Meet My New Tribe: Bloggy Boot Camp Part 1

So I attended my very first blog conference over the weekend in St. Louis. I won't bore you all with the details of Bloggy Boot Camp except to say MIND = BLOWN. While I am not going to reiterate the contents of the conference, I am going to do a series of posts about it. #1 introducing you to my "tribe." #2 sharing a list of new blogs for you to follow (yes mom, other people do this too.) and #3 - 5 life lessons I took away.

What exactly is a TRIBE you ask? Well, it's that group of people you consult when you're a) indecisive as all get out like me b) down in the dumps about how much you suck at life and need a lift or c) want someone to make you cackle out loud or col.

I already have a"personal life" tribe. You ladies know who you are...the ones I call to help me listen to my heart and just listen in general. Thank you for always being there. But I've never had a "professional life" tribe before and now I am beyond grateful that I do. I feel like I'm bringing home a boyfriend to meet my family for the first time, but instead I'm introducing my four online girlfriends (play on playa) to you all, whoever you are (hi, dad!).

Because the tribe is all from the Omaha area, we decided to carpool down to the STL together. Some of these ladies knew each other before the trip. None of them knew me. I could have been a mass murderer except I'm the mother of two kids who can't stomach CSI or cut an onion without cutting myself. But they took me in anyway. And the bond we shared over 12+hours in the car, multiple glasses of Mirassou and one extremely long cab ride is now cemented. These ladies are my homies, my sistas, my TRIBE.

front row: the Nicoles; back row: Jen, Lisa, Julie

In no particular order, there's:

Jen Schneider from Liv, Laugh, Love Media
Jen blogs about her beautiful young daughter, knows her social media stuff and is a rockstar in general at making the most of opportunities that come her way. She's also a lifter. She knows the exact right words to say to lift others up and tell them that they're awesome, which I witnessed on numerous occasions. Jen is just plain fun.

Nicole McDonald from Mom Saves Money
As I got to know my friend with the best name ever, I learned she is a badass at life. She's former Navy, a mom of three and what else can I say, she's from Nebraska and she can ride a bull. For real, this woman is saving people tons of cash with her coupon classes and books. Her network is huge, but the thing I loved most about her was her unfiltered honesty about everything. That is one of my absolute fav qualities in a person and she has it in spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds.

Lisa Trudell or #lisafreakingtrudell from The Walking Tourists
For those of you who haven't heard of her (all two of you ;) Lisa is one of those people who gets it done. She's got a sweet voice but she drives a hard bargain and can get access to anyone and anything just by asking. Her travel blog is going places because it's great quality content and she's just going to make it happen, I have no doubt in my mind.

Julie of Family Fun in Omaha
What a woman! There is so much to be said for simply "being nice." Julie is nice to everyone. Her blog's purpose of getting the word out about family-friendly Omaha events just so families can have fun together is so genuine and selfless. I'm so proud to know Julie and proud of her for how hard she's worked and how far her blog has come.

So there's my tribe. We're all so different, yet we have one major thing in common: we're all in this together.