Time Out For Women

This past weekend was kind of a big deal.

I drove {by myself}... what I mean is, with no other adults.... and my two kids, from Farmington to Mesa. 

!!!!!!!!

Prior to this, I had never driven longer than 3 hours.

 I gave myself mental pep talks the entire week before.

We pulled out of the driveway at 4pm and got to Mesa at 9pm. With the 1 hr. time change, that means I made the trip in 6 hours!! (Picture me doing all kinds of ugly, victory dancing.) Quite literally, when we reached Payson and I knew I was on the home stretch, I was doing mental cartwheels. 

Turns out, I have a lot more of my father in me, than I knew. I'm generally a pretty nervous driver so I pictured myself to be the car that was always getting passed. 

Kind of the opposite happened. 

It was petal to the metal. 

Don't be alarmed! I never felt I was being reckless. Dolly just makes it a smooth ride. And being the driver is SO much more enjoyable than a passenger. It's nice to be in control. 

The boys did great. Waaaay better than in the past. I just kept a steady stream of movies and snacks on hand. 

At the very beginning, as we pulled out of the driveway, Collin did a little fist pump and said, "Woo! We're TRAVELING!!"

He's had a runny nose, so he also asked if he could have a baby wipe to blow his nose. (I'm bad at keeping Kleenex on hand, but I've always got baby wipes!) But this time, I announced that I actually had a real tissue he could use. Amazed, he excitedly exclaimed, "A REAL tissue?!!! Like one that walks and talks??!!!" Funny boy!! How does he think of this stuff?

Collin threatened to fall asleep 3 different times. I didn't want that to happen, because by 8pm I was hoping both kids could be out for the night. 

The first two attempts, candy kept him awake. On the the third, nothing was cutting it. I turned up the movie ALL THE WAY. Weston was probably concerned. I leaned back and grabbed his foot and started pulling, yelling, "Collin!!!! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" For sure at this point, Weston was leaning forward, checking out the strange scene. Then I grabbed handfuls of popcorn and just started chucking. Full on, kernels hitting his face.

Nothing. ARG!

After 15 min. of that we got to Gallup and pulled into Wendys. After a little stretcheroo, bathroom break and nuggets, the only other stop we had to take was in an empty lot in Holbrook to let Collin water the dirt. 

Only downside was that I didn't realize that I had to download the audio book that I had imported onto my phone. Bummer. Pandora to the rescue!

The next day was the reason for the trip. Time Out For Women!

I dropped the boys off at Paula and Wayne's, then picked up Shelley to start with a little shopping! 

We checked out a really fun furniture store in Scottsdale called the Potato Barn. 

This particular bench was not exactly our taste, but eccentric enough to qualify for a picture!

 My mom found a couple of cute pieces to buy, plus a rug. 
Yay, Sharon!

 Then it was off to Scottsdale mall for some more shopping and eating at the Grand Lux. Marcie and our friend/honorary sister, Alison met us there.

Best quote of the night:

The waitress came to get our orders right when my mom stepped away to take a call. By the time she got back, she was the only one left to order. She looked around and asked if any of us had gotten side salads to start. With a look of bewilderment, Shelley answered for us all with a slight snort of disgust and the almost too serious reply, "No, but we got sides of ranch." I just couldn't take it. I was laughing so hard I had to cross my legs. Dang straight we don't mess with salads! But bring on the ranch!

If lightening struck me, I'd die a happy woman with this in my mouth. 

(As long as it wasn't my first bite.)

That night we enjoyed hearing Michael McLean as well as a few other speakers, including the woman who was asked by the prophet himself to write his biography! Pretty cool. 

Let's be honest, Michael is one strange cat, but once I got past that, I really enjoyed his music.

Here's our whole group! Adele, Sarah, Leah, Shelley, my mom, me, Marcie and Alison! 

 That night we stayed at the DoubleTree hotel in Phoenix. Yummm, DoubleTree cookies.

Oh, I should mention, I had lost my voice that morning. Like, completely lost it. I was all squeaks and whispers. And just trying to talk, strained my throat and gave me a headache. Nice. My night of talking with the girls, and I'm a mute! 

Even still, we talked til almost 2am. Shells and I shared a king bed and I think we were out the second the lights were. Except for the time when she started sleep talking and told me she had a secret crush on Adam Lambert and wished she'd gone to law school.

Juuuust kidding. Did I get ya, Shell?!

The next morning, the continental breakfast knocked all our socks off. It was amazing. All kids of fresh fruit. Fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon, french toast, and on and on. The breakfast was worth the hotel room alone. 

 The next day we were serenaded by Jericho Road. My favorite was right after lunch when they got all {boy band}and pop and encouraged everyone to stand up and dance. I was the only one feeling the groove and hopped right up. I think it was my two glasses of Pepsi talking. But it was FUN! Pretty sure I was entertainment for the whole back section.

Now for a fun game... who's hand is whose??!!

