I had the opportunity at the end of April to attend Women's Conference in Provo, Utah.
The added bonus was that I got to stay with Heather and in her beautiful house! (which will soon have a small flock of smiling sheep!)
Jen Pond and I flew out on the same flight which was a nice way to kick off the week...
(she also stayed with Heather...)
I got the royal treatment! Look what Heather had waiting for me when I arrived! I should have taken a picture of the fabulous tub I got to take a bath in each night! Talk about luxury!
The next day, I got the grand tour around town. And lucky for me, I finally got to see what all of the hoopla was about with a Cafe Rio salad. Definitely worth the wait! It was delicious!--
--As was the seafood dinner that Heather treated me to at Market Street Grill later that evening.
--As was the seafood dinner that Heather treated me to at Market Street Grill later that evening.
I look a little glazed over. I think it's from the lack of humidity. My body isn't used to comfortable weather.
It was so nice to be together again. This past year, since she has moved to Utah, has been difficult on us both...
The next day was the first day of the conference. Although our seats weren't the best for the opening session, it was still pretty awesome to be a part of such an event...
After the opening session, we were able to attend other classes on various subjects...
photo by Jill Stuart
Jen's daughter, Megan, goes to school at BYU so she was able to attend th conference with us.
Look how close we got to sit to Julie Beck?!
I think I got my pictures out of order but oh well...
photo by Jill Stuart
While browsing around in the bookstore, I was utterly blown away when I heard someone say, "Shannon Monson!"....I looked up and low and behold, it was Jill, my blogger/pen pal/friend who I've never actually met in person but feel like I've always known. I even have dreams that she comes to PA for a visit and we do all sorts of fun stuff together. I feel like I've played the scenario when we will finally meet over and over in my mind. I'm such a dork...
Here's the perfect picture of me spazzing out with glee...
Silly me thought that wearing my high boots would be a good idea. The weather was suppose to be chilly and I thought boots would be a good choice since they were comfortable to walk in. Little did I know that that day would end up sweltering It felt like I lost 10 pounds off of my knees! (Note: the next day it SNOWED!--what the?!)
I wanted to fold them over, but the size information and brand name was printed on the inner flap. Fortunately, Kristi Cutler, (another cute blog friend and thrift store foody like myself) came up with the genius idea of blackening it out with a sharpee.
Thanks to Kristi, my knees were singing praises to her name for the rest of the day!
We met up with Susan's gang (Michelle, her daughter and Denise her sister as well as Denise's daughters) and decided on a place to go to dinner...
Heather and I rode with Jill and Kristi. On our way to the car, we stopped to take a few pictures...
Jill suggested we take a jumping picture, so here we are getting ready to spring into action...
here it comes...
Bingo! (notice the black circle over my lower section?--that's because my dress flew up and my whole underwear situation was exposed to the world) We had some pretty serious laughs over the whole thing. What's even funnier is that we must have jumped about 5 times just hoping for the perfect shot and there was traffic behind us the entire time. Good times.
Jen's daughter, Megan, goes to school at BYU so she was able to attend th conference with us.
Look how close we got to sit to Julie Beck?!
I think I got my pictures out of order but oh well...
photo by Jill Stuart
While browsing around in the bookstore, I was utterly blown away when I heard someone say, "Shannon Monson!"....I looked up and low and behold, it was Jill, my blogger/pen pal/friend who I've never actually met in person but feel like I've always known. I even have dreams that she comes to PA for a visit and we do all sorts of fun stuff together. I feel like I've played the scenario when we will finally meet over and over in my mind. I'm such a dork...
Here's the perfect picture of me spazzing out with glee...
the long awaited photo of the two of us...
I should make that my blog header, right?Silly me thought that wearing my high boots would be a good idea. The weather was suppose to be chilly and I thought boots would be a good choice since they were comfortable to walk in. Little did I know that that day would end up sweltering It felt like I lost 10 pounds off of my knees! (Note: the next day it SNOWED!--what the?!)
I wanted to fold them over, but the size information and brand name was printed on the inner flap. Fortunately, Kristi Cutler, (another cute blog friend and thrift store foody like myself) came up with the genius idea of blackening it out with a sharpee.
Thanks to Kristi, my knees were singing praises to her name for the rest of the day!
We met up with Susan's gang (Michelle, her daughter and Denise her sister as well as Denise's daughters) and decided on a place to go to dinner...
Heather and I rode with Jill and Kristi. On our way to the car, we stopped to take a few pictures...
Jill suggested we take a jumping picture, so here we are getting ready to spring into action...
here it comes...
Bingo! (notice the black circle over my lower section?--that's because my dress flew up and my whole underwear situation was exposed to the world) We had some pretty serious laughs over the whole thing. What's even funnier is that we must have jumped about 5 times just hoping for the perfect shot and there was traffic behind us the entire time. Good times.
We all met for dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen...
Kristi and I really hit it off...
Kristi, "You mean to tell me that you haven't buried your cat or your pet chicken yet? Are they seriously still in your freezer?"
photo by Jill Stuart
Our dinner and conversation was very enjoyable. I could hang out with this group all the time!
Our dinner and conversation was very enjoyable. I could hang out with this group all the time!
After dinner, we went to Down East Basics to do a little clothes shopping and ended up bumping into Wende, Patsy and Kristy. (other blogger friends who I've been dying to meet as well!)
It was such a thrill for me to be able to put voices to their faces...
The next day was filled with more classes. I got to go to the class that Stephanie Nielson (nienie dialogues) was speaking at. That was a highlight for me as she is someone who I admire greatly...
I met up with Jill, Kristi, Susan and Michelle at the Marriott Center for the closing talks...
It was such a thrill to put voices to the faces and personalities that I've come to know and love.
There's cute, mucho talented Michelle peeking out from behind Susan...I seriously feel like I should have gotten her autograph!
On our way home, we experienced a little car trouble and ended up having to have to page the roadside service to come bail us out...
This ended up being a hilarious moment as we found ourselves describing to the hoaky woman on the pager (who at one point actually said "Jimminy Cricket") where we were located. It's a bit of an inside joke as to why we all got so giggly about finding ourselves in the Del Taco parking lot. (We're not in Kansas anymore, folks!)
After about 45 minutes of waiting to have her car traded out, we were punchy but still hanging in there. We ended up going to a mexican restaurant right next to Del Taco and although the outside was divey, the food was fantastic!
It was a great week... one that I will always remember with fond memories...
I left feeling very bouied up and ready to face life's challenges with a new found enthusiasm.
What more can you ask for?
I had so much fun meeting you at WC! I love reading through my notes and looking through everyone's recap posts. And meeting so many wonderful women was a sure highlight for me.
ReplyDeletePS I admit to blog stalking since last month and may now have the guts to comment once in a while.
It was very fun running into you like that! I'm so glad we got to meet in real life...does this mean Brian will stop teasing you about your "fake friends"? I hope so.
ReplyDeleteIt was so fun to finally meet you!! Next year for sure we need to plan to hang out more.
ReplyDelete...how could it have been that long ago? Man, I wish I could go back in time...I could use that boost again! It was a super fun few days and all of my family was thrilled to get to meet you. You're quite the entertainer, to be sure!
ReplyDeleteDisciple...entertainer...friend. Pretty dang good combo!