Making Feminine History

I was able to attend the first ever Women's Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that included girls 8 years old and over with all 3 of my girls and my Mom, too. I was slightly less nervous driving in Downtown Salt Lake than I was to ride the train because I had been there before. Little did I know they would direct me away from the only place I knew where to park! Having Becca with us, we got to park across the street from the Conference Center, so everything turned out just peachy.

Things got a little confusing for me when they took Becca around the metal detector and wouldn't let me be right next to her for a few minutes. She can't talk and not touching her wheelchair in a public place makes me anxious. She is the anchor. I'm always telling the kids to hold on to the wheelchair when we're in crowded places. I didn't like letting go! After they were done touching all 3 things in my purse, we were reunited and all was well. 

Our tickets were for the balcony, but there are only stairs to access up there, so we were seated on the terrace level, which is the middle level. Emily felt dizzy even at that height. I talked her through it with words that help me in the same situation. "You're sitting in a seat and there's floor under your feet." That room is SO big! It really does make your head spin.

Becca did really great during the Conference. She loved the music. We played little hand games when she started hitting her chair and I felt like it was making too much noise. She really was quite joyful throughout the whole thing. When I left to escort the girls to the restroom, my Mom said that she was laughing right out loud. It made me wonder which angels had stopped by for a wave and a giggle.

The talks were incredibly uplifting. They showed videos that included women from all over the world of different ages. The Spirit was SO strong! My testimony is such that I really don't understand those who want to change or undermine the teachings that are as true now as they were when Christ walked the earth. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who inspires our leaders to give such wonderful speeches that lift and edify me. I can't wait for General Conference next week! What a blessed era we live in to have access to the best things our Heavenly Father has to offer us so quickly. He really does love us and wants us back SO much! 

I loved being there with my girls and the woman who was there for me when I was just a girl. I love my Mom and it was wonderful to spend some spiritual time with her. We had some really great discussions and teaching moments with my girls. An evening filled with love and light to be sure. 

I'm Spoiled So Rotten, You Can Probably Smell Me From There!

 This is the post in which I attempt to describe my wonderful weekend so I can remember it forever. A week from tomorrow is my birthday this year. It's not a nice, round number birthday. It's just another birthday. But Geoff decided to make it really special. He combined an overnight stay that we won at a Conference with a bunch of creativity and romance and made a truly great getaway.

Somewhere during the planning stages, he asked me if I would ride the train into Salt Lake to meet him. Logistically, this made a lot of sense. We could leave our wheelchair toting van with his Aunt, who would have our kids overnight and he wouldn't have to come back and forth (half an hour each way) in his car. Emotionally, this freaked me out! I get nervous driving places I've never been and somehow, rather illogically, this translated into me being scared of a train that moves on the same track back and forth. He told me a few nights early, which helped because I could get a lot of my nervous energy out beforehand... I cut out a dress and watched Chuck. :) 

Geoff forgot to take the suitcase with him in the car, so I took it with me on the train. It wasn't really in the way since I was going into Salt Lake at 3:00 in the afternoon, so it wasn't crowded. I did get asked if I was going to the airport like some sort of world traveler. ;) The train was quiet and interesting and I spent an hour looking out the window and people watching. It was really fun to see Geoff on the platform when I got there. A - it meant I had made it to the right place and B - it was an unusual place to see him from afar and he just looked so darn great! 

I was looking forward to seeing where he's been working for the past few weeks, but it was already 4:00 on a Friday and his coworkers had pretty much split, so we didn't stop by to say hi. Instead, he took me A.A. Callisters. The same one I bought myself my very first cowboy boots and jeans in high school. He bought me a pair of jeans (with just a smidge of bling) and a turquoise color woven belt. Spoiled! 

The overnight stay we won was for the Grand America. Have you been there? Wowza! Opulent. Fancy. Hoity Toity. We were on the 14th floor, facing the mountain towards home. It was gorgeous!

I love this chair and the guy sitting in it!

This room had 2 entryways before you even got to the room!

This is what I did right after we got there.

Our house is on the other side of that mountain on the left.

We dressed up for dinner and I wore the dress I had finished sewing earlier that same day. We ate at The Roof! Also very hoity toity. I felt so elegant eating my choices from the gourmet buffet. We ate beef medallions, stuffed pork chops, honey baked ham and various salads, cheeses and delectable side dishes. After perusing all of the desserts, I came back around to the cherry cheesecake. I can be talked into a lot of favors using cheesecake, for future reference! ;)

View from the windows outside of the restaurant.

Beautiful sunset while eating.

We danced around our room to the Sinatra-esque stylings of Michael Bublé and just thoroughly enjoyed each other and doing whatever we wanted and watching whatever we wanted. He even let me sleep WAY in! 

We ate breakfast at a little cafe that had yummy muffins and to-die-for caramel hot chocolate. Turns out, we were right next door to our next activity, which turned out to be watching the Hobbit 2. Lots of action, Benedict Cumberbatch's smooth tones coming out of a dragon and a great middle movie that continued the story without really finishing anything up. Love me some Legolas! It was fun to meet Tauriel, too. I'll have to mull it over and then see it again before I really process the whole thing, if you know what I mean! I love the books, so whatever they do in the movie is fine by me. If I don't like it, I'll go immerse myself in the books again. Why complain? ;) 

I am one spoiled girl to have a man that loves me so much. We've been through a lot over the years and it's really great to take a few moments to remember what a great team we are.