Can you guess which one is me?

To catch up, I recently participated in a panel at Show Me The Blog Conference in St. Louis. It’s a new conference on the blog conference circuit, but I think it has great potential. Much like real life, SMTB (as it was known on Twitter) encountered a few bumps in the road, but all in all, I totally would have paid the $40 early bird ticket price for all that I learned. Heck, I probably would have spent the $60 regular (full) ticket price, I really learned that much. I’m just a cheapskate at heart and mom taught me how to get the best deal. It’s hard to break that kind of training.

Show Me The Blog Conference is hoping to grow to a semi-annual event and I’m making plans to make sure I’m there next spring. If you are new to blogging, anywhere close to St. Louis and interested in attending a blog conference, this would definitely be a good “training” conference to see how you like it. Much better than trial by fire at BlogHer like I did. I met a lot of local bloggers and learned a lot of great info from the speakers and panelists.

One major announcement that was announced at SMTB was that I have moved from the ‘job’ of ‘mommy blogger’ to an in-office, 9 to 5, desk job. I recently accepted a position as Social Media Coordinator for a local company that deal with a lot of mommy bloggers. I’d say more here, but let’s just say this company’s owners were on the cutting edge of social media and have used it well to their advantage. Thankfully I’m not building a social media presence, I’m just taking over the reins. Which means, they have a few thousand “fans” on Facebook and I really don’t want to make my work more difficult by connecting too many dots and making it easier for my stalkers to find me. (Is that cryptic enough for you?)

Unfortunately, right after the blog conference, I inadvertently committed the worst blog conference sin EVER, I didn’t post anything. No blogs, nothing. But it’s not my fault, really. My poor little MacBookPro tried to commit computer suicide. Thankfully for me, it was a known issue and Mac (with their excellent customer service, thanks to a class action lawsuit) took care of it. Now my little Mac is back home and ready to serve a few more years with me.

Anyway, all that to say. I’m still here, still blogging and have some plans for fun homemade holiday crafts to share with you. So my question for you is, are you crafting for the holidays? What are you working on? What do you hope to finish before Dec. 24th?

We decided leftover streamers might be just the thing to create the look of fire.  All the kids had quite a bit of fun ripping, twisting and filling bottles with a variety of streamers to create different effects. It was a great impromptu craft session.

Streamers are definitely now added to my list of ‘must have’ craft supplies to keep year round. What’s on your ‘must have’ list for impromptu kid craft sessions?

This past weekend we did not celebrate one child’s birthday, no we celebrated the twins’ birthdays. It most certainly did not catch me by surprise.

Our Saturday morning did not start with an invitation to a movie night with our girl cousins, and if it had, I certainly would NOT have asked my husband to “sell” the idea to the twins in lieu of a friend birthday party, simply for my own convenience. I certainly would not have forgotten to bake the requested carrot cake on Saturday morning for Sunday’s post-church family dinner and party. That’s just not my style.

I absolutely did not throw myself out of bed early Sunday morning to bake the cakes before my workout. I would NEVER dream of yelling at my husband in bursts of breath in the most excruciating part of the workout “Cupcakes. Out. OVEN.” We never yell at one another at our house.

Even if our morning had started that way, we would not have had ZERO presents wrapped to present to the twins at the family party. That would be wrong. We certainly would not attempt to make it up to them by taking them on a shopping trip to Toys R Us and buying them the toys they wanted, sale or no.

That’s just not how this organized mom of four does it. < rolls eyes >

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

First up:  Sparkpeople.com and the Sparkpeople iPhone App

Sparkpeople is a free website to help you organize, collect and learn all you need to know about getting healthier. There are tons of forums on just about every topic, whether you are looking to lose weight, want to know about a particular exercise program or are adjusting your diet per doctor’s orders. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, lots of boxes and widgets, but it’s well worth the time exploring to find exactly what it is you need.

