Coffee Talk, Volume 4

Shall we jump right into Coffee Talk, Volume 4? I’ve come to love these little chats. It’s nice to be able to fill in the gaps with all the things that don’t fit neatly into their own blog post.

Summer, summer, summer time!

I know a lot of kids are still in school for at least another week, but my kids have been done for a week. We are finishing up our first week of the summer schedule. I still haven’t figured out exactly how I’m going to fit blog work in, but I’m working on it. I already miss having a few hours each day of peace and quiet. I don’t think that makes me a bad mom. That makes me human.

Despite the lack of alone time, I love summer. I really love these months. I love the sunshine, eating outside, not being strapped to a school schedule. If I figure out how to get my kids to finish their chores happily before they beg for screen time, I’ll let you know. I’m not super strict with screen time, but really, it’s summer….go outside! Have you read Last Child in the Woods? Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder? It really resonated with me and I want to make sure my children are not disconnected from nature. Keeping them outside this summer is important to me.

Everything Food Conference

Last time I told you I was getting ready to go to Salt Lake City, Utah for the Everything Food Conference. It happened. It was so amazing to be in the same place with hundreds of people who all enjoy talking about blogging. Tim will talk about it with me a little, but in general, he’s not that interested. Two of my friends just started blogs, but none of my friends in real life have food blogs. It was great to be able to talk shop at length and not feel like I was boring anyone to death.

Two of the speakers were Lindsay and Bjork from Pinch of Yum and Food Blogger Pro. I am a member of the Food Blogger Pro community and listen to Bjork’s podcast regularly. I really respect Lindsay’s work at Pinch of Yum. The first day at the conference, I was getting ready to leave my hotel and walk to the venue where the conference was held. I walked into the elevator and who was there? Lindsay and Bjork. I was not prepared for my crazy reaction! I had a total fan-girl moment and could hardly talk. Although I did say hello and tell them I was a member of their Food Blogger Pro site and they were super friendly. I have no idea why I was shaking talking to them; they are just people. Internet celebrities maybe, but still people. I think it’s just strange to meet people in real life that you feel like you know via the Internet.

My biggest take-away from the conference was this: I have been doing this a long time and know more than I think. I need to give myself a bit more credit and not be afraid to keep dreaming big. I can do whatever I set my mind to. Okay, that sounded so corny, but I really think I need to get out of my own head sometimes and realize that I can take my blog to the next level if I want to work hard enough. Sometimes the fear of failure or not being good enough holds me back.

This will definitely not be my last blogging conference. Making connections is such an important part of this blogging world, and I met great people. I met bloggers who are just starting out and bloggers who have been doing this longer than me. I connected with brands who are a perfect fit for Happy Healthy Mama and its readers. All around, the connections I made were valuable and worth the cost of the trip.

Training Time

Do you remember last summer when I did the BattleFrog Obstacle Course race? It was one of those things that while I was doing it, I couldn’t stop asking myself WHY I was so crazy to put myself through that. Then, when it was done and I was back home, I found myself looking up when I could do another race. I loved to hate it. It’s such a great competitive outlet for me and much more fun (did I just call it fun?!) than road races. So this August I’m going to be doing another Battlefrog. This time I plan to train for it more. I didn’t know what to expect last year and while I was in shape, I didn’t train hard enough or specifically for the grueling aspect of the race. I’m going to loosely follow the free training guide they provide on their site. Starting next week. 😉 Training to just stay in shape and actually compete in a race like this is different. I like having something to train for, so I’m excited to get ready and see if I can do better this year. Now I just need to get over my fear of heights so I don’t freak out on the high obstacles again…

Can food bloggers get into cooking ruts?

I hate to admit this, but as much as I love food and cooking, I’ve been so not into spending much time in the kitchen lately. I want my meals to take ten minutes or less to prepare, thankyouverymuch. It must be the summer weather. I’ve got to get back into my groove, but you can definitely expect the easiest of recipes this summer. These 30 recipes might have to be on rotation all summer long.

Speaking of easy recipes, the slow cooker is my enemy. I mean, I love it, but I can’t seem to get my kids to love much of anything that comes out of it. It’s driving me crazy. All I want is to dump the ingredients in and have them ready at dinner time and have everyone love it. Is that too much to ask? Two nights ago we had a crockpot meal that involved quinoa, vegetables, and beans. The quinoa was a little mushy, but I liked it. The flavor was great. My kids acted like it was poison. Luke: “I can’t eat this…it has sauce!” Meghan: “I just don’t like my food mixed together like this. I tried it, but I don’t like it at all.” If I ever get my kids to enjoy a food-mixed-together-with-sauce meal out of the crockpot, I will be the happiest woman on the planet. I’ll keep you posted.

What new with you? Don’t make this a one-sided conversation….it’s your turn in the comments. 🙂 

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