Vegas Recap! {Pictures and Gratitude!}

I'm linking up with A Burst of First to share my Vegas adventures! :)

Oh. My. Gosh. Y’all. I just had the BEST time in Vegas! I cannot begin to explain how rewarding this trip was. Being able to meet and talk with fellow teachers from around the country (world actually) was priceless. Don’t get me wrong, the sessions were awesome too. I was truly inspired by some amazing teachers. But I truly think the connections made with other teacher-authors was my favorite part!

I had the best roomies EVER! Marcy from Saddle Up For 2^nd Grade (a fellow Texan who uses the word y’all about 5,000 times a day just like me!), Angie from Mrs. Olson’s Lucky LittleLearners and Ashley from Schroeder Shenanigans in Second. These women are AMAZING!! I truly enjoyed every minute with them. We shared our joys, struggles and excitement for being teacher-authors and of course…had some fun!! J Here are some pics from my trip:

Marcy, Me and Angie

All of my roomies with Mel D!

Blogger gals at the conference

Happy Hour with TpT Founder Paul Edelman (who is such an amazingly nice, down to Earth guy by the way)!

Becoming a blogger and a Teachers Pay Teachers teacher-author has truly been a life changing experience for me. It has opened the door for me to be a “work at home” mom which I truly appreciate. In our society today it is very hard to live off of one income alone, especially when you have children. Being able to blog and create for TpT gave me the opportunity to provide some income for my family AND be with my babies. I cannot be more grateful for that experience!

On my flight back, I was doing some reflective thinking about the trip and I came up with these important takeaways…

  I’m doing something right!

During my sessions I got some tips and tricks from TpT authors and I found that many of the things they shared, were things I’m doing. That made me feel really good. A lot of times this part-time business of mine can get pretty lonely. Before this trip I didn’t have anyone to talk with about my experience, I felt very isolated so I really had no idea if I was doing things right or not. Being able to listen to some of the top sellers share their methods made me feel really good about what I’m doing. *Patting myself on the back* J

    I am NOT alone!

I absolutely loved sharing the same joys/gripes with my fellow TpTers. It was so nice to share troubleshooting strategies with each other. I loved feeling like I’m not the only one who gets really frustrated with hyperlinks sometimes!! Haha! Or that I’m not the only one who finds it hard to balance time working and time spent with family. I am so thankful to have people to share my joys and struggles with! *Mushy, I know…but totally true!!*

     People Actually Read My Blog

Haha! I know that sounds really silly…of course people read this blog, my blogger dashboard tells me I have tons of views every day…of course people read this…right? But to actually meet other bloggers and have them know who I am was completely mind blowing! My biggest shock was when Katie from Teacher to the Core said, “Oh ya, Teachin’ Little Texans!” and gave me a compliment. I was like Whhhhhhuuuut??!  Seriously, blew. My. Mind!  She is an amazing blogger and wayyyyyyyyyy beyond where I am at in the blogging world and it just made my YEAR to know she actually reads this little old blog of mine. Thank you Katie for your kind words!! You seriously rocked my world and I’ll be talking about meeting you for MONTHS!

    God is GOOD!!

Ok so I already knew this. There have been so many moments in my life that I think about how I was SO close to some catastrophic event happening and then something happened and all was good. That has happened too many times in my life for me not to be a firm believer that God has my back! This trip has helped me see that yet again, God is good. Meeting these amazing women, working in this revolutionary business that allows me to mesh doing what I love with being with my babies and supporting my family…it’s unreal y’all. So, so, SO thankful.

Now…if you have stuck with me this far THANK YOU! I hope y’all know I truly appreciate every page view, every comment, every like and every second you spend with me. I have so many great things planned for the future and I hope y’all stay with me! Sending all of you a *big hug*!

Head back to a A Burst of First to check out the other Vegas stories!