bloggers at the barre

Pure Barre Draper hosted a blogger night. We took class, had fun giveaways, ate some snacks, and socialized. It was the perfect low key evening. 

Major thanks to our sponsors 

Pure Barre Draper

Elase

Spa Trouve

Lala lovely boutique

Zyia

Menchies

It was fun showing these blogger babes what pure barre is all about. 

what would you do...with 1 hour of free time

i'm excited for a new year of the what would you do linkup. kimberly is having a new little babe and decided to take a break for a while. i'm holding out hope she'll be back to blogging,but if not go check out her etsy shop and die at the cuteness. i have some new hosts, and i'm really excited to welcome emilie, sharlee, erin, suzanna, and tayler to the linkup.

this month we want to know WHAT WOULD YOU DO...with 1 hour of free time?

this question is a little tricky for me because technically i have a lot of my own time. besides the hours i am obligated to be at work (and even that is flexible), i am completely in charge of my own schedule. even though most of my time is my own, i rarely feel like i have free time. i keep myself pretty booked, and that's the way i like it.

in theory i would read a book or do a craft or color or sew something or clean up my pinterest, but in reality if i had an hour of free time i would probably spend it catching up with a friend. as much as i love all of those other things, i LOVE talking to people the most.

we want to know WHAT WOULD YOU DO...with 1 hour of free time. we're not big on rules so grab a button, link up your posts, and hop around.

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one little word for 2016

for the past few years i have picked one word to guide my year. i've picked words like fun, balance, and last year focus. some years i have had a lot of success with my word, and others years...well, not so much. with the beginning of a new year, i am excited to think about the year ahead, and what my life needs. this year i'm joining a few friends (love ashley, my new lines, and one hoolie mama) for a monthly linkup. 

i've been thinking about my word for 2016 for the past few months. my life hit an all time crazy in october, and i talked about not having time for anything important. it really made me think. i have been filling my life so full of good things, but those good things are getting in the way of the best things. this year i want to make more time for the very best things.

my word for 2016 is STILL

i want to take more time to be still. i'll be back later in the week to talk more about my goals, and how i plan to take more time to be still.

did you pick one little word (or a few words) for 2016? grab the button below and linkup. hop around and see what other people picked for their word. come back the first monday of each month to update us on your one little word

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blogger year in review part 3-12 months of blogging

i can't believe we're already at the last linkup for the year. i have a few more review posts for the very end of the year, but this is the last blogging review. we want you to join us. the link up stays open until the end of the month so come back and link up your year in reviews. this year i was pretty dedicated to posting 5 days a week so it's been fun looking back on my blogging year. i went through and picked one post for each month. i don't go back and read old posts very often, but this makes me want to start at the beginning and read it all.
in january i talked about a few of the perks of being a blogger. i love blogging, and while there are some fun perks like free stuff and money sometimes, the number one perk for me will always be friends. february was the second month of how we wore it-my favorite fashion post every month. this series has definitely helped me take better pictures and get more comfortable in front of the camera.  my religion is something that's very important to me. while i don't talk about it all the time on the blog, i do like the opportunity to share my beliefs. in march, i shared some of my other favorite mormon bloggers. in addition to our common religious beliefs, they are really great people and fun blogs to read. in my for the little tykes series (which took a bit of an unintentional hiatus) april's post was about saying yes. that goes for kids and adults. sometimes it's good to say yes when the logical answer might be no. in may i posted about my trip to mexico with 3 friends. we had the very best time and talk all the time about going back. driving across the border of mexico was much easier than we feared. in june i talked about my chat with sharlee and how life really isn't like the movies. happily ever after can be a real thing, but it's usually something you work for not something that just happens to you. in july, chasin mason and i collaborated on some of our favorite BBQ sauce recipes. she made pizza on the grill, and i'm still drying to try it. our grill is covered in about a foot of snow right now so i think i'll have to wait until spring. we all know i LOVE summer. in august i posted weekend happs with all the summer things. in september i ran out of excuses and bit the bullet with online dating. i haven't posted any updates because there aren't any updates to post. admittedly my dedication to it hasn't been 100% the whole time, but it is really hard to be dedicated to something that's not working. i'm planning to try some other things after the holidays. running has taken a bit of a backseat for me this year. in october i posted about the only race i did this year. i'm trying to make a plan for next year. i almost signed up for a marathon this week, but for some reason i just couldn't commit. in anticipation of lots of leftover turkey from thanksgiving, kimberly and i talked about our ideas for what to do with that leftover turkey in november. i didn't actually have any leftovers so i kind of feel like i need to make a turkey just for the leftovers. i don't wear a lot of lipstick, but i love the look of it. i've been trying to wear more when my lips aren't super dry. i love this december post about red lipstick.
i love looking back at the year and all the different things i posted about. i'm starting to look ahead to next year and can't wait to see what things will happen for this little space. 
we want to look back at your year too. copy the image below and link up through the end of the month.

