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VEGAS! With 600+ of my teacher friends!

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Oh sweet friends of mine, have I got a post for you.

 

I’m linking up with A BURST OF FIRST  – sad face – HOW DID I NOT MEET YOU?!?! – to bring you the HIGHS and MORE HIGHS from Vegas!! 🙂

My goal for this post . . . I want you to feel the goosebumps that I have felt all.  week.  long.

If you follow me on facebook or instagram, you know that I’ve spent the last week in Vegas. WOO HOO – Vegas! Party time, right?! Well, if by party you mean non stop talking and collaborating with the most talented and passionate people that I know, then yes.  Party time it was.

I could simply not get enough “brain picking” this week!  To see and hear my sweet teacher friends squeal and get excited about clip art or borders or securing files easily or about cha chings or about the font license that I may or may not have bought this weekend – to see that I’m not the only one who gets chills (or cries?!) from reading sweet feedback – to spending every minute surrounded by people who absolutely love and are dedicated to their profession and to this TPT network FAMILY of ours as much as I do/am – well. . .

goosebumps, y’all.  just goosebumps.

These last few months have been an absolutely incredible journey.  From the networks that I have made on TPT, collaborative blogs, and social media, to the amount that I have learned while being a part of this TPT family that is WAY larger and WAY more lovely than I could’ve ever expected, to the smacking me in the face realization that I, that WE, are impacting students and teachers ALL OVER THE WORLD?!?!? . . .

goosebumps, y’all.  just goosebumps.

I won’t go through every moment – goodness I could –  but I’ll highlight those AH-HA or OMG or OHHHHHH-THAT’S-HOW-YOU-DO-THAT?!? moments for you. I’ll be back SOOO soon with more detailed explanations of things that I learned and things that I SHARED about which my sweet friends said BLOG ABOUT THAT!! 🙂 #staytuned !

It was just SUCH an incredible week filled with OMGs and with me looking around the room I was in or at the company I was with in AWE of “THIS IS HAPPENING!”

I mean . .  I knew TPT is huge.  I knew TPT has changed my life.  But geesh oh man, now, I’ve never been more sure about 2 statements of truth in my life.

Deanna Jump said it best at the Keynote speech . . .

“Lord, show me the way, and I will do the work”.

click here to grab this freebie of Deanna’s inspirational quote from my store!

I was an emotional mess during the entire Keynote, but THIS sent me over the edge and sent my tears over my eyelids.  I can’t put into words how overwhelmingly THANKFUL I am for being a part of this week.  For being a part of this family.  For being a part of a network of friends that I will have and who will #speakmylanguage FOREVER!
Speaking of friends . . . MEET MY ROOMMATES!

Here we are with MEL D! :) 🙂   Do you recognize who I’m with?! Marcy from Saddle up for 2nd – Angie, my long lost #speakingmylanguage twin from Lucky Little Learners, and Dixie from Teachin’ Little Texans! They are AHMAZINGGGG teachers and even more amazingly sweet friends <3 SO thankful to have met and connected with them for REAL this week!!

So our week together started with a BANG!

At the HUGE blogger meet up on Wednesday night…

– oh you know –  – –

… the one where Hope King from Second Grade Shenanigans hunted me down to say and hug me hello?! WHAT?! – and the one where I was reunited with my fellow Ohio sweet-as-pie teacher friend Miss Decarbo from Sugar and Spice!! – and the one where I got to meet sweet Carol from The Super Sparkly Teacher and April from A Modern Teacher!! –  and the one where my selfie with Sarah and Nicole from A Rocky Top Teacher and All Things Apple in 2nd may end up being my favorite picture from the trip . . . .

. . . . annnnnd the one where my roommates (Dixie came later!) and I got to meet Mr. Mustache himself from The Kindergarten Smorgasboard  ANDDDDD THE Deanna JUMP?!? WHAT?!?!? . . .

