Don't Be A Jerk (What I Know For Sure) & #iPPP

This slide from a keynote speaker at BlissDom sums everything up.  Everything.  It applies everywhere--in business, social media, church, parenting, your neighborhood, your marriage.  Just Don't BE A JERK.

I find it so funny, that the marketing professionals and business gurus can give advice about numbers and projections and audience reach and exposure and a million other marketing/business-y stuff, but in the end it all comes down to this....don't be a jerk.  

We all have those over-tired, grumpy moments when we aren't at our best.  It's okay to have moments.  Just don't make it a habit.  Be nice.  Golden Rule it folks, treat others like you want to be treated.  Don't be all talk, walk the walk.  Just don't, let's say it together now, be a jerk.  It's pretty simple, that's what I know for sure (this week).

Here's What Else I Know For Sure (This Week):

• Spring has sprung (sort of) and Super Lucy is getting trendy.  My girl has never been afraid to mix patterns and it so happens to be all the rage this season. Who knew?

• Want expert advice on talking to a celebrity?  Well, this isn't the vlog for that, but I can give you advice on what not to do.  Check it out in case you missed it:

Oh hey, while you are watching, you should subscribe to my YouTube channel.  I'm trying to get 50 subscribers by May 1. It's a bold dream, but you can help make it happen.  

Click here to subscribe.

• We still have a puppy.  Damn, it is so much work and I cannot tell you that I am truly loving it.  BUT she is pretty cute and the kids love our little destructive adorable Cosi.

• I was seeing red this week, and loving it.  The support of gay marriage on Facebook shown by people changing their avatars to the symbol below, was a powerful image.  I loved seeing all the red on my screen.

• It's Spring Break and we're going....no where.  But that's cool because we'll have fun doing...something.  

Lucy isn't overly thrilled about spending the week with her brothers. 

Some people paint eggs this time of year, but we paint rocks.  Filling the time and fancying up our yard.

• I got a little obsessed with this documentary last week-Happy.  It's pretty fascinating, people are pretty fascinating.  I think watching this movie will make you happier.  You can watch it on Netflix.

• Giving away stuff is the opposite of being a jerk.  In the spirit of un-jerkiness, I want to give someone a bag full of some of the swag I got from BlissDom last week.  

In the swag bag:

Seattle's Best Coffee Tasting Kit which includes five samples (each sample brews 8-12 cups) of their ground coffee for you try.

Cutie patootie headband from Soybu and a 25% off coupon code for soybu.com.

Pedicure kit from honey.com.

Sample of Gain Fireworks, an in-wash scent booster which is a new product coming out this July.

Package of Gevalia coffee, you know the company with the attractive Swedish male spokesmodel? You'll get a 12-ounce house blend to try.

Pedia Care Fever Reducer for infants 0-36 months.  Keep it for your baby or give it to a friend who has a baby.  

Original print of a sweet quote.

All you have to do is leave a comment below OR on the blog's Facebook page.  That's it.  It can be a comment about what you know for sure this week or just a hello or suggestion about blog or vlog topics you want me to cover.  I will choose a random comment (using randomizer.com) and boom, that person will be mailed some swag.  Simple.

What do you know for sure (this week)? C'mon, we're friends, share what you know.  Leave a comment here or on the Facebook page (and give it a like if you want to and haven't already). And remember your comment automatically gives you a chance to win free stuff.  Free stuff like lots of coffee. 

  Come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

Oh yeah, and come follow me on Twitter @AngelaYBlood and subscribe to my MomPulse YouTube channel here.

I'm linking up today with my friend Greta from  Gfunkified.com and Sarah at SundaySpill.com for the #iPPP link up.  They host a link up where they encourage people to share "your funny, your yummy, your heartfelt, your favorite photos of the week" from our phones. 

Get Engaged

So I don't know if you know, but I went to this big blogging conference called BlissDom this past weekend.  Yup.  

It was a big deal because there were a lot of bloggers, writers, vloggers, social media types all travelling to the Lone Star state to discuss social media stuff.  

It was a big deal because I rarely leave my kitchen.

I was nervous about flying.  I was nervous about being alone.  I was nervous about going over budget. I was nervous about being too big for my britches.  I was nervous about everything.

But, I'm happy to report that this story has a happy ending.  My BlissDom weekend was everything I needed it to be.

Last year, I went for the first time.  I stayed off site, stayed quiet and stayed overwhelmed.  I came home inspired but doubtful.  I was like the typical freshman in high school wandering the halls confused and lonely and needy.

This year, it was the typical high school transformation.  I walked around like a sophomore or junior full of confidence and enthusiasm.  Not senior level yet, I didn't rule the school by any means. But the beauty of being a  sophomore or junior was I could be excited without the pressure.  I felt like I knew a few things, but no one expected me to ace my college entrance tests.   

I wasn't oozing neediness.  I didn't need to follow anyone or go to sessions I wasn't interested in.  I trusted my instincts.  I listened to my gut.  I went places alone.  I skipped sessions to take a nap.  It was liberating.  It was awesome.

