Blogging

A Blogger’s Version of Take Your Kids to Work Day and Dinner at Olive Garden (Blessed Seven Vlog)

April 27, 2015 by Sandra 8 Comments

I worked in collaboration with Olive Garden on this blog post and vlog.

I love being a blogger.

It’s the job I never knew I wanted until I started my very first blog in 2009. Since then, blogging has changed and will continue to change. But one thing is for sure: as long as I have a computer, a camera, and an internet connection, I’m going to keep on doing what I love. 🙂

And the best part?

I get to work from home and be around my children. My two oldest kids, Nathan and Breanna, actually help me with small blogging tasks from time to time, and I pay them for their work. I do that for two reasons:

They want to earn money.
The internet isn’t going anywhere and learning different aspects of working online is important these days.

Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day

Now Take Your Kids to Work Day was last Thursday, April 23rd, and while I sort of ‘take my kids to work’ with me on a regular basis, we still observed this day together and ended it with a fun family meal at our local Olive Garden restaurant.

You can see what this day looked like here:

Did you take your kids to work with you on April 23rd?

Why I want to attend SoFabCon: An Amazing Conference for Bloggers

January 30, 2014 by Sandra 6 Comments

Last year, I had the opportunity to attend SoFabCon 2013. It’s a blog conference organized by Collective Bias, so that bloggers have the opportunity to connect with brands, learn from their representatives, and master how to become highly-skilled professional bloggers.

We made the trip to Arkansas to attend the conference a family road trip, and it was a lot of fun. Ruben took care of the kids while I attended sessions and did some networking. In between sessions, I’d head to our hotel room to nurse Elisabeth, and hang out for a little while before the next session.

During one break, I even prepared a meal for my family. I was working on a campaign for Collective Bias and created these super easy chicken sandwiches:

Prepared and photographed in our SoFabCon hotel room. 🙂

All that to say, I’d love to attend SoFabCon again this year.

Why? Because first and foremost, it’s an outstanding conference. Collective Bias ‘gets’ bloggers AND brands. This is so incredibly important, if blogging is more than a hobby for you, and you consider it your career.

Secondly, I need to get away. Life has been rough these past six months because of David’s illness, and I’d love just a few days to be able to slip away to a place where I know SO MANY of the people who’ll be there. My favorite part of the conference last year was meeting new people and getting to know them and their blogs.

SoFabCon = The best place for networking among bloggers

What Attending SoFabCon This Year Would Mean to Me
Going to Bentonville, Arkansas to the Social Fabric Conference would mean a time of refreshing for me. It would mean that I’d get to spend time with people who understand what I do in this online space. It would also mean that I’d have time away from home, by myself. I need a little of that right now.

What the Experience Would Empower Me to do Afterward
If you do pretty much anything online, you know that things change. This is definitely true when it comes to blogging. There are new things to be learned and new opportunities out there.

Going to SoFabCon would give me the tools I need to be a better blogger and business owner. It would enable me to become a more fabulous Social Fabric member, and the experience might even push me just a little further out of my introverted shell. 😉

I’d love to attend SoFabCon 2014!

#CollectiveBias is giving six bloggers the opportunity to win a trip to #SoFabCon14. This post is my entry, and I’m entering because I #LuvSoFab14.

A Tablet That Fits into My Work-at-Home Mom Life – The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3

November 23, 2013 by Sandra 2 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper
insights study for Collective Bias® and their client.

I’m a work-at-home mom.

Technically, I also work from the library when I need to get away and write or design without a baby on my lap or a little person needing me. Those days, I’ll go to the library and check out a room, so that I can have peace and quiet and just write, return emails, check social media, and do the other things I need to do to keep this little online business of ours moving forward.

Even in the midst of all that’s going on with David, I still have to work, and I’ve been lugging around my crazy-heavy laptop bag filled with everything I need to work while I’m sitting in the emergency room again or spending time with David during another hospital stay.

