Who Doesn’t Love to Go To Disney World?

Just about one year ago today I was posting about Disney World on a trip with Murphy USA and Collective Bias.  This post was originally posted on my Chat with Sandy blog on 1/30/11. Enjoy the sites of Disney again.

I was asked to attend the Murphy USA National Manager Meeting in Orlando FL (Disney world Coronado Springs resort to be exact) this last week, you might have seen my last post.

They asked six blogger to go to their meeting so we could help educate and sign up their mangers with whrrl and discuss how social media could benefit their business.

We were all paired up with a manager from Murphy USA that we would be traveling with. We were asked to be sure to take lots of pictures and whrrl them along the way. I was paired up with a manager from my area and met her at the airport. Jennifer Davis was my manager.

I had no idea there were 40 Murphy USA gas stations in Ohio. I only know of 2, one in Newark in front of the Walmart and one in Whitehall.  (I’ve not been to that one)

We arrived in Orlando and were all staying at the Coronado Springs Resort. There is a convention center attached to it, so it was perfect. It was so beautiful.

We had a meet and greet with some of the managers before dinner the first night. I am not sure if it was the regional managers, but it wasn’t a huge group (and there were over 1000 managers there). I know the president Hank Heithaus was there and the new president Tom (from Scotland) was there. Hank is retiring and just announced it. This picture was at one of the general sessions where Hank (left) is basically saying goodbye and introducing Tom on the right.

Their theme was “We The People” because they were making sure their managers knew that it was all of them that made Murphy USA successful.

Jay Staggs who I had a picture of in my last post, was in charge of running the show.  They had a good time with it, bringing in Tammy and Tommy through out the conference along with “their parents” for comic relief.

They had a speaker Peter Wahl do a speech/painting… lol  He is a motivational speaker and he painted these 3 paintings during his talk. He would have a music video on the screen while he was painting (in like 2 min) these paintings. He used his fingers (Bruce Springsteen’s hair) and spattered paint… really incredible to watch.

Each of us bloggers had to work a 2 hour shift in the Murphy Whrrl booth in the expo hall on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun. Teaching the mangers how to sign up for Whrrl and helping to try to get them to understand how it could help their business. This was my manger Jennifer on the left.  She had been signed up for FB already and I think even signed up for whrrl.. or did it at the airport. But she was all for it and was great to travel down with. We ended up not getting to really see each other much once we were there. It was crazy for both of us.

We had managers signing up via their smart phones, via text on their phones, or by computer. They could also sign up for a Facebook or Twitter account.

Melissa Garcia from the Consumer Queen had several managers recognize her from her picture being on the pumps or her fun Murphy videos.  Ok.. Melissa on the left.  The Red Strike girl on the right.

John Kim from Whrrl was there to help the managers and he also helped me… as usual with my problematic phone.

The managers could win a $50 gas cards and chances to win this autographed  Slash guitar worth over $900 just for signing up and checking into Whrrl.

I took this picture of Casey from Murphy USA with the Slash guitar and then posted it to Whrrl.  The screen it came up on was just outside the booth in the expo hall.

We had time to go and check out the rest of the expo hall. It was really huge and there were a lot of fun things to do. Wii games were set up, prizes to win… hippies to see

Mars candy and Wrigley’s were there in a both together. Neither of them knew much at all about social media or how it could help their business.  Melissa and I talked to them about it and told them bloggers would love to work with them!

I mean.. really? Who doesn’t love M&M’s?  They had a new candy bar for us to try, actually 2.  There was the new 3 Musketeers Truffle Crisp and the Peanut Butter Snickers.

Here is my verdict.  Loved the 3 Musketeers.  I was actually surprised. Well… I mean I love # Musketeers anyway, but when I first broke it in half. It didn’t seem gooey and it almost seemed… well…boring inside. But… I took a bite and it was so light and it was like the chocolate was so creamy and just filled the whole taste. I loved it!  It gave you the feeling of Dove chocolate (not sure if I should say that or not… but that chocolate is about my favorite.. so it is a big compliment) creamy and light… oh… I WILL be buying more of these. Just not in high numbers since I have really been trying to not eat as many sweets.

I tried 1/2 of the Snickers bar. It was actually in 2 square pieces, so unlike a normal Snickers. I ate half on the plane on the way home and was saving the other half to take a picture of when we got home. But …. my dog found it first in my purse. Oh yeah.. nice.  It was good… the peanut butter wasn’t over powering. But do I think I would pick it over a traditional Snickers… no, probably not. I love the regular Snickers too much.

Here are the 2 reps that were in the booth. Nice guys, but they need to realize how social media can  help them!

Wrigley was giving out packs of their new gum – Prism.

