Haven 2012 Recap: Setting My Priorities Straight

I just want to say WOW!

What an awesome weekend!

Rhoda from Southern Hospitality 
and her team did a fantastic job putting this conference together!

The workshops were so informative.

The sponsors were wonderful.

But the best thing was meeting so many AMAZING women!

I just have to give a shout out to my favorite peeps!!

Janis @ All ThingsBeautiful

Sallie @ TexasCottage

Eliesa @ PinterestAddict

Sara @ Maj Hoff Takes a Wife

Kerry @ House TalkN

Gayle @ Miss Kopy Kat

Leslie @ The BeardedIris

These girls made the weekend the best!

{Me, Sallie, Janis, Caroline, Kerry, Gayle}

Sorry some of the pics are going to be blurry...

Well, they were taken with my iphone!

At first to be honest with you, I was scared to death! 

My face started breaking out from all of the stress… Ugh!

Meeting new people and I’ve got zits like a teenager…. great!

Oh, well.  I just gotta be me…. that includes the good, the bad and the ugly.

We had a meet and greet the first night and I was completely overwhelmed!

So many people and they all seemed to know each other!  

Thank God, Janis and I had already kinda known each other via email before hand.  I would have definitely been a wallflower!

{Me and Janis}
Once the ice was broken, it was sink or swim.

If you know me, I would be the swimmer 
(not literally, I’m more of the hot tub kind)

… no sinking here!

Anyway….

One of the main points I took from this conference was setting priorities.

There are so many things DEMANDING your time!

What is really important?

Well, for me it’s my family, that’s probably why I haven’t even looked at anything from the conference until today.

When your daughter says, “hey, mom, wanna watch a movie?”

What do you think I’m going to say? “Not now, Sweetie, I really want to go over the tons of business cards I got and the hundreds of pages of notes I took at that super duper awesome conference I went to.”  NOT!!

We fell asleep watching GI Joe!

Better, right?

I remember one of my favorite mega bloggers
 saying at the conference that she is a mom first.

I was thinking about that and I want to be a wife first,
 then a mom, then a blogger.
I keep remembering that life is short and people are what matters most!

Ok, ok...back to the conference and the awesome things I learned…

There were a ton of workshops to choose from, 
here are the titles of the ones I attended:

DIY Blog Design

I Like Big Blogs

Design Studio

Blogging PR

Basic Photograph/Photo Styling

All About Advertising

Sounds cool, right?

They WERE!!

I learned so much stuff.  There were a few that impacted me the most.

I think what I learned in Design Studio is going to help me the A LOT.

I have always struggled with what my own style is.
One minute I like this… then the next day I like that.

More of the ADHD coming out...

  This workshop really taught me some skills to focus and find the similarities in what I like. 

So, I’m going to have to go back to school and really study myself. Ha!

No, seriously, I want to truly learn what inspires me and makes me feel at home.

I want my home to feel calm yet, fun and quirky,
definitely not boring, but homey.

To me that sounds a bit out there, all over the place…. 
But, I’m going to make it work.

Also, in that class I learned about mixing fabrics.

That has always stumped me, but now I know the formula!!

I’ll probably do a post on it because I need pillows and such in my office!

Still working on that office… remember all the updates…. here, here, and here.

There was so much in the advertising and the big blogs workshop, that my head is still rattling around like a baby rattle… or maybe like a pinball machine.
Who knows, all I know is I took a bajillion notes.

I really liked the photography one; I’m such a newbie when it comes to the camera…

Any good pics are by pure luck and chance.

But now I know what ISO is and Aperture, and shutter speed and how they actually work together!

Now I just need a new camera… Honey, (batting my eyelashes)…???

When looking at all the things I learned at Haven,

how do I even know where to begin?

Back to priorities….

I want my blog to always represent me. 

My style, my life, my home.

Will there be changes? Oh, sure.

You might notice a few things here and there.

But I’m going to stay true to me. 

I don’t want to get caught up in trying to make my blog a mega blog.

There’s a lot of hype out there.

I am going to say that blogging has been one of the most enjoyable things I’ve started doing!  All of you are such an encouragement!

I really love sharing and inspiring you as well!

I know this one was a L O N G wordy post,(which are not my favorite) but there was soooo much to say and I feel like I jumped all over the place!

Sorry, if I lost you here and there....

So, the big question.....

Am I going back to Haven next year?

You bet!  Lord willing!!

I gotta see my girls!

Here’s a few pics to end with!

Young House Love ~ so cute!

Love these girls! Me, Janis, Leslie, and Sallie

{Rode in the back~Don't tell!}

{Free Stuff}

{Out to dinner~ Sallie, Eliesa, Me, Janis, Kerry, & Sara}

Thanks for reading and talk to ya soon!