. . . I was overwhelmed.  I was overwhelmed with certainty.  Certainty that, O M to the G, there is no where else on this planet that I am supposed to be other than in this room with the incredibly beautiful and endless inspiration and talent that surrounded me.

I knew THIS.  I knew that I am supposed to be here.  This is what I’m supposed to do.  This is where I’m supposed to be.  This network – this journey – this is what I’m supposed to be doing.  TPT has changed my life in SO many ways, and this week, getting to put faces with names, getting to hear and see and meet THE Deanna Jump and Cara Carroll and Hope King AND to hear Paul – the founder of TPT – speak with SO much more passion and humility than any of us every could have expected, and being a part of bringing our network together – out from behind our computer screens to unite in the flesh as one big ol’ passionate network and family SANS the internet nor our iPhones connecting us – was INCREDIBLE.

goosebumps, y’all.  just goosebumps.

SO hopefully y’all have a few goosebumps by now at least. 🙂  More pictures, you say?  (I know what you really want to say is stop talking, Ashley! Show me more!) You may be sorry what you wished for.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

I’ll keep the words to a minimum and SHOW you the best of the best moments of the trip and a few things I learned (gasp?!) along the way <3

Highlights of the Highlights

EEEEK WE MET MEL D! <3

 




AHHH MARCY SURPRISED US ALL WITH THESE!! They say our store/blog names!! LOVE LOVE LOVE! <3

I know – you’re thinking – SERIOUSLY ASHLEY? A picture of you at the gym? Well, yes.  Seriously.  This gym was FAB.  And I like working out.  Even on vacation.  So there. haha 🙂 #beyourself #myfavoritebloggerssaidso

UM – OMG I was brave enough to chat a bit with ANNND get a picture with CARA!! #firstgradeparadefanclub

 

I’m not crazy – I’m just a Scorpio <3 My FIRST Alex and Ani bracelet! 🙂 #vegasswag

 

Dinner with the roomies AND Cassandra from Mrs. 3rd grade!!

And I had SUCH a fun time on Saturday walking the strip a bit, shopping, chatting, lunching, idea sharing, gambling, and dinnering! with these sweet ladies!! Courtney from Ramona Recommends and Bridget from Hard Core Teaching Resources are the SWEETEST, and we just had so much fun talking in hashtags for the day! 🙂

What am I taking away, you’ve asked?

#YAYME #sorrynotsorry
I’ll be honest . . . throughout the sessions and conversations, I was a LITTTTTLE bit nervous that I was going to hear or learn that I’ve been doing something (or a lot of things) WAY wrong this entire time . . . but when I heard that dragging images . . . dragging HUNDREDS of images . . .  into a file to make something editable or to make a preview file was the sameeee long way around route that CARA CARROLL from The First Grade Parade does it?!?!? WHEW!! I felt sooooo good to hear that! 🙂

#yayme #ilovecara #she’sevenmoredarlinginperson  

Side note  – PICASA will elimate the dragging for you when you’re making previews!! 🙂

Through the sessions, I definitely learned tips and tricks and new ideas, but I walked away with a sense of “Ok, Ashley – after a whole lot of googling and a whole lot of self-teaching these last few months – you are doing ok for yourself!”

I asked what YOU wanted to hear in this post, and I think I answered a few already, but here are just a few more take aways and reflections from one of the most absolutely incredible weeks of my life!

EASY HYPERLINKS
One tool that I learned about was Easy Hyperlinks – I will DEFINITELY be using Easy Hyperlinks to create the links to other TPT products within my product descriptions from now on! – WAY easier than writing (copying and pasting) that foreign code about which you all know exactly what I’m talking! It’s SUCH an easy way to link text or images to another website or product! 🙂




WORDMARKIT!
Another tool I learned about was a big ol’ WHATTTT?!? out loud from me . . .

Have you heard of Wordmarkit?!? It will load the fonts on your computer into the website itself and show you text IN THOSE FONTS!

