Tastefully Simple Conference Last Day

Today is our last day in Minneapolis. Half a day of conference and then we will head for Nebraska.

It started with breakfast consisting of new products from our fall/winter line. Yummy! Pancakes, syrup, scrambled eggs, fruit, coffee, tea and juice.

I had to get a picture of all the tables ready for our dining pleasure after we walked through the doors. Not many people were here yet so it looked so neat to see everything all tidy.

Then we headed back to Hall B to finish out our morning. Once we walked in we noticed that the tables had been labeled for particular seating. It was set up according to region. I happen to be in the Southwest Region being from Nebraska. So all the consultants from my region were in the front, just to the left of the stage area. Everyone followed suit depending on where they lived. It was neat to see how many were present from all the different areas.

Announcements and a few other unveiling's were made and then Jill came out for our farewell. I love her....did I mention that? She's so down to earth and very humble.

We heard from consultants and their testimonials as to how this company has changed their lives. It has helped them either give back to their community, put their children through college, build homes, buy cars, pay it forward to others in need, or simply enjoy the products of Tastefully Simple.

We were done by 11:45 in the morning. Teri and I left the conference center, stopped to buy gas for our long drive home and then headed to the Mall of America! We needed lunch but also wanted to get to a few stores before we left for home.

All in all a great experience for me. It was my first time attending the conference and I'm going to plan on getting to more for sure!

My view from the table today.

The huge crowd of people getting to their seats.

Here are a few random photos of Minneapolis as we drove to our last session of the weekend.

Tastefully Simple Conference Day 3

Today our conference is going to be our last "message giving" day of sessions. Later, we will be dressing up for the awards ceremony which will be in the evening with a big fancy meal. But for the rest of the day, it's business as usual.

We arrived at the convention center for our continental breakfast at 7:30AM. After that we headed to Hall B, where the general session would continue once again. We could hear the band Urban Myth and their mix of 70's, 80's, pop and country music selections, playing as we walked in the door.

Each day, 3 times throughout our general session, there were drawings for prizes. They refer to these drawings as "Hot Seat" drawings. We have to be in our seats on time in order to win if our name is drawn. Only the people in attendance for the convention are entered to win anything. The prizes were: Visa gift cards (some for $100 and $200), Barnes and Noble gift cards, fancy purses, certificates to use at the Merrill store, Kay jewelers gift cards, and the list goes on. Roughly 5-6 gifts were drawn for at each drawing. And guess what? I won a $50 certificate to our Merrill store! Figures, I had already shopped and spent money! But I knew of some other items that I had really liked and wanted to get but figured I'd wait to get them. Well not any more! I'm shopping today during lunch time!

Some announcements were made and then the new Team Managers names' were recognized. Hopefully, I'll be a Team Manager before the year is over! It's the next level up for me!

If you recall, yesterday the new products were revealed for our new catalog for the fall/winter. However, that was only half of the total new line. Today we found out the last of the individual items and all the gifts and collections. Wow! Book your party with me everyone! It's going to be a great line up of products! We were given a new catalog to keep and during today's disclosure of products, we even sampled some new items right at our table during the general session! Huge platters of goodies were delivered to each of our tables by a wait staff waiting in the wings. Keep in mind that there were over 1700 of us in attendance so they had lots of food to prepare just for our sampling pleasure!

Then it was on to other unveiling's. The new leadership incentive trips were revealed. Anyone can earn these trips simply by their sales, recruiting and leadership development; that means coaching anyone on my team to help them advance in their business and their own leadership. These trips are sometimes quite exotic! Jamaica, for example is one of the big trips that leaders can earn.

Next, the top 10 achievers in sales, recruiting and leader development were announced. I'm amazed at how some of these consultants can be as busy as they must be to achieve some of the levels they have reached!

Soon it was time for our lunch in which we were given a meal consisting of some of the new items in the fall/winter catalog. Again, at the risk of repeating myself, it was delicious as usual. I'm very excited to sample the rest of the new products at home! When we were waiting for the food to be delivered to our table, I used this time to get in one more shopping spree with my new certificate.