There are 15 pieces of sugarless gum in the pack. This was electric watermelon. I will tell you what. The smell of watermelon is strong, you can smell it as soon as you take the wrapper off the box.  The green foil that wraps the piece of gum looked kind of cool too. Different you know? My mouth was watering before I put the piece of gum in. I thought it was really going to be a gum for kids…. sour and all. But it wasn’t. As strong as the smell was, the taste was nice. I mean it was totally watermelon, but not a sour one. It is good… and with just a hint of that gum mint to it after you chew it for a little bit. (does that make sense).  I know the kids will love it, but it is a refreshing favor for adults.

There were ICEE’s there. I love Icee’s! I have always liked the Coke best. They are coming out with Root Beer float and a blueberry one (oops forget the name of it). I tried the root beer. It is awesome! It really tastes like a float. The foaminess of the Icee is just the right consistency.  I do have a new favorite favor.  You will have to watch for them to be released. (Try the root beer!!)

Dr. Pepper was there… giving away guitars and pictures with a couple cute girls.  What did I like? They had diet Dr. Pepper. It is one of my favorites. Really nice people too… also learning about social media and how it could benefit them. (Yes…. I had 2 diet Dr. Peppers that afternoon.. although there were other drinks I could have picked from.)

Are you used to seeing gas pump handles?  I wasn’t.. I thought they were cool.

What about a full size gas semi?  I wanted to get in and see the cab… but I didn’t.

John Andrews from Collective Bias was there. This is who these people need to talk to about social Media.. he knows first hand how the power of bloggers and social media can benefit the Brands. (That is what Collective Bias is all about)

The announced to the whole group of managers that they were taking us all to Disney World on Monday evening. That was about 3:30 and we had about 45 minutes to get ready to be on the buses.

I got to have dinner with the Collective Bias team that was there, Jerra and John and also with Casey from Murphy USA and John Kim from Whrrl. Also Kerry and Kristine from Nomadic were there.

Us bloggers ran around together at Disney. Mel Lockcuff from MamaBuzz and Leigh Caldwell from Theme Park Mom

Along with Courtney Solstad from My DFW Mommy and Melissa Garcia from Consumer Queen Jerri Ann from Mom~e~Centric was on the trip but didn’t come to Disney.

Mel introduced us to Dole Whip.. it was good.

I also got a picture with Eeyore. what fun!  I don’t know… I guess there is still kid in all of us!

Jerra from Collective Bias looked so cute with Piglet.

We had a full day on Tuesday and they announced all the Murphy USA Circle of Winners. After that they again surprised everyone with a trip to Sea World. I felt terrible because it was pouring rain, and storming.  But they had rented out half of Sea World and 2 roller coaster (announcing there were 2 coaster got a bigger whoop out of everyone than telling them they were going to Sea World).
I didn’t go. Even if it was beautiful outside, my feet hurt so bad (I’m such a wimp) and I hadn’t had a chance to get work done that I need to get done on my computer. So I took the evening off and had a wonderful dinner with Mel and Leigh..and then went back to my room and relaxed.

Thanks so much Murphy USA, Collective Bias and Whrrl.. it was great fun!

Disclosure: My trip was sponsored by Murphy USA and Collective Bias.

This Has Been An Awesome Year!

I want to look back at some of the highlights of this year. Although I don’t really have an event or pictures for it, the biggest highlight has been that we are all healthy and happy.  To have ten members of your immediate family there can always be so many things that can happen.  Knock on wood, but we have all been safe and without any serious illnesses.  For that we are TRULY BLESSED!

January

I was asked to go to Disney World with Collective Bias and Murphy USA to attend their National Managers Meeting. They wanted some bloggers who could assist in teaching some of their managers the value of social media, namely Whrrl (which is unfortunately no longer available). I had an awesome time!

February

My two oldest boys graduated from Army boot camp. They both joined the National Guard and had just completed the toughest training they had ever experienced. They  both came through with flying colors and I was the proudest Mom ever! They went on to San Antonio where they went through training to become lab techs. Talk about basically a medical degree in 6 easy months! Wow…. this was intense. They graduated from there in August and are now serving 6 months in an internship working and learning and still taking tests at Fort Campbell, KY (until March 2012)

March

I returned to Disney World, but this time with Disney Social Media Moms. ( Day 1 , Day 2, & Day 3 posts ) I had SO wanted to take the kids with me this year. I signed them up, but when it came down to actually getting the plane tickets, we just couldn’t spend the money.   I of course still had a wonderful time. We got to be a part of a Disney Wedding, oh the magic in a Disney wedding…

May

Gleek Retreat

This was my 2nd year attending Gleek Retreat. It was in Holland, MI. I was one of the speakers this year at this small conference.  Being in such a small group is really nice.  We had loads of fun (as always).  This picture was taking on a dinner cruise that we got to go on.

