Quick Takes #214: What I learned on my day in the Shenandoah

1. Last Saturday I had the great good privilege of attending a conference hosted by the CWBN (Catholic Women Blogger Network) Mid-Atlantic conference and it was awesome!! An amazing opportunity to step away from daily life, listen to great talks, and sit around a table sharing concerns and being supported by other women of faith.
2. Meet and greet; was lovely especially after I got over my nerves at meeting in the flesh such amazing, inspiring bloggers as Mary and Kelly.  Of course there was also the wondrous feeling of meeting IRL blogger friends like Lisa and them being as great as you knew they would be. Plus loving on all those beautiful babies!!
3. Mary's talk started off the day by offering a wonderful meditation on motherhood and encouraging us to call on our Blessed Mother for the courage to be who and write about what our Lord is calling us to; to show the committment of Mother Theresa and to believe in our vision with the tenacity that Mother Angelica demonstrated.
4. Elizabeth's keynote encouraged us to balance creativity with authenticity. I so appreciated the reminder to be true to myself on this blog and trust that if I share honestly of the insights gained from living my life and pursuing my vocation my readers will leave happy.  She also offered a lot of food for thought about how to honestly share my journey as a mom and wife without oversharing my children's story.
5. After a lunch where I got feed my body with yummy food; and my spirit by the wonderful conversation with my small group we were blessed as Jennifer Ryan shared her expertise in affiliate management which was so kind of her and gave me so much to think about as this is an aspect of blogging I have yet not explored.   This is also the point in the day when a bear cub ran across the yard adding a fun moment of excitement  to the day!
6. The day ended with all the speakers plus our emcee (and lovely link-up host) Kelly forming a panel and answering anything and everything we asked!
7. From crossing the Shenandoah in the morning to crossing the Susquehanna at dusk: blessings all day long!  My thanks to our lovely host Rosie and everyone else who worked so hard to put together such a wonderful conference!

Please head over to Kelly's for more 7QT's

New headshot featured above courtesy of Rachel Cupps who so generously shared her time and talent to the ladies of the conference.