Once we were back in Hall B for the continuation of general session, the names of the new Senior Team Managers were announced. And there were many that had advanced in their leadership levels!

The next item on the agenda was to hear from an invited guest to our conference. She is an awesome speaker named Sue Rusch. A motivational speaker, she inspires participants to reach higher, delivering insights from two decades of working on both field and on corporate sides, equipping participants with actionable strategies. I have never heard such an invigorating speaker in my life. Her ability to captivate and yet train while she's speaking is unbelievable. She's funny, serious, experienced and just simply down to earth with her concepts. I loved her! As she said, sometimes people spend so much time getting ready for success that they run out of time to get the results they're looking for! You have to make your dreams real and make time for them too! And she makes it sound so easy. Unbelievable.....

Breakout sessions continued that afternoon until roughly 4:45. We then left the convention center to go to the hotel and get changed for our formal dinner and victory celebration awards ceremony.

Once back in Hall B, we saw that our tables had been converted into beautiful formal dining tables. There were cash bars set up throughout the hall and the lights were slightly dimmed to give it the proper ambiance like that of an actual fancy restaurant. Everyone was dressed up and ready for a great meal and camaraderie on this, our final night all together. Cameras were flashing and everyone was enjoying piano music by a young man playing a grand piano right in the center of the floor amongst our tables. The stage was set and ready for all the final awards for the higher leadership recipients.

I never heard what his name was but he had a voice similar to that of Sir Elton John. Very pleasant to listen to.

At each setting was a menu program that listed our meal for the evening as well as the agenda for the awards ceremony. Here is what we were served: Grape and Marcona salad, made with the following: Hearts of Romaine tossed with Baby Greens, Fresh Red Grapes, Celery, Marcona Almonds and Poppy seed Dressing. The dinner plate consisted of these items: fresh seasonal vegetables-Julienne zucchini, Pea pods, Red pepper and Carrots, Boneless Chicken Breast served with Cilantro Lime Cream Sauce, Filet Mignon with Portabella Balsamico Reduction, Sour Cream and Green Onion Mashed Potatoes, and assorted fresh rustic breads. This was all delicious beyond delicious! Our dessert was a layered lemon cake with raspberry sauce, fresh whipped cream (from a can I'm pretty sure!), and marble-white chocolate garnish. Wow....heaven on a plate!

Our dessert.....Mmmm....words cannot really describe how tasty this was!

The welcome was given by our own Jill Blashak-Strahan, founder and CEO. She had her husband, son, Mother and in-laws in attendance with her. She then introduced her partner and co-founder, Joni. Joni had family with her as well.

This year marks the 15TH birthday of Tastefully Simple. So extra measures were made to have an extra special celebration. After rolling out a huge birthday cake, fireworks on the cake and on the stage began going off. Yes...inside the hall! The room was echoing with cheering and applause once we were able to slow our heart rates down! I was able to get a picture of the cake after the celebration was over.

Then began the lengthy parade of each of the upper levels of leadership. They lined up and did what was called the "Walk of Fame." Each of them got to walk across the stage, had their name and home state announced and shook hands with Jill and other HQ employees. They definitely give people their time in the spot light. This all took quite a bit of time.

Jill and Joni on the big screen with the birthday cake on the floor, just sticking up over the crowd.

Here are the fireworks going off, Jill and Joni on stage. You can see the cake on the big screen above Jill and Joni.

The closeup on the screen of Jill and Joni celebrating.


My sponsor Teri and I at the hotel ready to go to the dinner.


Another shot of the stage area with the 3 big screens and all the special lighting. The band Urban Myth was again set up behind the screens in the center of the stage. We couldn't see them clearly as the screens were painted. The piano player is shown on the big screen in the center.

The final 5 awards were given out and then it was over for the night. We went out and waited for our shuttle van to pick us up and headed back to the hotel. Sunday morning was going to be our last day here.