Joe gets Married

This was one of my two big shocks this year.  Joe and Fulton had only met about 3 months ago. She was going to be shipped to another location and they decided to get married. Turned out that they sent her back to San Antonio after just a week and they did get to spend some time together. But it has been very difficult for them as even then, they were both in their barricks and not able to be a couple unless they went off base on the weekends. Then she was shipped to Ft. Lee, VA and he went to Ft. Campbell, KY. They thought they would get to stay together, but because she is active and he is National Guard, the Army rule didn’t apply to them.  They won’t be able to be together until March when Joe graduates.

Tim’s Graduation

Tim graduated from HS this month. He had an awesome senior year and really poured it on with his grades this year. We had a small family graduation party at the house afterwards. This is a picture of my Dad (80 yrs young) and Tim.

Here is a video I made for his graduation party

June

Family Vacation

We stayed close by and got some great opportunities to review some fun places due to my Explore Ohio with Sandy blog.  The favorite for all of us was getting to do the Canopy Tour in Hocking Hills. Alex doesn’t look too happy in this picture, but it is because he didn’t want to lean out over the edge (we were high up here, although you can’t tell from this picture). The guide was making them do it to trust the their lines.

Here is a video I made of our canopy tour

Collective Bias Job

While we were at the Columbus Zoo, riding on the train I got a call from Courtney Velasquez.  She offered me a job working with Ted Rubin helping to manage a new division they named cbSocially.  I was in shock.  I had worked as a member of Social Fabric with CB for almost two years, but had been doing less with them lately and was trying to figure out where I was going to go from there. I was scared to get excited, fearing things were going to fall through.  I was jumping up and down in my head, but I think I came across as very subdued on the phone.  It has turned out to be nothing but absolutely wonderful!  I started off as a consultant and was officially employed by Collective Bias in September. Can’t imagine a better job! I get to work in social media with my “CB Family” from home.

Type A Parent Conference

This is the 3rd Type A conference I have been to.  I drove to NC with Debba from Girlfriendology. It was fun having someone to talk to on this trip. Getting to see all my social media friends is always great. We talk online, but getting to see each other in person is always fun. You can’t beat a real life hug!  Here I am with Kim from CraftyMamaof4 and Debba.

Bentonville, Arkansas

Visiting the corporate office of Collective Bias for the first time.  I got to be there for their official ribbon cutting of their new location (which they have already outgrown!)  I’m not in the picture, because I’m taking the picture, but the Mayor of Bentonville Bella Vista is there in the red tie. John Andrews and Amy Callahan are holding the scissors.

July

Joe & Fulton visit

I was glad to get to meet my new daughter in law for the first time. She and Joe were so cute together, and I’ve never seen my son happier.

Evo

I was so excited to go back to EVO conference which is in Utah! It is just so beautiful there! As I was riding up the ski lifts looking all around, I was determined to bring at least my husband next year, if not the kids too.  I’m working on it for 2012!

August

Blogher in LA

I loved the weather in LA and the non-hectic pace! I had never been to LA before and really enjoyed it.  I was photographer for CB for our big Cheap Sally party we helped sponsor.

I think this was the first time that I went to a conference and really didn’t attend much of the conference, or parties. I was working while I was there. I had been putting in bunches of hours 80-90 per week on my job with cbsocially helping to get it off the ground.  But I still had a great time!

Here I am with Courtney Velasquez and Kim Janocko from CB.

October

Drive my Dad to VA to see my Sister

I have become my Dad’s official chauffeur to see my sis. I took him last year and he talked about going this year before we had even left there last year! My brother came this year also and we all had an awesome time.

November

Dave and I celebrate our 5th Anniversary

We went to Colorado to celebrate. Dave had been stationed out there when he was in the service and has always talked about and loved Colorado Springs. I found an awesome cabin to rent not far from that. It was so beautiful. I didn’t think we would have any problem with the altitude, since I was fine in UT, but I didn’t consider that the difference between 6,000 feet and 9,000 feet would make that much difference. Well it did. We both had problems with headaches and not feeling well, even though we were downing the water. But other than that, it was a great few days.

Thanksgiving

I got to have most of my family home for Thanksgiving.  Drew (striped shirt) came home from Ft. Campbell and my other son John (blue shirt to my left) came home from Lexington KY.  Joe went to VA to spend time with Fulton, so they weren’t able to make it.

December

Christmas

I did get to have all my kids home, but not at the same time.  Joe came from Dec. 19 – 22. He then went to VA to see his wife since she was unable to go further than 250 miles away from base (she was out of leave time). Drew my other son in the military came in on the 22nd, just in time for Tim’s 19th birthday. So the group in the picture above was the group we had home for our Christmas.