SOOOO no more highlighting, selecting, guessing at a font and then not liking the way it looks and having to start all over again!  DONE! 🙂 PS . . .Aren’t Cara’s fonts the CUTEST!?!?!?! LOVE

Recurring Theme!
One of the most recurring themes that kept jumping out at me was to BE YOU! Cara actually said during the blogger panel Q&A, “Be yourself and if other people don’t like that then WHO CARES!?”.  Girl – you spoke right to my soul on that one!

POINT BEING! Whether you’re blogging, creating, posting, or pinning – BE YOURSELF! I LOVED to hear this week that people told me that I was exactly how they expected me to be! That is – I THINK! – because I’m SO true to who I am when I share ME and my life with all of you via my work and via my posts! 🙂

PINNING TIP!
Ok y’all  – MEL D hugged me.  I mean . . . MEL D – Seusstastic fabulousness MEL D was excited to see and meet and hug me?!?!? WHAT!?!?!?!

And OMG did I love her.  Her session on advanced pinterest was AWESOME! I am a pinning struggler, so it helped me rethink my pins so so much! One tip I got from her was – as a seller – to pin to a 2:1 ratio.  The 2 is of other people’s pins and the 1 is of MY products and pins.  #oops #sorry #pinningfail

Another pinning tip was timing! Spread out your pins! A popular pinning time is from 3-5 and from 6-8 in the evening! #dontpinat5amashley #dummy #oops

What ASHLEY needs to work on. . . 
I’ve found myself wondering HOW DO THEY DO IT ALL?!?!?!
Well – I think I learned that I’m not the only crazy woman awake in the middle of the night drafting blog posts or cutting laminate.  Taking advantage of every free moment annnnd making your own free moments seemed to be a theme amongst my fellow workaholic teacher friends.  Which I loved.

Remember – I’m not crazy – I’m just a scorpio? Well…I’m not crazy, I’m just a TPT seller and teacher blogger also fits the mold. 🙂

SOOOO what I need to, in turn, work on –  is to choose a time or a night or a few nights to CLOSE THE COMPUTER and TURN OFF MY PHONE.  The blogger panel said it best…”If you’re going to be present, be present”.  I MUST work on that.  I must.

Best Meeting of my Life
I was recapping a bit of my trip with a non-teacher – a very dear and near to my heart non teacher with whom I am very close and who completely GETS my passion and how much I love what I do and why I do it – including this TPT journey of mine.  We decided that every minute of this trip was the like the most productive staff meeting or PD workshop of my life.  It was a meeting that lasted for 5 days and 4 nights – a meeting that included delicious food and valuable conversation that was SO valuable, in fact, that I was writing notes on napkins to be able to take a picture of and send to all of us surrounding the meeting table! #truestory- a meeting so fantastic that, in fact, and thankfully, through social media and TPT, gets to last forever <3

I am HUMBLED by my week in Vegas – am THRILLED to be back home and diving into all of my in-the-works projects with a new spin or a new idea that I learned from the first annual TPT conference week- and I am more PASSIONATE and PROUD now than I’ve ever been about being ME – about being part of our TPT and blogging family and journey – and about being a teacher than I ever have been before.

#untilnexttime

I hope – I sincerely hope – that you can snag something you love out of this post.  <3 Thanks for reading and I will be back SO soon! #mygearshaven’tstoppedturningsinceIlandedinVegas

LOVE YOU ALL<3

Comments

  2. 2

    Carrie Ogulnick says

    Thank you sooo much for this recap! I have been using easy hyperlink but didn't know about wordmark! I now have bookmarked that site. Good tips on pinning too!!
    I soo hope I can attend next year. Thanks again for filling us in 🙂

  4. 4

    Rachael Hill says

    You are fantastic! I can just hear your excitement bubbling over throughout this post! I am just starting to create items for TPT and sometimes I don't know where to start but this post was helpful. Hopefully, I can start creating more things and eventually start my own blog. My husband and I are going to Vegas in 2 weeks. If I had known that this conference was going on, I would have tried to schedule our trip earlier! This blog brightened my day. Thanks for being you!

