Laughter can really heal your soul. I have never been a laugh out loud kind of gal. Yet I have been married to a big laughter guy for the past 22 years. My hubby laughs at everything it seems. We watch a TV show, he is cracking up. A new movie, he laughs his way through the whole thing. I might chuckle occasionally but I am not a big laugher. I am definitely more of a worrier, so maybe that has kept me from laughing too much, until now.Last month I did something I have never done before in my life. I attended my first conference, alone, in New York. This conference, called Blogger Bash, is held once a year and brings together bloggers from all over the world. Attending this conference was a big deal for me for many reasons. I had never been on a trip by myself. We have five children, two with a serious auto-immune illness, and three other kids with lots of activities and needs. I had never left my family because I did not think I could. I also never had a real reason or desire to go somewhere by myself. If I am being completely truthful, I did not think my family would be able to do all the things that I do on a daily basis without me, and that our household would fall apart without me there.I was completely wrong about everything. I needed to go away by myself. I needed to meet amazing Moms who would teach me how to laugh out loud. This trip was extremely healing to my soul. My adventure began with a train ride to NY. I posted in the Blogger Bash Facebook group to see if anyone would be on the same train that I had booked. I was lucky enough to find a best friend in Misty. Misty lives ten minutes away from me and was the best travel buddy I could imagine. We helped each other with our many bags, we held each other up, and we laughed. We laughed most of the ride home. We also learned from each other. My first day in New York was uneventful. I had a good night’s sleep in an incredible hotel bed, with no one waking me up. I got ready for my first day, not knowing what to expect. I got ready quickly and went to the lobby. I stood there tentatively, about to pull up the Uber app on my phone. Before I could begin the process, someone shouted out, “Hey, is anyone else headed to Pier 60 for Blogger Bash?” Three awesome ladies joined me on what ended up being some of the best days of my life. We bonded in the Uber on our way to the Bash, sharing stories of our kids, where we were from, what our social media names were – all the important stuff. These ladies gave me my life back, without even knowing it.

Later that afternoon we were invited to attend a showing of The Blue Man Group. The three of us who had met at the hotel that morning had tickets together in the third row. Our tickets had the word PONCHO on them. We tentatively approached our seats and put our plastic ponchos on, and I laughed. I laughed out loud for a solid hour. We enjoyed an incredible show as we sat scared that we would be doused in some unknown liquid that smelled of banana baby food. We held each other tightly and we had the best time. I have honestly not laughed this hard in my entire life. It was so much fun and so freeing. I had no one to worry about, no meals to plan, fights to break up, or medicines to dispense. I was Me, sitting at an off Broadway show with two new best friends, having the time of my life. When the show ended and some of us were drenched in disgusting unknown liquids, it was not quite as funny, but I still could remember the laughter. Thank you Tara and Tabatha for helping me find my laughter.

While I was away I was able to spy on my family. We have a new home monitoring system called Piper. Piper allowed me to watch what was going on in my kitchen whenever I opened the app on my phone. I was really too busy to watch very often but I did let myself login twice. The first time I tuned in, I could see my oldest and youngest children standing at the stove, both making pancakes together. My daughter had her arm around her big brother and he was explaining to her the techniques for making the best pancakes. They were laughing and joking around as the youngest threw a few chocolate chips in her brother’s mouth as they worked. Seeing them calmly cooking together to feed the family breakfast filled my heart. Did I expect to tune in and see them all wrestling? Maybe. Everyone in my family stepped up, worked together, and got things done. They each cooked, cleaned, did dishes and had a great time without me. It made me feel so happy to see what they accomplished. When I came home, bearing gifts, and wearing a huge smile on my face, I knew that this trip strengthened everyone in my family in different ways.

Blogger Bash was almost exactly a month ago and since returning home, I have tried to keep laughing. There are plenty of funny things that happen in my life daily; and when I see those events I am trying to embrace them, and sometimes that includes laughing out loud. My memories from my first trip away from home are still clear in my mind. I even booked another conference to attend in 2016! Today I want to remind you that laughter can fill your soul, you just need to find it. I hope you can find a way to laugh out loud today, tomorrow, and everyday.