I am back from the fitbloggin conference, here in Portland. I wrote about how I won a ticket in my fitbloggin + PDX + Kristine = fun?! post last week.

And sitting down to recap, I've been struggling to find the words. I think that my expectations were so different from the outcome, and my emotions have been on overload, trying to process the internal things involved in being with such a dynamic and warm group of people. I felt so accepted and welcomed, even as a newbie. It would have been easy for this type of conference to be cliquish, but it really wasn't.

Thursday: registration and welcome mixer. I picked up my swag bag (and shoes! they gave me shoes!) Right off, I met some cool people. We decorated name tags from piles of stickers (I even found a BEE to go by my name!) The scavenger hunts that Susan of foodfoodbodybody (@foodiemcbody) put together was a great ice breaker, and my awesome-shoes-of-awesome got taken pics of them for the footwear challenge (the awesome-shoes-of-awesome may also have been a bad choice for walking many blocks to dinner afterwards with my husband!)

fitbloggin, day 1: ampersand, knitting, posing, trampoline, hopes in a jar, dinner, new shoes, love, sunset.

Friday: the fun begins! I got to ride downtown on the MAX with my husband, who works just blocks away from the hotel the conference was. After a little breakfast and meeting new friends, I headed to my first session.

Motivating Your Community To Choose Healthy Lifestyles with Andrea of A Doctor In The House and @doctrinthehouse. Much of the session was devoted to talking about the rise in obesity and how we can help. Motivating children was a focus for much of the group. I interjected with the perspective of a non-mother who still wants to motivate those around me, and that may also in turn impact their families. I loved some of the ideas toward leading by example. Motivating small changes is key! [official liveblog]

I got to meet Gwyn of Gwynspiration (@smileygwyn) at this session too, and that was a great way to start the morning as I had been following her and participating in her Facebook posts just recently. She was a sweetheart and we got to hang out lots over the week. (I found that her Midwest accent had me saying things like my Michigan family for a few days after!)

Dealing with Your "Before" When You Reach Your "After" with Kelly of CurvyFitGirl (@curvyfitgirl) and Dani of Weight Off My Shoulders (@IrishEyes1982). I really didn't consider what would be discussed, truthfully, I just recognized both of these ladies that I had been following throughout my healthy journey. I also didn't realize all of the things it would bring up in my head. Loosing the emotional weight was mentioned early on. And emotional it was. I raised my hand for a while and then so many other voices were powerful and I hadn't quite thought it all out. Really, I hadn't even realized the topic that was weighing so heavy on me until people started talking and then it was like, Of Course! That will have to be a future blog topic when I feel more comfortable sharing. [official liveblog]

Next up, lunch and the fashion show, hosted by Emmie of Skinny Emmie (@skinnyemmie). I was welcomed into the Cheerleader themed table, where the people sitting there were going to be cheering on the fashion show. Sure, I can be a cheerleader, I'm always up for encouraging! The fashion show was a lot of fun - I really want a handful bra now, thanks to Carla of MizFitOnline (@mizfitonline)!

I fully intended to soak up the Clean Eating panel [official liveblog] but my brain needed a break so I visited the Amana suite with it's nice couches and charging plugs. And I met some really nice people to chat with, too! After this was a break and I kinda missed the opportunity to go to dinner with anyone, so I ran down to Pioneer Square and got a salad and came back to eat and chat with some more people before the evening event.

Ignite Fitness was the theme for the key note and featured a yogurt parfait bar, as well as a table of Bama+Ry jewelry (@bama_ry) that I was dying to get my hands on! 3 charms and a chain, and I already have plans for a few other charms to add on. I was able to stay for all of the 20 speakers before it was time to get a ride home.

fitbloggin, day 2: car shake, fish bridge, PDX+max, shiny elevator, breakfast, Gwen's shoes, session 1, bathroom mirror, lunch.

fitbloggin, day 2: free hugs and name tag, fashion show, cute snack, sweatguru glasses at panel, ignite fitness, my truth, Bonnie's presentation, Gwyn sorts her cards, dress and handknit top

Saturday: the fun continues! E drove me downtown, after I decided yoga was going to be just too early for me. Sounds like it was harder than some of the experienced people were expecting, so I know my limited experience would have been a barrier to enjoying it.