We celebrated Christmas eve on Friday December 23rd and our Christmas morning on the 24th. Then the triplets and Dave’s Drew went to their mom’s and my three boys went to see their Dad who was in town. But we had an awesome time.

I’m excited for 2012, and pray that it can be as wonderful as this year has been.  I don’t want to take any of it for granted.  I pray for healthy, safety and wise decision making for my entire family. Lord willing, I’ll be recapping 2012 with just as much joy and happiness.

What a Cool Halloween Surprise!

The kids and I got home from running some errands this morning and I found this box had been delivered!

The kids were saying, “Open it.. I think someone has Boo’d us!”  They were practically jumping up and down with excitement!  I knew we had were had some Boo’s going on at Collective Bias called Don’t Be The Dark House-  but I had NO idea I would get one!!  (I was excited too… just sayin)

Look how cute!  Then there was a bit of a thank you from my “Boo-er” .   I’m pretty sure I know who it is from the last name on the return label…
Now to see what is!

Oh look… there are five boo bags!!!  Plenty for the kids!

When I actually told them to sit down and handed them each one you would have thought it was Christmas morning!  They were SO excited.  I just realized looking at this picture that 2 of them don’t even have their coats off yet from when we came in the door.

Then they went to it…

Mini Snickers and Snickers Peanut Butter, MilkyWay and 3 Musketeers bars!

There were also little decorations in each bag..

and some mini pumpkins.

I was going to leave the other two bags for my teenagers…. but the dogs were driving me crazy. They kept sniffing one of the bags left in the box…

Look what we found… the dogs got a Boo bag too!!!  lol  Love it!!

I had a hard time getting any good pictures of them.  Sadie (the one in this picture) is scared of my new camera.  When I first got it, it was programmed with the “beep” when I took a picture. She is scared of that tone due to a shock collar for an invisible fence we had when she was younger. Anytime she hears it she gets scared. Even though I immediately reprogrammed my camera without the beep… the damage has been done.  So I had to get a couple quick ones when she was almost more enticed by the food than her fears.

 I have to tell you this… in total honesty. I asked Alex to bring me out the candy so I could see exactly what was in there for this post. I heard Zach saying, be careful Alex. I said.. why do you have to be careful bringing me in the bowl of candy?
“Because… look what we did with it!!!” he said… I was shocked!! Absolutly no lie I had NO idea they had arranged it like this. Isn’t this cool?

Thank you much Lisa from East Texas Saver – I know for sure it is you after I just found your post!!!  You totally made our day!!!

Best Party at Blogher 2011 This Year!

That is simple!!  The #CheapSallyParty! It was slated to be the best party – that can be a bit scary! Expectations are high! But guess what?  There was no question. Hands down, this was the best party – and not by our accounts…. but by almost everyone who attended!  Collective Bias sent me to Blogher (loved it! I’ve never been to San Diego in CA before.. now I know why people love it so much!) this year as their photographer for several events. I was primarily behind the camera lens this trip, but had plenty of pictures with me in them too.

The atmosphere was amazing! We had the entire Stingree Nightclub to ourselves.  Three floors of awesomeness!

There were food stations, plenty of drink stations and no problems finding a place to sit, talk and relax.

The rooftop was the highlight of the party! We couldn’t have had better weather if we had ordered and paid for it!

The Brands had exposure in the cabanas that gave them plenty of attention, but they weren’t in your face. This was Collective Bia’s cabana – our community of bloggers is called Social Fabric.

Aren’t our Collective Bias pillows awesome! Love them!

It was a nice place for bloggers to come and know they would find Social Fabric members.  Here is Kim @craftymamaof4 and Michele @scrappinmichele

Udi’s Gluten Free Food gave us a loaf of their bread in our swag bags. They also gave us some granola. Later that night I sat in my room and worked… I was starved. I opened up the loaf of bread, fully expecting some terrible tasting stuff (I don’t eat gluten free… can you tell?) I was completely shocked to discover it was moist, tasty and I really liked it. I didn’t have anything to put on it, like butter or jelly… and didn’t miss it. I ate some more the next morning along with the granola (dry) and enjoyed that too.  Totally recommend this.

I loved this space.  KMart is coming out with a new line of Gordon Ramsay kitchen accessories this fall.

Doesn’t this look cool? I’d love to try out some of those pans… they look nice.

I also loved that they gave away all the items they were displaying there to a local food pantry that helps the homeless. Really … so much cooler than giving it away to the bloggers (we get so much at these conferences)

The Bloggers were able to go and visit and talk sitting on comfy couches, pick up awesome swag at the cabanas as well as in their swag bags on their way out.

