Girls Weekend

Hooray for Girls Weekends!
Hooray for an awesome mom and amazing sisters (& friends!)
Hooray for Time Out for Women!

This past weekend I left my amazing and wonderful husband home with the kiddos and took off for a weekend in Vegas, baby! But no slots or gambling for this little mommy- nope just some much needed time off from my "mommy duties". My mom, sisters, some friends, and I went to Time Out For Women which is a weekend full of wonderful, uplifting goodness. (Thank you Deseret Book for having these weekends!) The presenters were so great and I came away with a renewed desire to be better. (Of course, that feeling ended almost as soon as I walked in the door Sunday and had to wrangle everyone to get ready for church). Oh well, such is the life of a mother I suppose.

It was fun while it lasted though. I loved having the opportunity to spend time with my mom and sisters (minus Danette, which was very sad and we missed her a lot.) She had just come a few weeks ago and the timing of everything just didn't work out this year, but hopefully she can join us next year. :) My mom was able to get a fantastic deal on a room at the Stratosphere. When we got to the room, my mom remembered that she had forgotten the air mattress for Sharise to sleep on. Not to worry, we came up with a better solution! :) It's rough to be the baby of the family sometimes. We didn't actually make her sleep up there, although I think it would have been fun. I ended up sleeping at the bottom of the bed with my mom and Britt- thank goodness they are short ;)

Some highlights and things that inspired me...
Ardeth Kapp- The scriptures are like "letters from home".
John Bytheway- "I think I will be delightful today..." I need to make this my motto every day.
He also talked about putting on the Armor of God and said, "Armor is not meant to be comfortable. It's there to protect you and save your life."
Linda Eyre & Shawni Eyre Pothier- Be Your Own Best Kind of Mom and Cherish the Moment
Brad Wilcox-God is worried more about the "mountain climber" than the actual "climb to the top of the mountain". Jesus doesn't make up the difference, He makes ALL the difference.
Jill Manning- It's a scary world out there and pornography is a REAL problem. We need to talk to our kids about it and help them to arm themselves in this battle because it's not going to go away without a fight.
Kris Belcher- Oh my goodness- Kris is one of the funniest people I have ever had the pleasure of listening to and also one of the most inspiring.
Christ is a God of L-I-G-H-T: Love, Intelligence, Grace, Hope, and Trust
Mercy River- What can I say, completely amazing. Music has always been a very important part of my life. It uplifts my spirit and strengthens my testimony. I would love to be in these ladies shoes and be able to share my testimony with hundreds of women through song.

*I just have to leave a special thank you note for Mark.*
I am so thankful to have an amazing husband who understands that sometimes Mom needs to go away for a while to be my best kind of mom. I know it's not easy to step into Mom's shoes (especially when Emma spends the entire time saying things like "Well, Mom says... or Mom does this...) Thank you honey for giving me this time to take a breath and "fill my cup."
I love you!