I enjoyed a little breakfast (loved the egg white frittata!), where I met some new friends.

How to Set Health and Fitness Goals with Erin of digdeepplayhard.com (@powerfitness). I was really looking forward to this because it is something that's been weighing on my mind. She pointed out that your time is NOW! and not to let things hold you back from setting goals. The idea of setting goals with a map is familiar to me from my business planning with Tara (@taraswiger). I questioned aloud how this should work to balance a need to set a goal but the disappointment that comes when I'm physically unable to complete (fibromyalgia being my reason) and she pointed out that setting smaller time-constrained goals would be better for me: very smart! I'm looking forward to putting some of these things into motion, ASAP! [official liveblog]

I walked down to the sponsor tables because I heard a rumor that I needed to be there... next thing I know, I'm in the middle of a flashmob! Margo (@shesnachomama) had put together a whole lot of bloggers with the moves from Fame's Remember. so fun!

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique, aka "tapping") with Karen the "Acceptance Whisperer" (@kclanderson). This wasn't on my list of sessions I intended to go to, but after appreciating the emotional side of the conference on Friday, I was curious. EFT has similar ideas as acupuncture or hypnotism, where you trigger something by actually tapping on your hand, forehead, temple, cheek, chin, collarbone, and top of the head. This can be used to work through an emotional topic and attempt to be all right with it or come to some acceptance. I saw familiar faces from the previous day, and as everyone was throwing around Kleenex boxes, I knew I was in for something. I certainly did need the tissue. [official liveblog]

After cleaning up my makeup a little, I headed out to find Deb (@debroby) and the group for the offsite walking tour. They were headed for Knit/Purl and I couldn't pass up the chance to share a little of my love for yarn and Portland. There were 5 of us: Deb, myself, Julianne (@pubsgal), Denise (@lottalatte), and her husband. We had a lovely walk up there, and then I proceeded to enable people towards cool yarns (see Julianne's pretty pic of "Kale" @bumblebirch yarn! how perfect is a yarn with a colorway of Kale from the city that hosted a fitness blogging con?!). Julianne and Deb and I walked back down to some food carts and had delicious salads in the shade, and then stopped into one of my favorite spice stores. It was a lovely way to get to know these ladies.

And then back for some feet resting and more recharging in the Amana suite. I took a walk around the sponsor/vendors to be sure I had seen all of them.

Tricks for Snacking on the Go with Tenley Molzahn (@tenleymolzahn) sponsored by soyjoy (yum!). Just a fun little panel about snacking, I wasn't familiar with Tenley (from The Bachelor), but she had some great ideas and especially when talking about special dietary needs - she is gluten free.

I caught up with a few friends and had a break with some laughing cow and veggies. Boy do I love the new white cheddar flavor! And then it was the end of my day, I had E come get me and we did dinner and some relaxing and I did some reflecting. He had to listen ;)

fitbloggin, day 3. TSFL meets fitbloggin, sky, elevator mirror, breakfast, flashmob, elevator mirror, snack session, laughing cow snack, fitbloggin sign

And after comes the reflection... This was an amazing opportunity. The fact that I won the ticket at the same time as the weight loss phase of my healthy journey was ending, at the same time that I was introduced to the idea of becoming a health coach and KNOWING that I want to inspire health... it may very well have been kismet or fate or a higher power telling me that NOW is the time to do something. I still don't know what that future looks like for me, but I'm all amped up to find out. For someone who has a hard time with change, I sure have been changing a lot lately!

And after the conference, I'm continuing to connect with these über-social-media-mavens: I can see staying long friends. Can I think far enough in the future to wish for a trip for next year? I can sure dream. And dream I will.

thank you to everyone who made this possible, and everyone who was kind to me along the way. I have been forever changed by this experience on my healthy journey.

...and that's the story!

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