Cheap Sally announced an awesome giveaway! I mean … really awesome!! The Cheap Sally Bring Home The Bacon Contest!!

They are having a contest and the winner will get a contract for a year – to write one blog post a week on the Cheap Sally blog for $100,000 for the year! Can you say OMG!!

This is Brian Markley (a Top Chef and owns two restaurants in San Diego) beginning the announcement for Cheap Sally Bring Home the Bacon Contest.

We had several of our bloggers interview Brian at the beginning of the party.  Melissa had him laughing!

Ok.. I wanted a picture too.

Melissa and Daniel (ConsumerQueen and ConsumerKing) are so sweet. I always love seeing Melissa and enjoy when Daniel gets to come to the conferences too.

One of the things I LOVE about any blogging conference is when we can meet people in real life that we are used to just talking to online.

One of my favorite people to meet in real life was Lily @MiliaryFamof8. I discovered that Lily is extremely shy and wasn’t real happy that I was taking her picture. But she is SO giving, has such a loving and giving spirit and looked absolutely hot! Her hubby bought her outfit for her to wear and she was very uncomfortable. She had not been to other blogging conferences and has a comfort behind the computer.. not in front of it (not unusual at all for many bloggers).  But she got to meet many people from Social Fabric… how could you not love her?

Check out her shoes! Aren’t they great!!

Here are Amy’s shoes… love them too.

Amy Callahan from Collective Bias looked great. This is her and Lauren before the party.

Again at the end of the party with Kate Berg

Sears Style had a booth and the ambassadors that went shopping (that post will be coming soon). They were manning the booth and handing out some awesome swag too! Don’t they look great?

And more.. I’m excited about the age defining cream (I can use all the help I can get you know!)

Liz from Smarties is the bomb! Can you imagine being a 5th generation candy maker and looking like this? I think I’d be a two ton tessy if it were me!

She made a swag for her booth using the candy necklaces! lol

We also discovered that you can put Smarties into a Martini and it was dubbed the Smartini! Can I tell you that when your drink is gone… eating the martini soaked Smarties… was the highlight!

There was also Smartie appetizers all over!  (yum)

The evening  was beautiful…

Loved taking pictures of everyone! Mel from MamaBzz met Ted Rubin

Ken Barnett and his wife were there. Ken is the CEO of MARS Advertising.

Debba from Girlfriendology with some of the UPS Store crew

Lifetime Moms was one of the sponsors

I don’t know who this is, but they were sitting in the Lifetime Moms area… and I love this peach dress! I felt like she looked so beautiful in it. I had to ask for her picture.

That was one of the things the bloggers loved. They felt they could relax, visit and have a space to visit with the Brands that was not pressured… not crazy crowded.

Amy Lowe looked so cute. She has been helping me so much writing tweets for cbSocially!

I was excited to meet Shelby @GlitterfulFelt  She and Steve did daily videos when we worked on the Lean Cuisine campaign. I felt like I already knew her because I saw her on video. She was so cute with her (fake) tattoo with Steve’s name on it!

These two wonderful ladies are from Canada.  It was fun to have someone be excited about having a picture taken with me!  Melissa @TimeOutMom on the left and Margarita @DownShiftingPOS (another professional organizer!!) on the right.

Kim, Monica and I posing inside the Social Fabric Cabana. Look at our cool Collective Bias QR code badges (Jay is the bomb!)

Courtney, Kim and I out front before the party began.

Everyone left with plenty of swag (including these great flip flops from ViX Swimwear…these are no cheap little ol’ flip flops ladies!!)

They got a bag as they left which also had more goodies in it (other than what they picked up at the cabanas.) Like Peets Coffee! Yum…. good coffee!  I also found out they sell it at my local grocery store.. so it’s all good!

I had a wonderful time, even though I was running around taking pictures of everyone (that was fun!) and what was nicer was knowing that everyone else had a great time too.

Thank you to all the sponsors and Dawn and Elizabeth from Party BluPrints (thank you for your book in the swag bags!)  along with everyone from Collective Bias who put in so many hours and so much time to make this party happen.

Collective Bias sponsored my trip to Blogher11.

I was not asked to write this post. I did that on my own because it was so stinkin’ awesome!

I Got To Visit and See Their Ribbon Cutting

This blog post of mine has recently been stolen by another blog. I have changed it up a bit to hopefully not get the duplicate content dings by Google.  Be sure you use Google Alerts!

I flew Bentonville, AR to the corporate offices of Collective Bias right after I came back from the Evo conference in Utah last month.

I got to meet many of the people I had only talked to on the phone or skype and got to actually see the office and how things are set up.

I realized just now that I didn’t get a picture of the nice front of the brick building.  Here is the glass door…

But I did get a picture of Amy Callahan washing windows – getting ready for the ribbon cutting…. now that is devotion to her business isn’t it?

