Vegas...Cara Style! TpT's 1st Conference was Amazing!

It's so hard to believe that as I'm typing this, I'm wearing a hoodie in the middle of July; our Summer here in Michigan has been a disappointing one at that.  What's even more harder to believe is that just yesterday, I was walking around in Vegas where it was a sweltering 112 degrees!  For the past four days, I've been blessed with the opportunity to spend some awesome family time with my Son, Garyn and my Mom.  I also got to hang with some of my TpT girlfriends at the first ever TpT Seller's Conference, which was just amazing!

  CAUTION:  Continue reading at your own risk...This post is loaded with photos!  Just a forewarning!  I was able to capture many special moments on film and I'd be delighted if you'd stay to share them with me. :)

To help describe my Vegas experience, I decided to write an acrostic poem for you called:

My Mom, Son and I traveled on our first "official" family vacation since my step-father passed away a few months ago.  It was a well needed time of rest and relaxation for us all.  Garyn had never flown on a plan before, but he did better than I expected!  He slept with G-ma most of the way there...

The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas has to be the most beautiful hotel ever!  It is much different than other hotels on the strip in that it is very well lit and bright, as compared to most of the dark hotels you find in Vegas.  The atmosphere is very classy, which helps to make for a wonderful stay.

The main reason for our travels to Vegas was to attend the first annual TpT Seller's Conference.  It was a day packed with presentations from some wonderful and knowledgeable Sellers.  I learned some new "tips & tricks" about being a better blogger (from Miss Kindergarten) and how to make my clip art more personable (from Melonheadz).  

I also got a chance to meet Paul, the Founder of TpT!  He is also a very humble and energetic person, whom I admire.  To hear the story of TpT is quite amazing; Paul also told us about how well TpT is growing and continuing to reach milestone earnings.  Amy and John also spoke to us with genuine feelings of admiration for us Sellers.  If you are a Seller for TpT, give yourself a pat on the back for being so awesome, in so many ways.  That was both of their general messages.  Lastly, Deanna Jump spoke and had many in tears from her heartfelt story from going from nothing to something and her efforts to helping others, like her disabled brother.  When talking with her, I noticed she too is also very humble and personable.  Deanna's someone you'd for sure want for a best friend!

I had my moment of stardom when my picture was shown on the big screen at the Keynote Event!  See me...up there...Yes, that's me!  I didn't even notice it actually; my TpT friend Lisa saw my picture and said, "There you are!"  I was so giddy; I actually felt famous.

OMGosh...You guys, I actually got to meet Nikki from Melonheadz!  And I brought back a picture to prove it like I promised.  She is even more admirable in person and very humble.  Her story is amazing; she went from having practically nothing to becoming an overnight, graphic artist sensation!  She accomplished this by hard work, commitment, and dedication to her talent of drawing.  She is definitely one of my TpT role models and I learned a lot from hearing her speak.  Meeting Nikki was the highlight of my TpT Conference experience hands down!

You'll also notice above that I got to finally meet my TpT friend Regina Davis!  We've been email buddies for a while and it was so, so nice to see her in person.  Regina is so bubbly and full of life...it's almost contagious!  Then I also got to meet my other TpT idols, Victoria and Tricia from 2 Super Teachers.  I just adore their clip art and use it all the time in my products.  It was wonderful to be able to meet all my email girlfriends in person; it was like a dream come true!

Garyn is really into music and drums especially, so I was super excited for him to see the Blue Man Group.  If you've never heard of them, they are a group of three men, that literally are "blue" and they play awesome percussion music.  Their music is unique because of the items they play their music on...pvc pipes, metal tubing, you name  it.  I had never seen them either, so I was super-duper excited as well.  
But the most awesome part was when we got there, the ticket guy was like, "Wow, pretty good seats."  I just looked at him and smiled because I really didn't know what he was talking about.  I paid a little bit more to have some better seats so Garyn could see, but that was all I knew about the tickets.  The usher then took us down to where we were sitting and he kept going further, and further, until he stopped in the FRONT row.  I really didn't believe it... I felt like all of this was meant to be just for Garyn and his special Vegas trip.  I did get nervous though when I saw all the members of the front row wearing plastic?  I stopped dead in my tracks and asked a guy, "Um, why are you wearing plastic?  Do I need to have some?  Do you have extra?"  I was freaked out to tell you the truth.  We were already sitting in the dark waiting for the show to begin, I didn't want to be plastered with some unknown substance too!  
Well it turned out there we didn't get that messy, but the show was so awesome.  I don't want to spoil it for you, but I'll tell you there were floating eyeballs, marshmallows, and lots of neon paint.  And Garyn did get chosen as a special audience member to do a "stunt" with the Blue Man Group!  The funny part was that when Garyn was done, one of the group gave him a marshmallow to keep.  You know what Garyn did with it right?  Yup, right in his mouth. :) 

And lastly in my poem is the best letter, S.

We went to the wax museum and all the stars were just waiting to see me.  They were all so happy to know that I had arrived, that they all wanted to take pictures with me. Hee, hee.

 And then I saw him...The man of my dreams was just waiting there for me.  Oh, how I wish he wasn't made of wax.  If he would have fit in my pocket, I would have tucked him in there, like something fierce.

As you can tell, we had an awesome time in Vegas and I would for sure recommend it for anyone and their family as a vacation spot.  Thanks so much for sitting with me and listening to my poem.  Where was your families best vacation spot?  I'd love to hear where you recommend I take Garyn next.  Leave a message in the comments about where the best place to take kids is!

Have a wonderful day friends,

Make sure to check out more Vegas highlights by clicking on the link above!