Women's Conference

Going to BYU Women's Conference is sort of like going to Las Vegas.  What happens at Women's Conference STAYS at Women's Conference.  And that's about the last thing they have in common. Also, I wish I had taken more pictures.

This year our group was ten amazing women.

(maggie, marva, karen, kristin, maren, molly, diane, me and heather and leonda up front).

I drove up in Molly's van had fun getting to know Marva and Diane better.  Even better was having the stash of People magazines and Kristin had brought us jump ropes so we could exercise at all of the pit stops.  Only by the second bathroom break we had stopped jumping and were buying cookies instead. It was probably because we read the People magazine where people claimed Amanda Bynes had exhibited odd behavior by doing lunges in a nightclub bathroom.

When we left Chandler it was slated to be 100 degrees.  By the time we took our last pit stop in Nephi the temperature was 40 (and we were all in flip flops and coatless) with the wind whipping through.  I'm not sure we were ready for that, but I should have known.  Every time I come to Utah it snows. Molly and I were the 2 Cougar alums, so poor everyone else had to put up with our food choices.  We introduced them all to Guru's which did not disappoint.

We stayed in the dorms -- again.  Only this time we weren't surprised and we came prepared!  I had my own pillow, Karen had a towel. . . Maggie brought an entire bedding set. We also knew the trick to getting into David John Hall (jack and jill bathrooms instead of "floor" bathrooms). It was awesome unless you were Kristin and Marva who had to share with two total strangers who did not think we were adorable.

I lucked out and Karen wanted to be my roommate again.  I actually didn't even make her get me water or call Maggie to find out why my Ambien wasn't working this time. There were even GIFTS!

I would say BYU holds a special place in my heart, but we all know BYU holds THE place in my heart. I love that place. I woke up early to go running two mornings and enjoyed the quiet and beauty of campus. I don't think I appreciated it as much as I should have when I lived there.

The Thursday sessions were amazing.  Most of the ones I took were on parenting and I think they complemented each other perfectly. I also introduced some of the girls to mint brownies (with ten people I don't think we ever knew where everyone else was until dinner time, but our phones were buzzing constantly). For dinner we hit up Molly's favorite BBQ place and then off to MY favorite place (WHAT?  You can't guess where that is??). Only it might have been defiled while we were taking this picture.

Someone, we won't say who, because you know the rule (but it wasn't me!!) let off the loudest fart I think any of us had heard.  And then it got blamed on poor pregnant Maren.  I don't think we stopped laughing for a good 4 days.

Friday was a great day for me because I wasn't rushing from class to class.  I took the first session off to do some gift shopping. How can I resist a BYU picnic mat on clearance fro $30??? And all Sadie asked for was a BYU necklace -- so even though it was $20 and the chain is already all kinked up -- I still bought it.

BYU tie tack? Yes. Trailer hitch for my mother? Check. All Luke asked for was a cow -- oh yes, they have that too.

After Karen and I had a leisurely Costa Vida lunch outside and then settled into class about the youth in the Marriott Center.  I got great seats and kept inching down rows so we would have amazing seats (row 5 baby!) for President Eyring. Oh how I loved hearing from him, but even more was just the Spirit that he brought with him.  Leonda was so excited and she was just sure he was going to see her and come over to shake her hand.  I'm pretty sure he winked at her.

That night we came back after dinner and had the rockin'est dance party ever for a bunch of thirty (and late 20, early 40) somethings. We drooled over Justin Timberlake, learned that I'm not the only fiercely competitive one, harassed the RAs, and ate junk food all night.

Saturday was our fun day.  We hit the book store again and headed for Tai Pan Trading.  I someone how got the cashier that thought he was on Oprah's Favorite things because every time I turned around he was handing me another gift card or a free loaf pan.

Lunch at Kneaders where Maren worked her magic and got us 5 free desserts.  We ate every single one.  We also did some baby gift shopping, but only at places that validated for parking. All of us spent some time together at Temple Square (said good bye to the 4 heading home early) and then Diane, Kristin, Karen and I took a tour of the Conference Center. Our tour guide was hilarious. He was not a man of many words and he made us laugh. We LOVED him.  As one last final gift, Grant took a picture -- with his thumb in it. 

For some reason Blogger keeps flipping this around when I upload it. Probably because of the finger.

My favorite part of the Conference Center was the art display from Arnold Friberg. It's all the  paintings from the Gospel Art Kit.

The best part of the day was meeting gorgeous baby!!  We met up with our girlfriend, Michelle, at Settebello for dinner and fought over holding Brighton. She is so sweet and yummy.  There was literally a timer set for how long everyone held her.

That night we headed to Cedar City -- probably a little sleep deprived and punch drunk.  In our 3 hour drive we made 2 pit stops.  Both resulted in conversations completely made up giggles and shrieks.  Nothing like gift buying at the travel station "amazing little boutique where you can buy birthday presents that you can't in just any store" at 11 pm in Beaver, Utah.  When we finally got to our hotel room, Molly just about kissed Karen because she was so impressed with how awesome our suite was. My favorite part of the entire night (or possibly the entire trip) was when I convinced everyone that we should get in one bed and watch TV.  Best.friends.EVER!!

I am not allowed to post any pictures of all of us.  They weren't the most flattering shots.

Sunday we finished our drive where I was met with lots of hugs, we ate lots of sugar, opened presents and then promptly abandoned for my parents who had arrived in town the night before.