feeling.
• --I am more thoughtful. I act on my intentions without worrying if I am lame. I care more about others.
• --I am more willing to share experiences and I am journaling more about my family. I take way more pictures.
• --I look at each day differently, especially experience with my kids. I feel like I've found this fantastic creative outlet. It's my "happy pill."
• --Extended myself more. Acted on intentions.
• --I see everything as a potential blog topic. I want to take pictures of everything. I have learned lots about my friends and family. I want to reach out to others more.
• --I have a better sense of self. I admire qualities in other people, but ultimately want to improve myself, and with blogging this seems to be a daily thing for me.
• --I am more careful about my posts. I limit more of my information, because of random people coming up and telling me they read my blog. I'm willing to give people more chances than I was before. I'm more thankful for what I have.

**Interesting eh?
How would you answer these questions?
(You can post anonymously or email me if you'd like.)
Any surprises here?
I guess pictures are a pretty big deal.**

Blog Party Success!

I can't believe it's now the morning after the blog party, phew. It feels like this has been on my mind for ages, so it's a relief to have it as a pleasant memory. I enjoy things like this, but I didn't realize how wound up I was about it, until I ended up feeling exhausted and having a migraine by the end of the night. I hate that about myself, I always end up paying a physical price for big events and yet I like to do them. It's a conundrum really. Oh, and last night I told someone how happy I was that I have 2:00 church and that I didn't have to teach either, but then I came home to find a note saying my teaching partner wasn't going to be there and needed me to teach for her! $%#@! At least I got to sleep in.


This is a picture of the food tables early on before everyone arrived. Jenn did a marvelous job with the flowers and with her caramel and chocolate splattered apples. Everyone brought such good food, foolishly I didn't eat except for a few bites here and there.


This is a shot with everyone in it during one of the thick of the night. It was really loud in the room (it needs a rug or something to ground the sound), but it felt busy and very social. It was so great that Tasha recently moved from Pennsylvania to Logan, Utah because that meant she could be here for the party, Allison was visiting family in Bountiful so she was here from Louisiana, and Jennifer drove from California with 3 kids to be here, and Lucy recently moved to Utah from Washington as well.


This is a shot of the good mail gift table. More presents arrived, but I never got back to take a picture of the full table. Everyone did such a great job on their gifts, it was a fun exchange.


This is a shot of some of the girls (Lucy, Claudia, Dana, Rachel, Laralee and Chloe) checking out their good mail gifts. Lucy and Melinda both proclaimed themselves as "noncrafters" but ended up with crafty supplies. We're all going to be waiting for them to post their projects.


Here is our group shot (thanks to a tripod) minus Amy H. who had to slip out a bit earlier because she had guests at her house, she'll have to photoshop herself in. First row: from left to right it's Lori, Lindsay, Jana, Julie, Emi, Allison and Tasha. Second row: Me, Rachel, Chloe, Collette, Jenny S., Elisa, Dana and Jennifer. Third row: Jenn, Lucy, Melinda, Amie, Hannah, Michelle, Claudia. Top row: Laralee, Crystalyn, Amy M. and Annalisa. So I guess that means we had 27 women in attendance, hooray. You can see the rest of the photos here.


Claudia surprised me by driving all night from California to be here for the party! I was so thrilled. I had begged her in a couple emails this week to do that because she and her husband often take spontaneous road trips, but she hadn't sounded like they were going to do it. Her husband is the one who ended up making it happen! What a delight.


Also, we missed those of you who said you were coming, but then didn't make it (what's up with that?) and those who were almost going to be able to come and then your trips fell through (Kelly, Lisa and Janae), and what about Miss Kristi? We chose this date because of her! I had deluded myself in to thinking that she was going to surprise us and show up, but then I guess her Europe trip trumps a blog party. Drat.

It was a night of stimulus overload for me, but was so much fun. I'm officially a hugger now! How about that? Thanks so much to everyone who made the effort to be there and who contributed food, a gift and money for the room (you guys were generous!). I'm so grateful to know you all and to be a blogger! Next year will be even better.

Happy Birthday to
Pam (it's her 4oth) and Allison!!

**I really hope everyone will post about the party so we can view different photos and perspectives on it.**

Palpitations

It's T minus 3 hours and 22 minutes until the blog party starts and now I've got butterflies in my stomach. What's up with that? It's probably just excitement and a reeling mind as I keep reviewing the details for tonight (napkins, plates, ice, drinks, etc.). Oh my. I think we're going to have a big crowd (close to 40) so we'll see how it goes. Wish us luck! I wish you were all coming!

Blog Party Update

We are only 8 days out from the blog party and I changed the location. I updated the evite so check your email. Also, make sure you've replied because the counts are off right now and I need to know who's coming. If you're having trouble opening the evite, try again or email me. Also, if you're interested in coming but haven't received the evite you'd better come out of hiding and email me so I can invite you. It's going to be great, no need to be shy, we all get nervous but then just have to remind ourselves that we already have so much in common. No worries! stuart_jill@hotmail.com

P.S. You out-of-staters might want to reconsider and come anyway. Hee.