Decisions, decisions…
I finally decided to stop the madness and get a tablet (for myself), so that I don’t always have to lug around a cumbersome laptop bag.

We trust Best Buy and have made several device purchases there in the past (plus I’m a fan of their warranty program), so we headed there to check out tablets. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 caught my eye. It has a powerful Intel processor (just what I need), and it’s sleek and lightweight, which I love.

The Best Buy Experience
The employees at Best Buy were incredibly helpful and knowledgeable when it came to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3. They answered all of my questions, and explained the benefits of owning an Android tablet. They made me feel confident about my decision, and I walked away a happy customer.

How I Use the Tab 3
Now that I’m officially a tablet owner, I’ve stopped lugging around my laptop bag every.single.time. we go to the hospital. David had 8 appointments (yes, EIGHT) to go to this past week, and instead of bringing my laptop with me, I left it and simply slipped my tablet into my purse to take along on our adventures.

Whether I’m at home or in a waiting room, I can write posts and manage my blog on my tablet.

I also use it to check email and social media, listen to my favorite radio station, take pictures, and I even allowed my kids to install ONE game app on it. 😉

In the past, I’ve ever-so-carefully placed my laptop on the treadmill, so that I could walk and work at the same time. I love that I can now easily do the same things I did with my laptop on the treadmill but instead use my lightweight and portable tablet.

Across-the-board, I feel like this tablet is just what I need to be more productive as I juggle being a work-at-home mom with all of my other responsibilities. I know I’ll be using it a lot over the next few months, and I may even use it to create videos to share with you when David is in the hospital next month.

Yes, I do think this tablet will become my new supertool.

Have you ever used a tablet? In what ways do you think it could streamline an area of your life?

Learn More & Be Social
You can learn more about the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 at Best Buy & receive Best Buy updates when you follow them on Twitter.

You can also stay up-to-date with Intel when you follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Staying Connected No Matter Where I am with a Sprint Mobile Hotspot

September 20, 2013 by Sandra 5 Comments

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Sprint.

I received product samples to facilitate my review.

Blogging and staying up-to-date isn’t easy these days.

Now that school has started again for the kids (at home) and with David’s frequent hospital visits for blood and platelet transfusions, I have to be creative and find new ways and pockets of time to blog, return emails, and connect with others online.

I don’t have a choice really.

Blogging is my job, and I love it. I want to continue to blog even through the craziness of homeschooling three kids and the gut-wrenching pain we’re experiencing as we walk through the reality that my son has a rare disease and unless the Lord miraculously heals him (and I believe He can) will require a bone marrow transplant.

Catching up & Staying Connected with a Hotspot
Life is hectic and unpredictable, but one thing that’s helping me stay afloat with when it comes to working online and connecting with others via email and social media is a little device I’ve long wanted — a mobile hotspot.

Actually, it’s a Sprint NETGEAR Zing Mobile Hotspot with a color touchscreen.

How I Use a Mobile Hotspot
My absolute favorite way to use this hotspot is in the car. In the past, I’ve taken my computer with me on long car rides, and I’ve been able to power up Photoshop and edit blog post images as we drove to wherever we were headed.

If I wanted to actually write a blog post, I had to write it in a text editor and later transfer the content to my actual WordPress editor area. For several reasons, I tried to avoid this completely and only wrote blog posts in the car when I was up against a deadline.

Now…with my NETGEAR Zing mobile hotspot, I can:

Write blog posts in the car

Connect with others on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets

Return emails

Do any other online tasks I was previously unable to do before I had a mobile hotspot

I’m excited to finally have a mobile hotspot of my own. I know I had a huge smile on my face when it was out of the package, and I first laid eyes on it. 🙂

It’s helping me to be more productive (my word for 2013), and it’s proving to be very useful for the hour long car rides to the Children’s hospital in Chicago.

Yes, I’ll be using this hotspot for a long time to come.

Do you have a mobile hotspot? Have you ever considered getting one for work, school, or just because?

Blogging

Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day

You can see what this day looked like here:

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