I use it for the food and exercise counters. I find it very helpful to keep account of what calories I’ve taken in and how many I’ve burned. I also have a few doctor’s recommendations on particular vitamins and nutrients (like calcium and fiber) that I can track with their tools.

Most importantly for me is that I can track my food on the go. Being able to look up nutrition information from their vast database and other user’s input really helps me to think twice about what I’m about to put into my mouth next. That may not be your issue, but it’s really helped me learn how to make some better food choices and plan my food intake for a whole day, not just grabbing and eating everything in sight.

Number two on my list today is Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred workout video:

For a busy mom, this workout is ideal. It requires the DVD or downloadable video, a set of hand weights, and space. A mat is only necessary if your space is a hard floor. The entire workout lasts about 20 minutes, including warm up and stretching at the end.

It’s considered circuit training. You complete three six-minute circuits. Each circuit consists of three minutes of strength training, two minutes of cardio, and one minute of ab workout. Sounds easy, right?

Wrong. It will kick your butt. First day I tried it, I could only get through one six minute circuit without feeling like I would die. Granted, I realized quickly I was dehydrated (don’t exercise on one cup of coffee) and was coming down from a weekend long sugar binge (really bad idea). I wasn’t going to give up, and I tried again the next day, well hydrated and made it through the whole workout. I was winded and beet-red at the end, but I did it!

I’m already seeing amazing results, my stamina improves every day and I’m beginning to feel definition in some of my muscles. It’s only been six workouts so far. I did have two days without working out while on my road trip, but I think I’ll be downloading the videos from iTunes before BlogHer so I don’t miss a beat.

Stay tuned later today for my third item for the kids: Jumpstart’s latest Wii game, Get Moving- Family Fitness.

Image courtesy lambertwm via Flickr

I met Rob in January 1997. It was a cold dreary day, which made the 200 mile drive to St. Louis all the more difficult. I was a senior in high school interviewing for one of the college’s top scholarships. It was important. I was the oldest of three girls. In my mind, I bore the responsibility of a debt-free secondary education to ensure we all had the opportunity to go to college. Rob was one of three on the interview panel that day.

At the time, I was full of pride. One of the top in my class, a huge list of extra-curricular activities. The ideal college candidate. I’m sure I wore that pride like a fur coat. I finished the interview, got lost in the “big city” with my parents, and returned home. A few days or weeks later, I got the call that I received the scholarship.

What I didn’t know for months or maybe even years was that it wasn’t an easy choice for the scholarship committee. Much later, after I was already enrolled and established at the college, someone shared with me that Rob had lobbied for me. He saw something in me the others couldn’t that day, probably due to my own immaturity and pride. But Rob saw my potential, as an alum, he saw things that he knew would make this college a good fit for me. Rob was right.

The small size of the college cultivated relationships. Rob, and many others at the college, poured themselves into our lives. He wasn’t just another employee. I was blessed to work with him on several teams and projects. I have one very clear, fond memory of a day spent in Rob’s home. His children were young at the time, about the ages of my children now. I recall sitting surrounded by toys in the playroom of his home as the group ate, laughed and planned our next steps.

During college, I lost a dear friend to leukemia; met my husband and even managed to learn a few things in class. Four years of ups and downs, good and bad, laughter and tears produced a different person than the girl visiting the campus that blustery January day. I owe much of that to Rob’s persistance. Sure, I might have landed there without him, but I never had to walk that path.

It’s interesting to mourn in this era of Facebook. It’s amazing to see tangible evidence of his influence. Despite the many different capacities on the campus he served over the years, the words remain the same. “I wouldn’t be where I was today without Rob’s work, advice, etc.” “I never saw Rob without a smile on his face.” One can’t help but wonder why he had to die so soon, wasn’t there more good he could have done?

Everyone who knew Rob knew he was a Christian. There was no hiding that fact. While we have the promise of heaven, we still mourn for ourselves, our lives without such an amazing man.

More than that, we are inspired. Inspired to live in a manner so that we can leave a legacy as amazing as his.