When you first walk in… you walk into a little “living room” – that totally has the CB feel to it.

Aren’t these pillows great? Love them!

Great place to have a break, have a discussion or a group meeting

The rest of the office is also open with desks on either side and a conference table in the center.

This picture is coming in from the back door of the office and looking to the left of the large white board wall

Another view

You never know what antics might take place to get their creative minds marketing minds going!

The Nerf wars! Chris Whittle

Against John Andrews!

Aliens? Creative minds you know….

And here is the some of the awesomesauce of Collective Bias:

Brad Lawless

Mailena Vo

Chris Whittle

Lauren Rodkin

Matt Garcia

Jay Thorton

Monica Johnson

Amy Callahan and her mom (her mom was visiting for the ribbon ceremony)

John Andrews – I caught John in the middle of speaking at the ribbon cutting

Kate Berg

Ted Rubin

Bailey – one of the interns

And John’s daughter Mary Catherine -up and coming Collective Bias employee!! (no not her glasses)

Here are several others that I didn’t capture pictures of… but here is the ribbon cutting ceremony that I was lucky enough to be at.

It was cool the Mayor of Bentonville Bella Vista was there joining in too.

I certainly appreciate and thank Collective Bias – I am thrilled to be a part of this awesome group!

(This post was revised on Aug 15, 2011)

I Love Utah!!

I went for the second year to Park City Utah for the Evo Conference. I love it there!! I am SO going to bring Dave next year, and we are talking about bringing the kids.

We stayed at the Canyons Resort and it was the bomb!

The Collective Bias group got a suite again, and I think there were like 8 of us in there. Three bedrooms, living room, kitchen and huge dinner table. So fun!

The conference itself was great! I love the workshops that Jyl Pattee has worked in so that we get hands on attention.

The sponsor suites were really nice… and we had plenty of time to get to them all.
Jenny from Kodak  – yes those are Cake Pops!

There were some that were so pretty and calm.

Bert and Ernie were in the Sesame Street Suite

We also got to Just Dance!

I went up to a photography workshop on the lift by myself… and just couldn’t stop taking pictures.

I wish you could tell how steep this was going down! If it was going fast I would have freaked! I was in the chair by myself and realized it was just too beautiful to be scary.

We were able to go zip lining

on the “roller coaster” that goes down the mountain – this was on our way up. Look at the deer to the left. I didn’t even see that until I looked at my pictures later.

We also went on the Alpine Slide, carrying our slides to the starting point.

Getting all ready to go (Kim Janocko – Crafty Mama of 4)

And flying down. This pic was taken as I was going up the chair lift, so I have no idea who is going down. But it looks like the dad is having fun!

Bush’s Bake Beans put on this night for us including a wonderful dinner and all these fun activities.

Our last night was also up the mountain. There was a storm going up…. wind and a chairlift going over the mountains is a scary thing! lol Monica was scared enough going on the chairlift – let alone as windy as it was. We were trying to distract her.

But seeing the aftermath is worth it..a double rainbow

Doesn’t it look like the rainbow is going into the “pot of gold” cloud?

Here is the most of us from Collective Bias!

I wanted to be able to tell Dave I saw a Moose…this was the best I could do.

Loved Evo!  Loved Utah.. can’t wait to go back!

Here are the list of sponsors of Evo.

I was sponsored by Collective Bias for this conference.  Thank you Collective Bias and cb.Socially!

Best Party at Blogher 11!

Blogher is known for it’s Brand parties. As a blogger we get invited to dozens of them and trying to decide which ones to go to can be difficult. You want a chance to talk to the Brand’s, you want to see friends and meet new friends and have a nice time.  Some say it is for the swag.  Personally, I wish there wasn’t swag – or at least not so much. It gets a bit crazy and I think many do go just for the swag.

Collective Bias, Cheap Sally and PartyBluPrints are hosting the party.  Dawn and Elizabeth from PartyBluPrints are freakin amazing at putting on parties – so I can’t wait. Take a look at the video the Dawn & Elizabeth made!!

We are going to be having it on the roof of the Stingagree Restaurant in San Diego, CA. There is a pool and cabanas… oh it will be nice.

Brian Marlarkey from Top Chef will be there and I’ve heard there is a possibility that Gordon Ramsay might be too.

I’ll be busy taking pictures, but I also plan to have an awesome night!

Thanks to all the Sponsors

Thank you Collective Bias for sponsoring me for Blogher 2011!