Tastefully Simple Conference Day 2

Today we were starting our day with breakfast at the convention center, provided by Tastefully Simple. One of the larger halls was set up with a sea of tables and chairs to accommodate the "just over 1700 consultants" that came for this convention.
Around the perimeter of the eating area was a section set up for our shopping convenience. When I talk about shopping, I'm referring to shopping for items that have our TS logo on them. A company called Merrill Corporation provides a very vast selection of articles for us to choose from. Anything from clothing to kitchen wares to awards for your team in recognition for their achievements, to things we can use to market our business. You name it, they may just have it. There were tables everywhere! And by making our purchases there in person we were saving shipping charges that we'd pay if we ordered anything on their web site.
Along another wall were other vendors such as Propay, other TS tables that had some of our product on display and fun things like pictures of other conferences in other locations around the U.S.
Our breakfast consisted of baskets that each held fruit, egg and sausage biscuits, yogurt and coffee, juice or tea. We'd walk through various lines along many tables that were filled with the baskets of breakfast and then find a seat at one of the tables. Our general session (for all consultants all together) was starting at 8AM.

The breakfast crowd is gathering before general session begins.

At 8AM we were sitting at tables that had been arranged by color coding. Each consultant had been given a card with either green, blue, orange, red or yellow. We had to find a table with the color to match our card and thus we were networking with other consultants from across the U.S. It was also a great way for us to meet others.

When we walked into the hall I could hear music playing. A band called Urban Myth was set up and already stirring the crowd awake for the day.

Urban Myth

The band was present throughout the conference to play "filler" music. In between speakers and announcers, for the "walk of fame" achievers, (consultants that earned awards) and also for the beginning and end of each general session.

After the welcome on Friday morning, the A Cappella group, Tonic Sol-Fa performed. They have a song called "If I Can Dream." But I wasn't able to find a decent video of them singing that one. So I found another one that sounded very nice. The only instrument they have on stage with them is a tambourine. All the other sounds come from them! They are awesome! I was very impressed!

The CEO and founder of Tastefully Simple, Jill Blashak-Strahan, was next on the agenda. She is an awesome speaker with many inspiring messages. She gives a lot of advice based on her own experiences. She's witty, charming, genuine and has a heart of gold. You can tell just how much we as her consultants mean to her as individuals. Her wish is that we can all take our businesses and get anything we want from them. "Dream Big!" she said. That was our focus....the sky is the limit.

When she talks about the company or any individual alike, her emotions take over and it affects many others as they listen. She has a lot to be proud of. Tastefully Simple is debt free and there aren't many business owners that can brag about that.

And with our theme being to Dream Big, Jill made an introduction of our next entertainment. This singer was Jill's inspiration for "dreaming big". Lana Boner is from Texas and has a CD available which includes a song called......wait for it......"Dream Big." ! You guessed it!!! You can hear her songs if you click her name below the next photo.

Lana Boner- Her song "Dream Big" was the theme for our conference.


Jill during her speech.


There were several big screens scattered throughout the hall for a better view of the stage and all it's activities. Here is Jill with the closeup.

Tonic Sol-Fa in action.....all A Cappella.

Later during the morning, another well known speaker, Sarah Ban Breathnach (pronounced Bra-nick) was introduced. She has been on the Oprah Winfrey show a few times and writes (or has in the past....I can't remember what she said) for the Washington Post. An accomplished writer, she has some great advice for us on how to create our own happiness and be successful, no matter where you are or who is around you. I didn't get any photos of her unfortunately.

After she was done, we had some product unveiling's of the new products that will be available in our new catalog beginning September 1st. We were very excited to find out about the new items. We even sampled a few things during their intros.

Then it was time for lunch. We ate a meal consisting of some new products. From there we dispersed into our breakout sessions. After attending 2 sessions we were had a little time to kill before heading upstairs to a party hosted by my own team's Senior Team Mentor. There were 71 of us there. We had a small recognition ceremony with awards and then ate our evening meal consisting of items from a small taco bar that was prepared just for our group.

Then it was time to head back to the hotel. We were tired to say the least as it was almost 9PM. We'd been going strong since getting up for the day at 5:30AM. Tomorrow would be another long day. After our regular conference finishes for the day, we will have a Victory Celebration to attend which will include a scruptious dinner. Stay tuned for those details!

