First Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged Conference a Huge Success

This past weekend, 45 women bloggers from all parts of the state of Arkansas loaded up their cars, trucks, SUV's and bicycles (alright, the road in was way too bumpy for bicycles) and headed out to the first ever Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged Conference held at the Ozark Natural Science Center. The Center is an environmental education and conference facility located in the Ozarks of northwest Arkansas. Yes, it was like going to camp, with bunk beds and giggling late into the night with your roommate. But, the lodge was air conditioned and very comfy and the folks at Off Botanicals protected us from the wild with their fabulous products.


We meeted and greeted on Friday night amidst the chirping critters, surrounded by 500 acres of Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission land. Yes, that means we were 35 miles from anything! Thankfully, I brought my own Dr. Pepper. Some of the women began hyperventilating as they drove in because there was limited (very limited) cell reception. Did you catch that this was an "unplugged" conference? Twitter withdrawal starting kicking in at about 9:00pm., but, laughter, connections, and some yummy food and drinks filled the gap.

It was a weekend filled with sessions with titles like Blogging 101, How Not to be a Schmuck, Pulling Blog Topics Out of Thin Air, Maximizing Social Media, Generating Traffic, Food Fantastic and so much more. A hugely successful craft sponsored by Elmer's (yes the glue company, and oh so much more) was the highlight of Saturday evening. Even though chronic twitching is the result of me having to use some form of specialty scissors (scrapbooking is like fingernails on a chalkboard, that is why I blog), I made it through and had a blast.

Many thanks to all the wonderful sponsors of the event. Our presenting sponsor Collective Bias, Partner Sponsor Off Botanicals, and all the other fab companies that stepped up making it all possible: Murphy USA, Petit Jean Meats, Field Notes Brand, Ghiradelli Chocolate, H.J. Heinz, NWA Motherlode, and SC Johnson!

Oh and the SWAG bags, mercy. Great stuff! I just might be giving one away real soon here on The Park Wife blog, hint-hint.

Also, to Beth of ONSC, you rock, yes, you are extraordinary! Julie and Fawn, the two ladies I suckered into this Arkansas Women Bloggers world, for your friendship and willingness for anything I suggest, you are priceless. No really, you are priceless, I can't afford you.

Looking forward to the next one, now I must go check for ticks,
The Park Wife

Cover Family

This time of year, I see many of my Facebook friends with family pictures at the beach, all matching with white shirts and khaki pants, then, of course I get all those cute Christmas cards with everyone in matching holiday scarves. We have never done anything like that, and truthfully, we are not very photogenic as a group. There is always one of us that will have their eyes closed, a weird look on their face or picking their nose, um... of course I mean one our boys.

Now, I have a ton of pictures of my husband with the kids because I always make them stop and pose. They have figured out that if they go ahead and look at the camera and smile quick, they can go on about their business of go-cart riding, zip lining, or whatever current adventure they are on. My friends Susan and Nikki have taken pictures of me with our boys while we were on park outings, but we have not had anyone take a family portrait, yes all four of us, in some matchy clothes EVER.

But......looky -looky what was in 14 out-of-state market newspapers (five of our neighboring states), and during the same week in every daily and weekly newspaper in Arkansas, a total print and online circulation of more than six million.

Yes, that is our family. I sure wish they would have airbrushed me some, but I will take it. As usual, we do not do everything exactly like everyone else does, but our kiddos will have some pretty cool family pictures when they get older, they just won't have well planned outfits on a sandy beach. Hey, I will take the natural state of Arkansas as family portrait backdrop any day.

Thanks to Arkansas Tourism for choosing us to model for their ads and being our family photographer,
The Park Wife

Blogoliscious Update

I started blogging back in 2007 after falling in love with The Pioneer Woman's blog, seems like forever ago.

History (in case you have never read my blog): I was a follower of Ree's in the early days and have benefited from her kindness and generosity many times. I first met her in person in Little Rock at her cookbook signing, in her re-cap of that evening she listed my blog with a notation that I was her "old Internet friend". Of course she did not mean old as in ancient because everyone knows we are spring chickens. People still click over from her site to mine, years later. She has sent me numerous P-Dub shirts and a signed cookbook for me to give away at our first Arkansas Women Bloggers meet-up last year. I adore her and am sure many women out there started blogging because of her.

In the beginning, I did not know how to do this blog thing so I just wrote about what I know- kids, park life, marriage, gardening, community involvement, my relationship with God (even though I am more interested in living my faith than writing about it), chickens, pigs, and goats, yes, it gets a little diverse. I was always concerned about getting more followers, posting every single day and carrying my camera with me at all times so I would not miss that hilarious thing that I just had to blog about.

Over the years I have found my own style and have sometimes been consistent and at other times, not so much. It seems that my kids want to eat, want me to play guns and Legos with them, oh and I have to educate them, no pressure there, ha! And, let's not even get started on the mess in my house.  I finally took a breath and realized I am not a failure if I do not blog every day or my Google Analytics are not what I hoped for. Instead of blogging for my readers, for higher numbers or more recognition,  I started thinking of it more as a love letter to my children, one they can look back on and see their childhood while knowing who their mom truly was through her words.

I have met so many wonderful, inspiring women through blogging, some I have never met in person: Strawberry Cake, Huckleberry Prairie, Fire Wife Katie, and more. Then there are the ones I have met in person and am blessed to call  them friend: Fawn, Julie, Beth.

A couple of weekends ago I spoke at our state's homeschool conference (yes, times are tough, they were desperate, I chat for cheap) and I had dropped off a form at the homeschool alliance booth so they could make me an educator card (gets me a discount in many places teachers get a discount and visible proof when I am in Walmart in the morning with my kids that they are homeschooled and not playing hookie). I was walking off and the lady at the booth yelled, "are you a blogger?" I turned around and boldly said "yes, I am The Park Wife". She proceeded to jump up so fast her chair almost fell backwards and attacked me with the warmest, kindest hug. Yes, I have a new blog friend in real life, Jill from Team Wait.

My jail shirt, trying to be the rebel homeschool mom, no denim here. And, yes I was helping out at the booth that says "Expert" behind us. One of best friends, Jennifer, and I went to the conference together. After signing in, they told me what booth they had me scheduled to help with. We walked over, Jenn looked at the sign and started rolling laughing...and so did I. Needless to say, I am not an expert at much, but I was able to encourage some new homeschool moms.

Back to blogging. Blogging is about balance. I like to write, to document our life, but I know that my real life community, the people I actually interact with face-to-face on a regular basis, is where I need to focus. I want to leave this place better than I found it and it takes time and energy, the two things that are in short supply. I blame my Dr. Pepper addiction on that. So, when I don't post regularly, know I am still around, just busy with our boys, farmers market, and the other bazillion things. And, that I will be here when I can.

Thanks for hanging with me!
The Park Wife