My first GIF! What did I win?

Donning my Smart Media Token t-shirt with my lucky seatbelt bag on my shoulder, I walked into Davanni's (a pizza restaurant) with @relativityboy for the Minnesota meet-up. Finally, I would meet the local Steemians I'd connected with online, in real life.

As I scanned the room looking for faces I might recognize from Steemit pictures @timcliff greeted us warmly and offered me a ticket for the prize drawing.

@intelliguy felt inspired by the universe to send a mystery gift to our meet-up, although he wouldn't be attending. Everyone was intensely curious to discover what was inside the sparkly green gift bag.

After enjoying conversation for awhile we heard the announcement: It was time for the prize drawing! I'd been manifesting abundance and focusing on personal growth. If the prize would bring opportunities for progress toward my goals, I believed it would come to me. A young child was chosen to pick a ticket from the collection. When the number called out matched the ticket in my hand, I felt a mixture of surprise and affirmation. Countless times experiences have revealed how powerfully we can connect to the universe and create our own reality. Yet evidence of my own power continues to astound me. I'm practicing stepping into it... Speaking of stepping... The night of the meet-up I stepped up to accept the prize and felt the magic as I peeked inside.

A tablet! I'd been thinking how nice it would be to have a lightweight device, larger than my phone and much easier to carry than my laptop, to work away from home on. A tablet isn't in my budget as I'm chipping away at an overwhelming amount of debt. Viola! It has been provided. Now I can steem and accomplish other online tasks conveniently. Improving my daily technology experiences will go a long way in relieving stressors that shut me down when I run out of mental bandwidth. Yes, like Steemit, my brain has a finite amount of bandwidth. Each little boost goes a long way as I'm working on important changes in my life.

Lenova 4 tablet, the perfect size: 8"

Enough about me! Three more Steemians won prizes: 2GB USB Steemit branded memory cards donated by @relativityboy. Check out their blogs and find out why they're awesome :)

@wolfcat

@jrb450

@blervin

What a night! There were so many folks I didn't talk to because the time flew by and I'm easily distracted. I'm already looking forward to another gathering where I can get to know local Steemians. @ddrfr33k plans to host a meet-up this summer and perhaps I'll organize an event in Minneapolis, too. The people I did have conversations with were friendly and interesting. I'd love to continue conversations and learn more about what makes them amazing humans. Those I did have the pleasure of talking with, it was great to meet you! @lovejoy, @wolfcat, @jayna, @timcliff, @jrb450, @tarotbyfergus, @raizel, @ddrfr33k (apologies to people I'm not remembering to tag).

One more shout-out to thank our generous host and prize contributors: @timcliff, @intelliguy, and @relativityboy

View more posts about the Minnesota meet-up:

by @intelliguy

"Time to talk about the universe. The intricate ways of how special people are always rewarded."

by @timcliff

"Minneapolis / St. Paul Steem Meetup - Videos and pictures of the event"

by @jrb450

"Minnesota Steemians are the BEST!"

by @blervin

"Minneapolis / St. Paul Steem Meetup - An amazing weekend of fun and friends"

by @preparedwombat

"Twin Cities Meetup"

by @ddrfr33k

"Fun at D&B!"

If you wrote about the meet-up, you're welcome to share a link to your article in the comments! I'll edit this post to add yours within the 7 day window, if possible.