I couldn't help but notice this building as we drove through downtown Minny. Cool, huh?

Tastefully Simple Conference Day 1

As most of you know, I'm an independent consultant for Tastefully Simple. I sell America's favorite survival item....food. And just in case you're unsure of the product, here's my web site. www.tastefullysimple.com/web/smccloud

I try to improve my skills as a consultant by attending their conferences. These conferences include sessions to help us with recruiting, selling, and coaching our own team members. I currently have 5 under me. I'm officially a Team Leader. One more recruit and I'll be a Team Manager. (I believe there are 3 more levels over Team Manager.)

That being said, I attended the annually held National Conference in Minneapolis, MN. It was held July 22ND-25TH. My own sponsor Teri drove and we left early Thursday morning for Minneapolis. Some of the sessions were beginning that afternoon. Each consultant in attendance could attend the different sessions that they felt pertained to them or whichever ones would help them the most. The general sessions were scheduled for Friday morning and Saturday morning. The afternoons were reserved for what they referred to as the "breakout sessions." Other consultants from around the different regions that have been very successful with their own businesses had been selected to talk during these sessions.

Once we arrived at the Minneapolis Convention Center, we registered and were given our packets that included our name badges and achievement ribbons from the previous incentives. We also were given booklets that would tell us our daily schedule for the entire conference....all 3 1/2 days worth.

We went to a session right after arriving. It was later in the afternoon and there weren't many other sessions that day that we wanted to go to. So we left to find our hotel and get checked in. It was about a mile away but still downtown where the convention center is located.

We stayed at the Aloft Hotel. It was actually located just a block north of The Mall of America Field, aka, The Metrodome, home to the Minnesota Vikings. Neither one of us had heard of it before and it turned out to be a newer hotel with very modern and contemporary furnishings. They also had a free shuttle service back and forth to the convention center for us. It saved us from having to plug quarters into the parking meters all over town.


We already had previous plans to meet our Team Mentor, Tami, from Burnsville, MN. It's a suburb in the Twin Cities that I myself used to live. We were going to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe also located downtown. Teri and I drove to the area it was located and found a parking garage. Incidentally it was located directly across the street from Target Field, the Minnesota Twins baseball field. From there we walked for awhile to look at some of the various outdoor market items and wandered in and out of a few stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue. Eventually it was time to head for The Hard Rock and started making our way in that direction. I had forgotten just how beautiful Minneapolis is. Even though I lived in the Cities for roughly five years, I only headed downtown a few times. But man, the sky scrapers are shiny with all the windows and very unique with their individual shapes. The streets are clean and filled with bicycle riders along with all the cars and pedestrians roaming around the streets either window shopping or just hanging out alongside the buildings. One thing that hasn't changed that I remember vividly is the fact that most of the drivers are very rude! Sheesh! Lighten up people! I felt sorry for our shuttle driver on a few occasions!


After having a bite to eat and purchasing a Hard Rock Cafe souvenir, we went back to our hotel. It had been a long day and we were ready to relax and get some sleep.

One of the MANY decorations that we spotted in the convention center welcoming our huge group of over 1700 people!

Looking south from our hotel lobby, I spotted the Metrodome....home of the Minnesota Vikings. If you look closely, towards the lower left and just under the dome, you'll see the Minnesota Vikings sign.

This is the largest box of beer bread I've ever seen! If you look closely at the lanyard around my neck, you'll see the ribbons I was given for this year's incentives. These change with each year.

Here is Target Field....home of The Twins. You can barely see the Twins sign just under the large lighting structure.

Where we spent the majority of our time while in Minneapolis.

The welcome sign out in front of the Convention Center. I had to time my photo just right to catch this particular sign. It was scrolling through many events.

The Hard Rock Cafe....just across the street from.....(scroll down...)

First Avenue. The bar that home-towner Prince used to frequent. I've been inside before with my friend Mary many years ago!

We had a long day ahead of us on Friday. I was ready for sleep for sure!

