I am a blogger. And I am a grandma. The role of blogger and the role of grandma are huge parts of who I am — though not all of who I am, by any means.

As a blogger, I can never have too many tips that help me succeed; as a grandma I can never have too many pictures of my grandsons that help me smile. Today I thought I'd meld the two: combine highlights of my recent Bloggy Boot Camp experience with highlighted photos I recently took of my grandsons.

Consider this a BBC-Dallas wrap up like no other — the ultimate cute kids and conference quotes wrap up mashup.

Bloggy Boot Camp: Brand Edition, which I attended free thanks to winning the conference prize package from The SITS Girls, was two days jam-packed with technical and inspirational information from successful women and men who've been there, done that in the digital world.

The technical stuff would require, well, attending a conference to get the full benefit. The inspirational stuff is a little easier to digest out of context, so that's what I share in this wrap up (with a wee bit o' tech thrown in just for you). Some are direct quotes, some are just nuggets of truth, all are surrounded by a few fave photos of Bubby and Mac taken during my visit to their world last month.

boys and iPad

I like to check my baggage when I travel. I know a lot of people prefer to carry on their items, but I prefer to check. Reason being that when I travel, I take my laptop (it's not an iPad or notebook by any means) as well as my DSLR camera. Once my camera is in a bigger bag with my purse, that bag and my laptop constitute my two carry-on items, while clothes and more are checked.

That said, I didn't check my baggage for my recent trip to Dallas for Bloggy Boot Camp, a fully paid trip I won from The SITS Girls. It was a quick trip with little chance I'd be leaving the hotel (which I didn't) so I left my camera at home, packed my laptop in my suitcase and lugged it all upon the plane.

Having no DSLR along for the trip meant I had to use my iPhone for any photos. An iPhone 4S, so it's not all that great, but it works in a pinch for most things.

I'm not so sure it worked all that well for selfies. Or maybe it's the camera operator. I tried, I really did. And the following provides proof.