Miscellaneous Monday

Apparently I can't get enough time at Seven Peaks because today me and the kids picked up Max and Lucas (Eva was too busy playing with her cousin Bella and Hannah's daughter Mya), then met up with Amie and her kids and Melinda and her kids at Seven Peaks. I can't believe this, but we ended up being there for 7 hours!! The kids just kept on going. Amie and I sat under the umbrella in our lawn chairs for the majority of the day and only ventured out for 2 laps in the Lazy River and a 20 minute stint in the wave pool. It's so nice that the kids just need us to provide a base camp, food and sunscreen application because it ends up being pretty relaxing for us.


I can't believe it's already July 2nd. This week is a blur already with Fourth of July festivities. My family is all getting together and catching up on Father's Day celebrating (since Adam and Amy were on their cruise we didn't do anything for our dad) and my mom's birthday (which also happened while they were gone), plus I think we're pre-celebrating my birthday as well. Crazy. Speaking of my birthday, I received packages from Natasha, The San Antonio twins (Jenny and Angie) and Annalisa, but I haven't opened them yet. I'm not sure if it's silly of me to save them for my birthday next week or not, but I talked to Kristi yesterday and she said she'd save them too, so I'm feeling less mental about that. I don't want to have opened them, enjoyed them and sent thank you notes before my birthday is even here, unless of course I'm supposed to do so (anything time sensitive in there??).


Randy is taking Thursday and Friday off of work, but we don't have any plans. It always throws me off when he does this because my routine is messed up. I need to plan something for us to do. Hopefully we'll be buying our black armoir for the family room, and maybe we'll venture out to IKEA now that the crowds have died down. Also there are quite a few out-of-state bloggers in Utah this week so I think some socializing will be happening. It's too bad the blog party isn't scheduled for this Friday since so many of them will be around. Speaking of the blog party, I need a firm count on who is really going to be here for it on July 28th, so please leave a comment here or email me if you ARE coming.

**Do you have big plans this week?
Any suggestions?**

Meeting the Sistas!

{Crystalyn, Janae, Annalisa, Anna, Dana & Lisa}

This morning we had a mini-blog party of sorts because "the Sistas" were in town for a wedding. We ended up having breakfast at my house (aka The Retirement Rambler) so as to have a midway meeting place and a less-public place to gather. It worked out splendidly. My house is so small that having 6 guests in it constitutes a party (I enjoy this). I knew Crystalyn and Dana were coming as well, but I had met them both before so I thought I would just be meeting the Sistas, but then Annalisa arrived with Crystalyn so I got to meet her too! (I knew she'd been invited, but I was under the impression she wasn't coming, so this was a nice surprise.)


We all contributed to a tasty breakfast (which provided many leftovers and my kids are thrilled), though my Orange Tea Rolls didn't turn out as gooey and great as when my mom makes them. It's because I made them in a 9x13 baking dish instead of a bundt pan (which I don't have) even though the recipe said any pan will do. @#$%!

We fit nicely in my tiny front room (though I had to bring the director's chairs in from the garage, I can't believe I still have those they're practically vintage at this point) where we hung out eating and talking for 2 hours. It was hilarious, informative and very fun. I absolutely love how blogging has made us all totally comfortable and familiar with each other already, there was no awkwardness at all. (We were so close to hearing Lisa's turkey call, how did we end up not getting her to do that?)


This was the debut of the self-timer on my camera, but I actually got it to work so we could get a photo of all of us together. It's always so amusing running in to the photo at the last second. I practically straddled poor Anna in this picture and speared Janae with my nails, which untied her cute grommeted pockets on her pants. Good grief! (I've been working out for 2 months, but felt like the great white whale around all these skinny girls.)


The Sistas all brought gifts representing their home states (so nice). Lisa brought Oregon Rain soap and candy, Janae brought Arizona suckers with real scorpions inside them (very scary), and Anna brought us a Moose cookie cutter because she's from Minnesota (apparently there's a woman campaigning for a National Moose Day). Of course I had thought about making some sort of gift or favor or something, but never had a good idea (which is always my problem) and focused my efforts all week on cleaning out closets they were never going to see! I have serious priority problems (but my closets are clean!).


This is the farewell seen from in front of my house (notice the lovely blue-carpeted porch, don't you wish you had one too?). I still can't believe they were all here. Their fun visit has gotten me motivated for the big blog party July 28th (are you coming??) and now that my focus is no longer on my big Paris trip I can start planning for it, it will be great. Thank you everyone for coming!!

**Have you met any blogging friends yet?
Do you have self-timer skills?
Are you coming to the blog party?**

Blog Party

It looks like the end of July (Saturday the 28th) is going to be the best day for our 2nd annual blog party. We need to know who is seriously planning on coming so that we know whether to have it in my front yard again or if we need to rent out a venue!

**Please comment if you're planning on coming.**