New Jobs Can Disrupt Your Organized Life

I recently started a new job with Collective Bias. They are a shopper Marketing Company out of Bentonville, AR. They opened a new division run by Ted Rubin called cb.Socially. (The above is a picture of Ted and I when we were at the Type A Parent conference in North Carolina)  They brought me on as the Social Marketing Manager of the new division. The cb.Socially role is to use Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ and other engagement applications on behave of the client. Our first client WebTrends has already established their own Twitter, FB etc.. and run those. But we are amplifying their efforts.
I have been working 10-12 hour days on my new job the last couple of weeks trying to get things up and running. Needless to say I have been neglecting this blog, I’m neglecting my house I’m in that “unorganized” feeling of starting up something new. You know how that goes? When your whole schedule changes and you don’t feel like you have time to get a grip on the new “system” of how things should flow?

I know it will come, but until then I need to extend my apologies. I will have some more posts of things I am doing and places I have been going. So it won’t necessarily be all organizing. I hope that is ok with you all. It will be a little bit more of my life.

I’ve been to a couple great places in the last month and will be heading out to CA in a couple of weeks for the Blogher 11 conference, so I’d like to share those things with you. My blog will adjust as my new roles in life adjust.

If anyone wants to submit a guest post… I’m all for it!

I’m having a blast though! Loving every minute.

Kibbles ‘n Bits Bistro Dog Food to the rescue

I had the opportunity to purchase some dog food for my dogs to try and also to donate a bag to a local dog shelter. The timing couldn’t have been any better.  E has been talking about wanting to be a vet for some time. She is in 4th grade now.  She has also talked about volunteering at a dog shelter or vets office at some point.

Evidently the Second Chance Humane Shelter came and talked to the  kids at their school.  She decided that she wanted to go and help out.  Dave got the phone number for her and she wanted him to make the call.  Dave told her no, that he thought it was best if she made the call on her own.  She made the call and discussed it with the woman, and then they of course asked to talk to Dave to verify it.

They were all set for this last Sunday.  The perfect timing came in when last week I got the chance to go to Walmart and purchase a 16 pound bag of Kibbles ‘n Bits Bistro Dog Food to donate to a shelter. I was also supposed to buy one for my dogs, any size I wanted.

So off I went to Walmart.  I had some other shopping to do also, but didn’t have any trouble finding the dog section. I had been there many times before… so I should hope not. But there are hanging signs to make it easier.

The Kibbles ‘n Bits Bistro Dog food in the small 3 pound bags was on the end cap.  It was $4.95 and I decided to get that bag for my dogs.  We had an experience with changing their dog food once a year or so ago.  They both got sick and that isn’t something I want repeated! I figured I would let them have one bowl full and see how their systems handled it. Then if that went well… they could finish off the bag.

I had to find the bigger 16 pound bag also.  I went down a couple aisles. Found the dog toys, leashes, bowls etc… and the smaller bags of dry food.  But I didn’t see this brand in the small bags other than this end cap display at first.

I went down the aisle with the large bags and then I spotted them.. up near the front of the aisle (of course)

I knew I wanted to buy the new Bistro Meal dog food. I have to say that I was impressed with the picture on the bag.  Looked like  a really nice meal!!  lol

I then saw that there was a $2 off coupon right on the bag.  Coolio!!  So I grabbed one 16 pound bag and figured I’d be on my way. Then I spotted the other end cap (not sure how I missed it coming in!) with the big bags!  It was $12.  Of course then you take off the instant coupon of $2 and now I’m down to $10.  To make the pot even sweeter I printed off a $3 coupon at home.. so now I am down to $7 per bag.

Now I am no math wiz.. but I am smart enough to know that here I am with a 3 lb bag of food in my cart for $4.95. I could get a second bag 16 lb bag of food for $10 (I only had one of the $3 off coupons).  It was kind of a new brainer.  So I put the small bag back and got a 2nd big bag (that had a $2 coupon on it.. not all the bags did)

I did the rest of my shopping, and then checked out with a total of 3 coupons (two of the $2 instant and one $3 off).  Another fun surprise was that the big bags rang up as $11.48 instead of $12!   Wonder why they didn’t have that on the signs?  Just makes sense that the lower price would attract even more people to buy right?

Home to check out what my girls think of it. Sadie is 8 years old.. and she is checking out the picture of good food! Gizzy is my food hog, she is 6 years old.  She also was very excited.

According to everything that it says on the bag… this stuff looks really good.  There are vitamins, antioxidants and protein.  We buy our dog food primarily on cost.  I would like to say we get our food at the vets office (I used to years ago when money wasn’t so tight) but we have 5 kids at home and 8 total.  We just don’t have the money in the budget to spend on the best food for the dogs.  They are both happy, healthy, and in good shape.

I let them both try it first.. and then I used it for some tricks.  Sadie is the pickier of the two when it comes to food.. and she was ready to do about any trick after she first tasted it…. so that was a good sign.