Flower Power: The Summer Stages

Okay, remember this from May? Well, it's been a couple months and my flowers have really flourished. We've had alot of rain this year and they are looking beautiful. So I wanted to share some pictures with you.

Although the sky is overcast the temperature is humid and hot. But my flowers seem to love "hot with overcast skies". Especially the Moss Roses. They really open up on days like today. So I got the pictures of them after I got home from work. (Sorry for my appearance....work was very hot too!) Click each photo for a better look at the plants....

The one Gladiolus that came up. And up it went! It's as tall as I am!! The blooms are almost all open.

It would have been neat if all 8 Glad bulbs had grown and lined the garage wall.

This is a mixture of what I planted this year....and lots of volunteer Petunias and Moss Roses added to them.


Moss Roses

Back by the porch, there is a volunteer plant of Moss Roses....it's very large with white blossoms.

This isn't all my flowers. The Pansies on the deck are gorgeous also. And I have a pot of Marigolds on the opposite side of the driveway which has filled in nicely. Don't you just love flowers?

Anniversaire Live DVD Clip, "Tele-visions"

At work today while working in the bag room, I learned from the guy that was in there with me that he is in a band. He just recently got hired on with Southwest here in Omaha so we're still getting to know him. He told me that they are local here in Omaha. They have been making recordings for awhile now and have been together for about 3 years and their group is called "Anniversaire". He had me listen to a song on YouTube of one of their performances. I think they are pretty good! The drummer is my coworker, Ben.

Give a listen....

Aaron and Sam's Wedding

Aaron McCloud, the oldest of my ex-husband Ron, is a married man! Wow! He married Samantha Flowers, daughter of Chris and Terri Flowers from Council Bluffs, IA. They've been together since high school. Aaron is now 22 and will be 23 in the fall.

The 3PM wedding was held at First Christian Church, Orchard Campus, in Council Bluffs, IA. The building was built in 2005 but appeared as if it had just been opened a week ago. I arrived quite early as I wanted to take some pictures before the ceremony. Everyone was dressed beautifully!

I visited with Aaron's aunt and uncle, Diana and Darrold, from San Antonio, TX as well. Their son, Dylan, was an usher so he had to be there early for photos as well. And get this; Dylan's last name is Usher! Get it?

The bridesmaids wore party dresses in orange and shoes in navy blue. They carried clutch purses to match the shoes. The groomsmen wore pin striped tuxedos with navy blue ties and vests. The color choice was different but was chosen by Aaron. He is a huge fan of the Chicago Bears National Football team. Those are the colors they wore! It actually looked very pretty too!

During the simple but elegant ceremony, instead of lighting a unity candle, they each poured sand from two individual glass tubes into one beautiful glass vase. One color of orange and the other blue of course. The mixture became one vivid, pretty design from the two colors. Times have certainly changed from the days when I was involved in weddings. The music was played by someone in the rear of the church that played Cd's of music at a sound board. Aside from the bridal party walking in and the walk back out, the only other song was played while they combined the colored sand. No organists or pianists. No vocalists either. The pastor wore a suit and tie. No official church garb.

One tradition that they did follow was the taking of pictures of the wedding party. Aaron and Sam didn't see each other at all before the ceremony. Thanks to the two different levels in the church building, it was easy to keep them apart until the appropriate time. Photos were taken in different areas ahead of time. Once the ceremony was over then they took pictures together along with family portraits.

Aaron and his aunt and uncle, Diana and Darrold, and Dylan, his cousin.

The wedding party minus the little ring bearer and flower girl.

Samantha and Aaron

Aaron's younger half brother Cameron, his Mom Mindy, Sam and Aaron, Aaron's dad Ron, and Ryan, his younger brother.

Cameron, Ryan and Sean

After all the picture taking was finished, we walked outside to find a party bus waiting for the bridal party. It was the size of a small shuttle bus but had fancy lighting and coolers of cocktails inside for the occupants to enjoy!

