Time Out for Women

I had the opportunity to go to Time Out for Women this weekend. Can I just say WOW!

I laughed, I cried and enjoyed soaking in the spirit of the amazing speakers.

I went with my sister, Mom, daughter, niece and three sister in laws! We started the weekend with lunch at Olive Garden to celebrate Missy's birthday. Then we checked in our hotel in Phoenix. We stayed at the Wyndham which was walking distance to the Phoenix Convention Center.


Shortly after checking in we headed to the Convention Center to hear three speakers - Virginia Hinckley Pearce, Wendy Watson Nelson and Sheri Dew and an amazing soloist-Dallyn Vail Bayles. WOW, what a line up. Can I just say if you have never heard Dallyn sing you are missing out! He has the most beautiful voice. Check him out on Itunes or wherever you buy your music!


After being spiritually fed we went back to the hotel and got ready for another FULL day. We visited and laughed and ordered pizza. We were all in bed a going to sleep by midnight! (I thought this was pretty good!)

The next morning we hurried to get ready and get to Time Out. It started at 9am. The music was done by Mercy River. Three women who harmonized beautifully! I loved their music. I had never heard them before. We listened to DeAnne Flynn, Brad Wilcox, Mariama Kallon, Amanda Dickson and Merrilee Boyack. All amazing speakers, and I learned so much and enjoyed feeling like I was "normal" -whatever that is, and learning about how to be a better me. It was seriously hard to see it end.

I think we all wanted to bask in the fun, so we headed to Chandler to "Merchants Square", my brothers antique mall and browsed around. And then the exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks and all I wanted to do was go home and put my feet up!

When I got home only Heather was here getting ready to leave. That is pretty typical. She is usually getting ready to leave for somewhere! Vaughan and the other three girls were still gone. They had spent the weekend at Fossil Springs.

It was kind of funny when they came home. . . I think they somehow thought I hadn't gone anywhere. They came in all excited to tell me about their trip and all the experiences they had! It sounds like they had lots of fun. This went on for an hour or so. Then Vaughan went to get pizza and the girls and I decided to watch a couple of movies. When they were over I went to bed. Vaughan was already there watching a ball game of some kind. As I was climbing in bed Vaughan said, "So how was your weekend." I started laughing and said, "I wondered when someone was going to ask!" Hey, it only took 3 hours! So I shared with him some of the things I learned. Mostly, I told him Sister Mariama Kallon's story. If you don't know who she is (I didn't) you are missing out! Her bio says: "Raised in war-torn Sierra Leone, she saw many things as a young girl that might fill a person with fear and hatred. After witnessing the violent murders of her parents and the loss of her siblings, Mariama spent much of her youth fleeing from rebels. She was eventually introduced to the gospel of Jesus Christ and was given a humanitarian kit by the Church, which became a treasured symbol of hope that she used to bless the lives of many as they again fled for their lives." She has a DVD that tells her story. A couple of my SIL's bought it, so I am going to borrow. She was pretty amazing and I think we could all use a shot in the arm of gratitude for being here (America) as she puts it, "the land of plenty".

So, all in all it was a pretty special weekend. Thanks to my sweet daughter, Mom, niece and sisters for sharing it with me!