  5. 5

    Jameson Michelle says

    I started to read your post a little jealous, I am not going to lie. I was thinking to myself, oh here we go…Another blog post about Vegas! But Ashley, you are by far, one of the most gracious people I have ever "met," and I am only sad that I did not get to actually meet you this year. Next Year For SURE!!!!!

    Thanks for the font thing! I may or may not have just purchased a font license, too, this weekend.

    Cheers,
    Jameson
    Lessons With Coffee 

  6. 6

    C Hath says

    This post was amazing!! So glad that I was able to spend some time with you this week too Ashley!! It was amazing to be able to spend time with you and your roomies!! I can't wait until we are able to spend more face to face time together! Next year I hope to be at the TPT conference, and staying longer to spend fun time with your lovely ladies!!!

    Mrs. 3rd Grade 

  7. 7

    Elyse Rycroft says

    Great post Ashley! I will be there next year for sure to meet you and be inspired!! Thanks for the tips too…gotta figure out that hyperlink one now!
    Elyse 🙂

  10. 10

    Creativity to the Core says

    This post made me smile AND tear up! …And I wasn't even there! BUT I will definitely be there next year. I had seen that comment from Deanna on IG from Angie Olson, and I fell in love. I am seriously going to print it out and hang it up. It is perfect for us TPT-ers. That OMG photo you had about Mel D commenting on your IG…That's exactly how I was when you commented on mine! Girl! You are amazing. 🙂 I'll be hunting you down like Hope soon enough! {Totally not in a stalker way! lol}

    Meredith
    Creativity to the Core

  15. 15

    kacie says

    I wasn't even at this conference (even though I wanted to be so very badly) and this post has made me feel so inspired and motivated to continue to grow and learn in this amazing community!! You are an inspiration to all of us and I truly can't wait till next years conference when I can have the opportunity to meet YOU as well as all the other wonderful
    Bloggers!!! I truly enjoyed reading this lovely post!!

  17. 17

    Michaela says

    Ok! You had me in tears!!!! Thank you so much for a wonderful recap. 🙂 I wanted to be there soooo badly, and now after reading your post I know for SURE I can't miss next year. BTW you also had me wishing I could meet you. You sound so genuine and fun! NEXT YEAR! 🙂 Keep the great posts coming!

  18. 18

    Angie Olson says

    Okay first of all, your post leaves me grinning from ear to ear. I can feel your passion and excitement and I can see your authenticity. Keep doing you girl, you rock! I am so blessed to have met you and I feel like bigger and better things are knocking on our doors! Keep the posts coming, I can already see you applying things you learned into this post! Love ya! Sincerely, #yourspeakmylanguagebestie
    #canhashtagsbesignatures
    Mrs. Olson’s Lucky Little Learners

  21. 21

    Heather Langley says

    I was jealous of all the fun posts last week and had to "limit" my IG time just because it was making me crazy! This post made me feel like I actually got to be there and feel the excitement and honest to goodness take something away from it. Thank you for pouring out your heart to share your take aways from an amazing week. I don't feel jealous anymore, just lucky I follow you 🙂
    Learning with Mrs. Langley

  28. 28

    Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd says

    Aw Jameson!!! Your sweet comments mean so much to me! I can't even begin to tell you how much my heart is smiling as I've read what you had to say! THANK YOU! 🙂 I can't wait to meet you next year!!!

  41. 41

    Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd says

    Annnnd there's a quote from my #speakmylanguage bestie – – – I WILL keep doing me, girl!! And you better keep doing you!!! I couldn't agree more about the fact that bigger things are headed our way. I couldn't be more thrilled to have a friend like you on this journey with me!! 🙂 🙂 LOVE YOU!!! #hashtagsforever

  43. 43

    Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd says

    Aw, Heather!! Thank you so much for your sweet comment! My goal was for my followers to feel a glimpse of the AWE that I felt all week long. It was truly the best week of my life and I'm so glad I was able to share it with all of you!! 🙂 Thanks again!