Several of us joined the party bus full of people at a small local bar and grill, Glory Days. Sean, a groomsmen works here so that is how it was chosen as a stop. We had about 45 minutes before the reception was to start to sit and relax for awhile.

At Glory Days, a bar and grill in Council Bluffs. We stopped here for cocktails between the ceremony and reception.

After arriving at the Queen of Apostles Activity Center for the reception, I found Aaron sitting at the head table with numerous other wedding party people. I got a picture of him by himself....looking quite proud of himself!

The groom.

Aaron, Me and Ryan....my boys.

The happy couple....

We ate a meal of Mexican cuisine from Fernando's in Omaha. It was very good but I knew it would be as I've eaten at this restaurant myself. The cake was a pretty design but it was put together poorly. You'll know what I mean if you just look at the individual cakes closely. Just sayin'..... I'm not sure who made it but I'm thinking it was a friend or someone on a level below professional cake decorator! The upside? It was delicious even if it wasn't perfectly shaped.

There were glass shot glasses with the couples' names and wedding date imprinted on them for guests to take home. On the table as centerpieces were corked glass bottles with bird feed inside. Hidden amongst the feed were miniature items to search for by tipping the bottle to and fro. A list of the hidden items was taped to the outside of the bottle.

The dancing was fun and the DJ played all the newest hits and some classics as well. At eleven o'clock it was over and anyone that had stayed till the last possible minute headed home. Me included. The kids had so much fun on the dance floor even if they were just running around! It was so beautiful and I'm so glad I was able to be part of it. Congratulations Aaron and Sam....have a happy life together!

Celebrating 4TH of July

Another July 4TH has come and gone. That means one thing to me....summer is half over already! But I did take some time to celebrate. Saturday the 3RD, after working my normal shift, I went home and got cleaned up. My friends, Scott and Lisa, were having people over that night, as they do every year for the holiday celebration. The day before I had made a Key Lime Cheesecake as my contribution to the meal that we were having.

The 4TH is also Logan's (Scott and Lisa's son) birthday. Their other son Kaden celebrates his birthday on July 10Th. So I had gifts to distribute to the boys. With all my things in hand I made my way to their house. Last year at this time I was in Minneapolis for a family reunion. Remember this?
But this year was a little different. Typically Scott's family from MN would be here on this weekend. And we would all celebrate Logan's birthday before having the celebration of the holiday. Many people would be in attendance...roughly 40-50 I think. Instead, we totalled maybe 20-25. And there wasn't a big birthday party for Logan ahead of time. But because a few of us had brought him gifts, he was allowed to open them a day early. And Kaden opened his as well as the following weekend was filled with other activities for many of us. I wasn't sure myself if I would be able to go back to their house just for his birthday or not.
I arrived first (shocking!) and helped Scott prepare the Sloppy Joe's that he had started working on. Lisa was at an appointment when I got there. Once that was finished and other people were arriving, we settled out on the deck to visit and enjoy some cocktails.
Scott and Lisa have a small 3 foot depth above ground pool and all the little kids went swimming until it was time to eat. Then we moved out to the garage and onto the driveway to fill a plate with all the different food that other visitors had brought to go with the Sloppy Joe's. Then the older kids wanted to start doing their fireworks.
The smaller kids wanted to go the tiny park across the street. So I and a couple other adults walked them over and played for awhile.
The humidity level wasn't terrible but after sitting out in it for a bit a few of us went inside to cool off for awhile and visit. We could still hear all the noise of fireworks from around the neighborhood and if one would look around the sky at the different horizons, you could spot the bright lights from them through the trees and see all the smoke fill the night air.
When I finally decided to go home, it was hard to concentrate on the road ahead of me. I was wanting to watch the fireworks around me as I drove. They were everywhere. I knew that trying to sleep would be difficult from all the noise that was inevitably going to be heard near my own house. And sure enough. Inside my own house I could see them and hear them going off all around.
I'm pretty sure it was around midnight when I discovered the lack of popping and booming that I had been hearing for a couple hours. Thankfully I didn't have to get up early for work the next morning. And I knew that the next day would bring some of the same sounds once again as it was officially the 4TH of July.