Just a few short months ago, my husband had to skip out early on our Thanksgiving evening up on Fayetteville to head back to prison.

He stayed as late as he could, gave big hugs goodbye and made the 4+ hour trek back down to White Hall. He'd been up for entirely too long. You know no one sleeps when you're overnighting out of town. He also had to be up and in prison by 5:30 a.m. So what does any responsible loving husband do? He set an alarm and got up at midnight to purchase a Black Friday gift for me online. Talk about crazy love. What did he buy and surprise me with on Christmas morning?

Allume conference tickets! Black Friday, Allume opened ticket sales on the 2013 October conference. They only had 10 tickets available at the incredibly low price of $204.97.

In 5 very short months from Today, I, Julie Rothacher, will be attending the ALLUME CONFERENCE!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!

What the smack is Allume?

"Our goal at Allume is to minister to the woman, the blogger, the story teller. We want to love well, encourage, and spur women on to shine the Light that lives within them. We want to serve you in ways that cultivate the Light of Christ in you, help you expand your influence, use your influence well (in your home, your community, or around the world) and encourage you with stories of those who are living out that Light."

Learn more HERE.

Why am I telling you about this?

I'm pumped and I love sharing things with this lil community!
I am pumped and looking for other ladies who are going.
- We can meet one another in real life.
- We could possibly travel and/or room together!
I know many of you might be interested in being a personal sponsor!

What's the awesome adventure gonna cost?

Conference Pass – $269 {all meals included AND Matt scored the cheapest price so knock off ~$55!}
Flight - $460 {cheapest I've found thus far but am still searching}
Hotel Stay - $445.50 {1 room for 3 nights- and still hoping to get 1-3 roommates to help lower our individual cost}

That's about $1100 for the entire trip, without any more awesome discounts I find.

What options are there for you as a sponsor?

Starter Package :: $50

Social Media Exposure- I will mention you at least 5 times on twitter and/or Facebook—before, during, and after the conference, using the #allume hashtag for greatest impact.
Ad Space- 125×125 ad {seen below} for 3 months.

Up the Annie Package :: $100

Sponsorship Page- Your logo or ad and/or a text link on my conference sponsorship page until the end of 2013.
Social Media Exposure- I will mention you at least 5 times on twitter and/or Facebook—before, during, and after the conference, using the #allume hashtag for greatest impact.
Ad Space- 125×125 ad {seen below} for 6 months.

Everything-You-Could-Ask-For Package :: $200

One blog post (including a giveaway of a product of your choice) on asjulesisgoing.com, specifically focusing on your company/product/blog.
Promotion of your company/product during the conference. (This can include wearing, carrying, or using a product that you provide, and posting a live photo on instagram and twitter.)
Sponsorship Page- Your logo or ad and/or a text link on my conference sponsorship page until the end of 2013.
Social Media Exposure- I will mention you at least 5 times on twitter and/or Facebook—before, during, and after the conference, using the #allume hashtag for greatest impact. Plus 3 other mentions of your choice in 2013.
Ad Space- 300×100 ad {seen below} for 3 months

I-want-All-of-ALLUME-to-know-who-I-am Package :: $500

Two-post- This will be a 2 post series (including a giveaway of a product of your choice) on my blog, asjulesisgoing.com, specifically focusing on your company/product/blog.
Text links- I will add a direct link to your company/product/blog at the bottom of every post I write about Allume (minimum of 2), giving you permanent added exposure on my blog/RSS feed/email subscriptions long after your ad space expires.
Promotion of your company/product during the conference- This can include wearing, carrying, or using a product that you provide, and posting a live photo on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.
Sponsorship Page- Your logo or ad and/or a text link on my conference sponsorship page until the end of 2013.
Social Media Exposure- I will mention you at least 5 times on twitter and/or Facebook—before, during, and after the conference, using the #allume hashtag for greatest impact. Plus 10 other mentions of your choice in 2013.
Ad Space- 300×300 ad {seen below} for 6 months.

If you would really like to be a part but don’t see a package that fits, just let me know; we can come up with something unique!

Keep in mind, Allume has a set of guidelines for personal sponsorship I will be adhering to during the conference and of course, all sponsorship offers will need to be approved. The companies, products, and blogs that I represent will be family friendly and relevant, fitting in with the purpose of this blog.

You can view more stats in the recently updated as Jules is going Media Kit {printable}.
Specks on Allume:

450 conference passes {attendees} to Allume
Facebook- 2709+ likes
Twitter 2909+ followers
24 well-known speakers/bloggers/authors
3 days of crazy fun, encouraging, networking, community building, learning, growing

If you are a reader who is excited with me about this awesome opportunity, shout it out! If you are a fellow blogger/writer interested in going to Allume and are looking for a buddy, let me know! If you are interested in becoming a personal sponsor for Allume, creating a presence for yourself at the conference, I’d love to chat with you! You can email me at Jules {at} as Jules is going {dot} com!

The other day I had sliced open a cantaloupe for my daughters' snack. After the melon was empty I was reminded of some kind of cute snack I'd seen on Pinterest or some other place that clever people post creative ideas. A melon filled with jello.

Cool. Maybe I had jello! nope. I had no jello. I did however have cheap popsicle...yep. I tried it.

I cut open about 10 unfrozen popsicle, I chose orange...because no one likes that flavor in our house. I pored them into 1/2 of the empty melon. I covered it in plastic wrap and set it in a flat-bottomed bowl and placed it in the deep freeze.

And here are pics of my kids eating it.

Or at least trying to. It was kinda a flop. It tasted okay and was kind of like a slushy. But then I tried to slice up the cantaloupe it was wicked hard & I had to call on the strength of the hubs.

I was envisioning the kids eating it like watermelon or something but it was more like a slushy mess on a plate that required a spoon.