More people approached me this year than last.  I made more friends and had more meaningful conversations and more fun.  The more self-assured and comfortable in my own skin I became, the more people I interacted with.  It was like when you're single and all you want is a relationship.  You ooze neediness and crush on so many guys.  Then when you find yourself in a relationship (usually after you gave up looking) all those guys you crushed on who were so turned off my your neediness suddenly find you very interesting.  Yeah, my experience at BlissDom was a lot like that.

Any social media conference will tell you that to be successful on the Internet or in business or in life it's all about engaging.  Engage with your customers, readers, followers, etc.  Engage with your family and friends.  Show up, respond to those emails, reply to a tweet, share a Facebook post, ask your spouse how their day went, play catch with your kid, walk your puppy. No sitting on the sideline.  Get in there and play the game of life.  Whether it's a blogging conference, a bumpy flight, or Tweeting from your kitchen,  ENGAGE.

It sounds so cliche, but it's true engaging makes life (and blog conferences) better.  I engaged all over BlissDom with new friends, celebrities (watch for my How To Talk To A Celebrity vlog tomorrow, it will have good tips like make sure you mention movies they weren't in), bloggers, burritos at the Mexican restaurant.  Yes, I engaged everywhere and it was amazing.

I met so many interesting people. Check out a few of the awesome people I spent time with this past weekend:

I got to hang out with my buddy Greta from GFunkfied.  And quite simply, I love her.

The amazing and hilarious Hillary at Because My Life is Fabulous.  

My workout buddy and just plain fabulous Kristen from  Choosing Joy.

The sweet and wonderful Jaima from Ring Around the Rosies.  

Leaving On A Jet Plane Alone

Love this quote, love this book.
I'm hoping this is how I feel next week.

I'm a ball of nerves.
I'm all over the place. 
I'm vulnerable.
You might be saying what's new?  But it's different.  It's more intense.  Because I'm leaving.

In a few days, I will get on a plane heading to the blogging conference, BlissDom, in Dallas.  It will be the first time I've flown alone since 1999.**  Yeah, so when I say it was a century ago that I went anywhere on a plane alone I'm totally not kidding. 
**I've been on a plane since 1999, but with either with my friends or family, never alone.**

Back then I wasn't even married, I wasn't even living with Tim yet but we were dating, I took a jet plane to a conference about software marketing in Palm Springs. Because I was a software marketer and back then software companies had tons of cash and flew their employees to conferences anywhere. While I was there I skipped the group dinners and dined alone reading my book.  I hiked up to the art museum and rented a bike and rode around town, alone.

Back then I knew how to be alone.  I loved being alone.  

When I was a kid I enjoyed being alone.  I would spend entire afternoons riding my bike alone making up stories about the people that lived in the houses and apartments nearby.  I would spend hours swinging alone and sing every single song from the Annie soundtrack.

I was always needed space.  I loved people and always had at least a couple close friends, but I was never a roommate kind of girl.  

When I graduated from college, I got my own apartments and traveled alone to places like Washington, D.C. and New York City.  I loved people watching and museum hopping alone, finding my way around a strange city alone, and then going back to my hotel and ordering take out and watching movies alone.

But now, I don't know how to be alone.  Because I am never alone.
I went from a pretty solitary young adulthood to a household with five other people and now a puppy.  Even though it is overwhelming at times and crazy and loud and nuts and all kinds of sensory overload and exhausting, I love it.  I have adapted, some might say I am thriving, okay nobody would say that.  But I do love it.

This was the chaos that was my weekend:
a lot of puppy time, a school carnival, church, a birthday celebration and more puppy time.

Now when I find myself with an hour alone while the big kids are at school and Wade is in preschool, I rush around trying to figure out what to do.  I usually lose my keys or go the library and forget the book that I was going to return.  I'm unorganized and frazzled and then time is up.


Here's a short vlog I made about my time alone while Wade is at pre school.  (Now of course, the quiet time is filled with puppy time.)


It's been so long that I have had a child on my hip or holding my hand or two or three or four kids in the van with me, it is my normal.  It is my comfort zone.


Of course, I won't be alone at the conference, there will be hundreds of people.  There will be several people that I know and can't wait to visit.  But I will be alone on a plane, in an airport, in a hotel room, maybe in a restaurant, back on a plane and in an airport and then in a car ride home. Sorry to get all Dr. Seuss-I'll-eat-green-eggs-and-ham-in-a-box-on-a-train-in-the-rain-on you, but you know what I mean.  I won't be in charge of anyone else, but me.  I honestly can't even imagine what it will feel like.

There are so many little moments over the course of the last, oh I don't know, 12 years, where I've dreamed of jumping an a plane and getting the f@&* out of my chaotic house full of children and demands.  But now that's it's three days away...
I'm a ball of nerves.

I'm all over the place. 

I'm vulnerable.

I think this is a beautiful poem/video about being alone:

And of course, since I said "leaving on a jet plane" in this post, I had to put up the song.  I LOVE Mama Cass John Denver, I'm totally serious.  I also totally want John Denver's shirt in this video.