Later today, I’ll be in Atlanta in a hotel full of people I’ve never met in real life at the Haven Conference!

Before I leave, and while my house is relatively calm for a rare few minutes, I just wanted to jot down some of my thoughts about this weekend – before it happens. Then, of course, I’ll have to report back what it was really like!

I promise to always be as real with you as I possibly can about all things.

As you’re aware, I started blogging (again) earlier in the year. Blogging has always been something I’ve somewhat enjoyed. Heck, you can read my old, very old, blog posts at my old blog – Wade’s World! (If you want to know how I felt about the baby pool 5 years ago, be sure to check out my Baby Pool Prison post.)

Back then, it was just for fun and to keep people informed about the shenanigans of our family. That was in the pre-Facebook era.

I like to write and express myself in this way. I think it’s just one more way to organize something, but not something physical. It’s a mechanism to organize my thoughts! Oh so many thoughts!

As life gets more and more complicated and my time to just sit and type seems to evaporate, I don’t do this as often as I would like. And this is definitely not one of those “I’m Back” kind of posts!

In January, I just happened to catch a FB ad for a little weekend “how to” blogging type course by KariAnne of Thistlewood Farms. It was a whole $10. My organizing business was pretty flat at that point so I thought what the heck. I have $10 and I don’t have anything to do that weekend so I’ll sign up.

Jake and I went out that night and I told him that was the best $10 I had ever spent! I learned so much about blogging and was reminded of things that I knew, but had never applied (and still haven’t). I was totes inspired to get back into blogging. And I did and I have, sort of!

Here’s the thing, I think too much and I don’t have a really photo-worthy home and I don’t use all the best Pinterest-worthy organizing products or systems and…(maybe this is going to end up being a 2 post series just for the Pre-Haven Conference part.) I am composing a post about why I’m a terrible blogger, but it hasn’t made it from my brain to the keys yet!

When I was reminded about the Haven Conference through the Thistlewood Mastermind, I knew I wanted to go. I’ve known about Haven for years, but have always thought the expense to go would be too much and who the heck am I, thinking I should go to a DIY/Home Bloggers conference? Talk about major imposter syndrome!

I live 2 hours from the venue and had a really generous client pay me to travel to her home and do some pre-move declutter/staging. So I had the cash to cover the conference fee! If I was ever going to give Haven a try, this was definitely the year to do it.

Haven Conference for me is my attempt to go deeper with my little corner of the web – or to even determine if I want to go any further than I am right now. It would be awesome to make a little cash doing something that I enjoy, most of the time!

Did you know that bloggers make really good money via their websites and other social media platforms? I can tell you all about how they do it, but I’ve never successfully made any money so far. I mean, I have some affiliate sales, but not enough for a payout at this point!

(Click my links! Check out my Shop page!)

So back to my Pre-Haven Conference Thoughts –

I’ll keep these short and concise.

These are my internal struggles, currently!

1. Do I have what it takes to ever make any real $$ blogging?
2. Can I overcome my introversion and really enjoy this weekend?
3. This is me! I’m simple. I’m not into high-maintenance fashion trends. Will I fit in?
4. I don’t love going to conferences in general – even when I’m with people I know really well! So this is waaaaaay outside of my comfort zone!
5. Every insecurity and every tiny bit of anxiety that I’ve ever had about myself, my abilities, and my place in blogging circles are creeping up to taunt me. Y’all I have issues!

So those are my internal struggles – these are my goals for the weekend.

1. Meet other bloggers and find a community within the blogging world. This absolutely won’t come naturally for me!
2. Learn some best practices for content creation, blog publishing, and attracting readers, etc.
3. Get my feet wet in the pool of pitching brands.
4. Hone my voice.
5. Be a good student.

I could really expound every single one of these and maybe someday I will. For now, they’re written on this screen for me to reflect and remember where I was on this Wednesday night before my first Haven Conference.

I know it looks like I’m going in with a really negative mindset, but in my heart I’m excited. I’ve been curious about Haven for a long time and am just going to relish being there – the overwhelm, the awkwardness and all!

I promise to report back next week!

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