Then the big test.  I cleared out their other food from their other food.  I washed the bowl out… and then put the Kibbles ‘n Bits Bistro Dog food in.

Instant run for the food.  You would have thought these girls had not eaten in a week.  Seriously!  They had food in their bowl before I switched them out…. and they hadn’t been hungry!.

These dogs ate for like 20 minutes! I cleaned the kitchen and folded clothes and put in another load in the laundry and they were still eating. This is what the bowl looked like after their “dinner”

I think it was a success.  And a bigger success in that I can say two days later that neither dog has gotten sick from it.

Now for the rest of the adventure.  On Sunday we went over to the shelter in Johnstown where E was volunteering.

I told them what I was doing and asked if I could take some pictures. They were fine with that.  It was a house, actually Holly’s house and her sister Paula was there working.  There were also 3 girls (including E) and the one girls father helping out.

I don’t remember all the dogs names or who had what name.. so I won’t even try. lol

She said that they had about 50 dogs there presently and that the cats were in the other part of the house. We didn’t go in to see them. Paula was wonderful with all the dogs.

The place wasn’t in the best of shape… there was nothing fancy about it.  Repairs were needed, but the dogs were all clean, they all had beds up off the floor with blankets.  They had clean paper on the floor and their play yard was clean.

The cages were full walk in cages.. not small little ones that can only hold one dog.  They all had assigned cages and they knew which ones were theirs. They got to come out in groups to eat and play outside. Can you imagine the food that 50 dogs go through?

Or all the work involved with taking care of them?

This is a shelter that is supported by donations only.

They had the smaller dogs inside and the larger ones out back.

E is getting ready to go out to show us the play area.

Someone was getting their belly rubbed…. ahhhh…

I went out to the back area.  Holly was back there with the bigger dogs.  She brought a couple out to show me… they had their own little house back there with heat.  There were cages inside and ones outside so they could play.

Each dog had a story attached to it. The reason they were there. These two brothers had been indoor dogs since they were pups. Then a new baby came into the house and suddenly they were outdoors only.  A neighbor turned them in when the yellow lab got caught under a fence and torn his back open.  Holly said she’d never separate these two.

This pit bull was the funniest thing. He came running out to see me.. all excited and smiling.  She said that he had been in a home with one other pit bull.  The law evidently says you can’t have more than one. This guy had two.  They were going to put this dog down, even though he had never hurt anyone.  Holly said he was the sweetest thing ever.

The biggest problem they were having when we were there was the fact that they had no water.  They were trying to figure out if it was the pump on the well that went bad.  Holly was saying she was probably going to have to go and buy water at the store, but wasn’t looking forward to the cost involved.

I suggested they put the girls to work while they had them here and have them collect snow in these buckets.  There was a whole big yard of untouched snow they could let melt for water.  Holly was concerned about the snow and what was in it.

I have to admit that I chucked a bit on that one only because.. heck, the dogs eat their poop! Snow wouldn’t be that bad would it? But, it also shows the concern that they have for the well being of these dogs doesn’t it?

It was a good experience.  I dropped off the bag of food and got to learn about a new place. I know E is going to go back. I am thinking of the extra blankets I have that I can donate.  A 16 lb bag of food is like nothing compared to what all they need.

I got home to see my girls.. and realized how lucky they were.  Sadie had been a rescue dog. She was 11 weeks old when I got her. But her litter of 7 pups had Parvo and were going to be put down.  The vet at the Annhurst Animal clinic in Westerville wanted to save them. He treated them and only lost 1 of the 7.  Thank goodness because Sadie has been an awesome dog.

Disclosure: I was compensated for this post by Del Monteto but the pictures and thoughts and opinions are my own.  Sadie and Gizzy’s opinions are pretty obvious too.

I had a great experience yesterday. Collective Bias,( John Andrews and Amy Callahan) took myself along with two other bloggers, Kim @craftymamaof4 and Debba @girlfriendology to tell Abbott Corporation about blogging.  They didn’t realize I lived in Columbus when I was first asked by Monica @mommybrain to go. When I asked where this was that they wanted to fly me in and out of for the day …..they said, “Columbus”. I said, “Well, you won’t have to fly me very far because I live there!” Abbot was having a seminar and part of what they were discussing was how social media affected businesses.  They wanted to hear from us what bloggers were about, why we do what we do…what is the benefit for them and why is it all important?

We were the panel in the same session two different times. (They had 2 different groups that came in)  We had some different questions from each group but they were all very gracious and seemed interested (unless they were really good at faking it.) LOL

Here is the whrrl story that Kim started as she traveled to Columbus. The rest of us added our pictures into the story along the way.  Just click on the picture to start the slide show.