  44. 44

    Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd says

    Aww thanks so much, Mel!! 🙂 I'm so so glad I got to meet you, too!! Steal away, girl!! 🙂 Thanks for everything! I've got so many pinterest to-dos on my list today! I'll probably be blowing up your inbox with questions haha 🙂 🙂 YOU ROCK!! XOXOX

  47. 47

    Shelley- TheWriteStuffTeaching says

    Dear Ashley,
    This was the BEST post-TPT conference post ever!! I loved loved loved reading all the recaps and tips and your writing style is AWESOME! You are just the cutest thing and I think I saw you a few times over the course of the conference. Thanks for all this info. Your photo of the teachers trying to reach out on the escalator is the BEST! You should send it to TPT because it really encapsulates our experience. And seriously, are those your guns in the gym? Woot woot! Gotta love me some gym time. I look forward to keeping in touch with you.

    🙂 Shelley
    The Write Stuff Teaching

  49. 49

    Rachel Vincent says

    This was one of the best post I've ready about Vegas so far!! I felt like I was right there with you and felt the goosebumps and everything!! Thanks for letting me be part of your Vegas adventure! I loved following along of IG!!
    Rachel
    A Tall Drink of Water

  50. 50

    primary practice says

    Thank you Ashley, for graciously sharing so much of your experience and tips from the TPT conference! Love the products I have purchased from you, and especially love the way you share your positivity and inspiration 🙂

  51. 51

    Andrea says

    Thanks so much for writing about your Vegas trip and sharing some great tips!! It sounds like you had a fabulous time and met so many amazing people! I've already used Easy Hyperlink a few times today, thanks for sharing this! Where have I been, I figured there was an easier way then what I was doing! Love reading your posts, thanks again!

    Andrea
    Tricks of the Trade in First Grade

  52. 52

    Katie Palmer says

    This is a great post! As a newbie I loved all the tips you shared! Very inspiring for me!! I hope to someday chat with you about all things TpT…..maybe at the conference next year!!

  54. 54

    Tami says

    I have been so sad {and super jealous} about not being at the conference… but as I read this, I felt those same goosebumps and can understand how you felt {a little bit!} Since I met some of you awesome ladies back in March, I can get the sense of how it felt, because that day itself left me in AWE to this day! I am so glad you had a wonderful time and can't wait to see what you have in that amazing brain of yours to share with us!! 🙂

  55. 55

    Janice DeMarti says

    Such a down-to-earth post. I'm in complete awe of you as a person, what you create, and all that you give. Reading your posts, I always feel as if you're standing right in front of me (you probably have an accent but in my mind you don't). I was super-bummed in not going to Vegas this year, but reading this I feel a little better. This post oozes excitement and motivation! I'm more determined than ever to attend next year! Thank you, thank you for what I always feel of YOU just being present.

    New fan and follower,
    Janice
    IG: 1islandlover 🙂

  58. 58

    Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd says

    Shelley!! Thank you so much for your sweet comments!! I'm glad my rambles were perceived as a decent writing style!! 😉 Thanks to your suggestion, I posted that escalator pic on TPTs Facebook page 🙂 🙂 Thanks for the suggestion! I look forward to keeping touch with you, too!

  63. 63

    Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd says

    Aw Tami THANK YOU for such sweet comments!! I'm so so glad you have been as thrilled to connect with bloggers as much as I have!! I just LOVE our network even more now having met so many of my blogging buddies in real life!! <3 Can't wait to share more with you soon!!

  64. 64

    Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd says

    Janice your comment makes me smile so much!! I'm so so glad that you enjoyed this post that I truly poured my heart and soul into!! 🙂 I'm so glad that my excitement and passion shines through it, too! Because oh girl, this all makes my heart so excited!! So glad I get to share it with all of you!! 🙂 Thanks so much for your sweet comment <3