mummy bloggers are talented women

I am a mummy blogger and proud of it. I love to write about motherhood.
I am passionate about it and love connecting with other women and mother's through blogs.

I had been eagerly awaiting the day I could jump on a plane to Sydney to attend the Aussie Bloggers Conference. It was exciting as this is Australia's first Blogging Conference, but for me it was about so much more than that.

It is a really amazing feeling being in a room full of talented women.

Women who you admire, respect and have been looking forward to meeting.

For me it was about:

1. Attending a special event, having some time out and giving me something to look forward to in my calendar. About being involved, connecting and helping. I was able to help hand out all of the swag bags for the conference which the awesome Tina and her family put together and in this way was able to meet nearly every single blogger that walked through the doors. I think a few escaped my eyes but I made sure I said hello to everyone that arrived and even managed to fit several hugs in too!

2. Sealing relationships and friendships. Finally being able to meet Michelle and to share a room with her. I have to say she is just adorable! We got to have the chance to laugh over our not so wonderful attempt at losing our Blogger Butts and to sigh a lot in our rooms because even though we were having a break we were still so tired!

3. and 4. Being able to meet bloggers in person, it is a special treat. It is kind of weird in a way because you know them but you don't really know them - if that makes sense? Meeting Liz who is super cool and looks great in her shades and Janelle who was so lovely and patient finding me in the Sydney airport. Lesson learned: twitter is not a good way to find people in the Sydney airport - actual phone numbers are!

5. Talking blogging and having people understand what you are saying in wonderful. Meeting Katrina the super organised housewife was a highlight, who is so sweet and kind. Michelle and I seriously wanted her to come and organise our room for us but we let her off as we all had a tight schedule to stick to! It was lovely to talk with women who have different blog plans and ideas and to share ideas, tips and hear success stories.

6. Being encouraged to blog for you and to say thank you to those who have supported you. I loved being encouraged to follow my own vision and be bold and brave. Catching up with Tina who has helped me out so much with my blogging journey and always been supportive and kind in her comments to me was a treat. She is just lovely and has the most gorgeous smile. I also loved being able to meet women who have been with us on our Blogger Butt journey.

Michelle and I were really blessed to have a great view from our room. In the short time we spent there we were able to just relax, in peace and quiet and to enjoy the view. We were also able to nibble on some swag bag treats and thank YOU Lindt for adding some treats to our bags.

Now these are really bad pictures but I was so busy and having too much fun that I did not even bring my camera and just used my phone to take some snaps.

One of my favourite parts of the conference was the spontaneous photo sessions that happened all of the time. It was great to see groups crowd together to smile and have fun.

1. I loved being able to squash into pictures with people such as Dorothy and Kelly. I was so happy to meet Dorothy who has been a great supporter of my blog and Kelly who is of course the fun mum you want to meet!
2. I was delighted to meet Annie who is like my twitter hero and was so happy to discover that she is more wonderful in person than I already imagined.
3. Loved meeting Christie and having some brief chats about children and headbands.
4. Loved laughing with Tina and really enjoyed her company.
5. Finally being able to meet, Jodie and her telephone dance on the dance floor will always be in my memory!
6. Finally, finally being able to meet SuperCate who I have to say is so super fit, super fun, super slim, super gorgeous and more super wonderful in real life than I could have imagined!
7. Oh! my - what a treat for me to meet Kirrilly - I almost burst into tears when I met her....she is just awesome and I wanted to bring her home so that she could live next door to me, finding out who Where's My Glow is....and Lucy...what a woman! friendly, charming, fun and looks sensational.

I loved how it is one of the few times in my life that it is acceptable to have a conversation whilst being on your laptop, your phone, twitter and facebook all at the same time and no one is offended!

I enjoyed the reminder to blog for you, to not worry about what anyone else thinks. That you can set goals for your blog and achieve them if you want. That it is important to understand your readers, to care about your community and to be confident in what you have to offer.

There were so many talented women that I really enjoyed meeting. Women who craft, women who are photographers, some women who are not mothers and are excellent speakers and writers, women who were there for the desire to learn and to share their hearts and thoughts.

Of course with all of the wonderful fun and learning I had, coming home to my family was great. I walked in the door to have 8. Liahona ready to serve me dinner and 9. a lovely candle lit dinner that the whole family had worked hard to put together. I live a blessed life.

My favourite picture from the whole conference is here:

It is a picture of Zoey from Good goog (who is about to have a baby!) and I taken by the awesome Tiff from My three ring circus. Just love it - thanks Tiff!

The only thing that I did not enjoy about the Bloggers Conference was the swearing. I do not swear and really do not like hearing it. For me it is one thing to skip over it on blogs that I read but it is another thing to hear the F word repeated, loudly over and over in a blog reading. I understand it is their choice to say and write whatever they want and I totally respect their decision to share it. I just don't like to hear it and think it is necessary.

p.s - I am off to my own Women's conference today and have not had the time to add all the links to the names. I will catch up with that tomorrow - so sorry everyone - they will be added!