I posted on Facebook this morning that I simply needed to:

Breathe.

Drink Coffee.

Start.

You see I am coming down off of a high.  You know what I am talking about.  One of those mountain top experiences that changes you.  That was what I experienced this past weekend in Las Vegas at BAM (Bloggers At Midlife) Conference.  It was so many things all wrapped up in a wonderful package with a shiny bow on top of it. 

So when I got home I just could not settle down.  I knew I had a blog post that I needed to write to just share what the weekend was like but getting to the point of actually getting my thoughts together seemed next to impossible.

So I did other things instead and hoped that later when I sat down to share my thoughts about the weekend I would somehow be able to pull them all together.

I am still not sure that is going to happen today but I did want to share a few impressions at least about the conference.  Please excuse me if I have fuzzy brain because I definitely do.  Lack of sleep, time changes and travel all play a part but enough with the excuses.

Going to the conference I had only met one person in real life that would be there.  Sara of Travel With Sara, one of my North Iowa Blogger friends was a moderator for one of the panels so I knew her but that was it.  I had messaged with others who were going but no one that I could really say was my friend but after the weekend I can honestly say that I made more friends than I could have ever imagined.

This group of midlife women is as unique and varied as anyone could imagine but the common denominator is that they are each beautiful individuals inside and out.  I have never been with a group of more accepting and nurturing women in my life.  Each one that I met truly cared about everyone that they interacted with.  The level of intellect and knowledge in the room was staggering.  Honestly.  But at no time did I ever feel insignificant or less than.  That, my friends, is a gift.  The encouragement from this community of women was everywhere.

How often do we see women who cut each other down and who are petty and backstabbing?  Too often that is how the media represents females and it is simply wrong.  When I left the BAM Conference I felt invigorated and encouraged, loved and truly accepted for who I am and for what I stand for.  A good percentage of the women there make their living with their blogs and their writing but at no time did I feel that I did not fit in because that is not my goal with my blog.  There is room for all of us no matter what the purpose of our blog is and what a wonderful feeling that was.

We had some wonderful sponsors and I came away with a suitcase full of swag.

We had some adventures including a ride with 6 of us crammed into a car clown car style. 

I found some great new authors (and friends) to inspire me.

I made new friends and reconnected with a long time friend.

Myself, Sara of Travel with Sara and Andrea of Good Girl Gone Redneck who lives in Raleigh, NC

A new friend I found at The Venetian

I learned that women of our age have power that I never dreamed we had. We are very social media savvy and can be major influencers in this world.

I learned that being middle aged is a very good thing. 

I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to thank the team who put the conference together.  Anne Parris, Beth Rosen, Teresa Kindred and Sharon Greenthal put together an incredible conference and I am very grateful to have met each one of them.  Thank you ladies. Can’t wait until BAMC17.

Graphic courtesy of organizers via Fiver

There will be more posts coming with more BAM related fun but for now this is a simple recap of my fuzzy thoughts.  Don’t forget to Comment for a Cause–it all goes to support Special Olympics in Transylvania County this month so comment often.