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blogger year in review-part 2...blogger fun

one of my favorite things about blogging is the connecting with others. living in utah makes it a lot easier. a lot of my fave bloggers live here, and there are things happening all the time. for this week's year in review post let's look back at the fun i've had with blogger friends this year. build your blog conference cuatro bonitas-not a blogging event but a blogging perk confetti night splash pad

bella ella

crepes at roll up cafe

celebrating jacque's birthday at tsunami

alison's cabana boogie sandy and cecilia's birthday dinner

blogger no sleepover i have had a lot of fun with blogger friends this year and look forward to many more fun times with locals and out of towners. i am grateful for my continued friendships and look forward to meeting new friends in the coming year. we want you to join us. your review posts can be about whatever you want. there are really no rules. grab the button and link up this week and/or next. next week stays open the rest of the month. we want to hear about your year.

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blogger year in review part 1-lessons learned

a few weeks ago i talked about the blogger year in review linkup. the best part about it is there really are no rules. we'll be here the next 3 weeks recapping the year in blogging. grab the button and link up 1, 2, or all 3 weeks.

i've been blogging for over 7 years. you would think i would have things figured out by now. blogging has evolved a lot over the years and continues to evolve. there is always so much to learn. let's start out the year in blogging review with  the top 5 things i've learned this year
1. utilize scheduling tools-everyone talks about what tools they use and different schedules. i made a goal earlier this year to schedule regular tweets to promote my posts. i knew i couldn't commit to multiple blog tweets a day so i set a goal to schedule one tweet per day. i schedule the tweet right after i finish the draft. i'm not perfect, but i have been much better.
2. it's ok to say no-this speaks for itself. trying to say yes to everything was kind of killing me. i stopped feeling guilty for telling people no if it's not worth my time/effort.
3. a traditional sponsorship program is not for me-i locked in a really good price with passionfruit a couple of years ago, and it hung over my head for months and months and months. i finally tried for a couple of months, and it was really hard to find the time to do the things i told my sponsors i would do. sponsorship programs have changed a lot over, and in some ways i missed the window with it. while it could potentially be a good way to monetize, it just doesn't work for me right now.
4. remember the why-why am i blogging? why am i going to this event or that event? why did i accept that sponsored post or collaboration opportunity? it's been really helpful for me to think about the why before saying yes to something.
5. let it go-i like to blog 5 times a week, but there have been several days this year where i had to just let that idea go. it's not worth staying up half the night to make sure that post gets done. it's been hard, but i've had to realize that it's ok.
let's hear some of your year in review. make sure to come back and join us next week for another review.

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on this day of thanks

i love thanksgiving. i love the chance to stop everything and think about gratitude. life is crazy and busy and sad and happy and a little bit all over the place. i am thankful today for so many things.

i am thankful for my immediate and extended family and the opportunity to spend a few days with them.

i am thankful for my friends near and far.

i am thankful for a job that i love.

i am thankful for my beliefs.

i am thankful for a healthy, strong body.

i am thankful for this space and the opportunities it gives me.

i am truly thankful for my life. it is completely different than anything i ever expected, but it is wonderful. i really do love my life.

i'm linking up with kara. add your links below.