 We got lunch at TGIFridays at Bank One Ballpark. So ironic that our Aunt Carla and two cousins were seated right behind us.

 Not a bad view! Too bad there was no game.

The theme for this year was "Seek the Good." So each speaker gave a slightly different spin on that topic. Chris Williams spoke about losing his pregnant wife and two of his kids in a car accident when they were hit by a drunk teenage boy. For sure the tears were flowing then. His story of forgiveness is incredible. 

I really related to the two girls who created Our Best Bites. They were funny and spoke about being moms and how life is not what it seems in the blogging world. They have cookbooks filled with professional pictures of gourmet food but they shared that often they serve cereal for dinner... on a placemat... so the kids think it's really dinner that way. Or they play the {400} game. They tell their kids to go to the freezer and find any foods that say "Bake at 400 degrees" and they can throw it on the pan for dinner. Love that.

Most importantly, one of them, Sara, talked about memories she had growing up with her mom. Her mom now has a debilitating disease that has affected her mentally. It seemed like she wasn't able to be a normal part of her life anymore. But she tearfully described memory after memory that let her know her mom loved her as a child. And most importantly, none of those memories was something her mom could have "blogged" about with cute pictures and tutorials to accompany. What a wonderful reminder! It's so fun to do cute activities with our kids or make creative crafts, but it's the little moments that matter and let them know we love them. 

There were just a few quotes I liked enough to jot down in my phone:

"There is more work than we can do. But the Lord makes us able."

"It's not what you do, it's how you do it."

"Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

"If we said the things we say to ourselves in our minds, to other people, we would have no friends." Be nice to yourself!!

"Make a ta-da list!" I loved this... I make lists like it's nobody's business. Seriously, I've made thousands in my life. I make daily to do lists. Monthly, even yearly lists. I make packing lists, to buy lists, to learn lists, and to do for others lists. (And on this trip I learned that my twin sister has never made a to do list in her life!!!! HOW??!!!) Well, this speaker encouraged us to celebrate the things we have accomplished instead of the things that are always left "to do". Love that idea.

One speaker focused on how bad things often have unintended positive consequences. Take the Book of Mormon musical, for example. Not exactly created to respect or comment positively on the Mormon church. However, Deseret Book got a call from Barnes and Noble after it started, asking if they could get some of those "Books of Whatzits" that so many people were requesting in their store, since the musical's start. Look for the good!

I certainly have a lot of good surrounding me in this picture. Love my family!

I have no pictures of me and Jeffy, but that night, sweet Aubrey came over while my boys slept, and I was able to go out to dinner with my little brother. We stayed two hours at BJ's, sharing a pizza, pizookie, and life stories. We are 12 years apart and have never really spent a lot of time together. My loss! What a fun night. Once again, so grateful for my family. I have the best brothers. 

By Sunday, I was feeling pretty beat up. I had started a cough and if I had any voice before, it was completely gone now. I could barely whisper. Weston wasn't doing so great either, so my mom took Collin to church and Weston and I got an almost 3 hour nap. What a blessing! Thank you Mom!!

That night, good ol' Steve-a-rino stopped by! He lives in North Dakota now and happened to be in town the same weekend as me. Haven't seen him in ages. He brought some old pictures he found, that I had sent him on his mission. Oh my. Those were the days. Just makes me realize how long we've been friends!

Just when my boys were about to drive me bonkers, the cousins came over!! Yay for Lane and Rusty! Sunday nights at Grandma's are the biggest thing I miss, living far away. 

On Monday, my mom watched the boys all day while I spent some time with Marcie Moo. My mom rearranged a meeting, just to be able to do that for me. She's is so good to me!

That night it was another trip to BJ's to be with my girls! It has been years and years since all 5 of us have been able to get together at once. We caught up a little bit on life, but then spent the majority of time laughing our heads off about the past. Oh the "trouble" we used to get into! All I have to say is, Jenni has an impeccable memory. Names and faces that I could barely recall, seemed fresh in her mind. Throw in "Bruises" and "The Big 5", among others, and for the second time this trip, I was crossing my legs from laughing so hard. We were pretty ridiculous in our day, and had a dang good time at it! Love these girls and all our good times.

 The next day it was time to peace out. I had contemplated leaving in the late evening, like last time, but truth be told, I was pretty anxious to see my honey. We left about 10:30 am, and only made one stop in Holbrook for their A&W root beer. OK, what is in that stuff??! That could border on narcotic. YUM. 

The boys agreed.

 What kind of mother puts root beer in a bottle?! Apparently he was pretty excited about it.

 Minus our 20 min. stop, we made it in 6 hours again. The boys did great. 

And I am dang proud of myself. 

I love accomplishing something that scares me. 

There was something planned for just about every minute of the trip. I'm kind of amazed it all came together and worked out perfectly. How often does that happen?! I could really get used to this {living close to home} thing! :)