Recap of weekend at Time Out For Women

Ok so this weekend was the Time Out For Women event that I have been so excited about. There were six of us that road up there together. Me, Michelle, Niki, Christie, Ryan, and Erin. Niki drove us over to Memphis.We are such crazy girls. On the way Christie had a GPS to help us find the fastest way there so that we wouldn't spend a ton of time in the car. Erin and Niki sat in the front of the car since, well Niki drove and Erin gets car sick. Myself and Christie sat in the middle seat and Ryan and Michelle sat in the very back. As we were going along Niki noticed that she needed gas and we were on some back roads. The GPS said that the closest gas station was 4.3 miles and the gas gage said we had 3 miles left of gas. Yahhh can we say scarry. We made it to the gas station just in time. I had to pee so bad so I went in to use the bathroom but it was out of order. Man really. So all the girls were like go use the trees behind the station. Yeah, No. I don't pee in the woods. So we drove down the road and found another gas station that had a bathroom.We all went pee and then got snacks for the road and were off. As we got going again the four of us in the back seat thought it would be funny to freak out Niki a little since her driving was freaking us out. So we all got together and started swaying side to side to make the car rock. Niki freaked out thinking something was wrong with the car and we all started laughing. She was a good sport about it. He he he. Finally we got onto the Highway and then things were good. Erin thought it would be cool to get all the Semi's to pull their horns so she was hanging out her window. That girl is crazy. She fits in with our group great. Anyway we all chatted and gabbed until we got there. Then we checked into our room and put our stuff away and headed over for the first set of talks. I didnt take any pictures at that one because I wasn't sure if we were allowed to. Later I found out we were and so I took tons of pics on Saturday.Once we got there a few more people from our church showed up and that made a group of Ten of us that went out there and just had a blast together. On Friday night we went out to check out the area and got to see what the famous Beale St looked like. Man was it crowded. We had a blast together. Then we spent the night doing pedicures and face masks and chatting and having a great time. We didn't go to bed until 5:00 in the morning and I only got about 35 minutes of sleep all weekend. Anyway it was a great time and something I really needed. I can't wait to go again. Below are a few of the pictures I took. Of course there are so many more and I wasn't the only one taking pictures so I have to get those from them so that I will have the full set of pictures from the weekend. Here are some of them.

This first picture is a view of the city from the 12th floor of the hotel we stayed at. It was so pretty. Trust me the picture does not do it justice. I couldn't believe how pretty it was considering the fact that I am not a city person.

These next few picture are of Beale St and some of the things we saw. First is a sign outside the Hard Rock Cafe. I thought it was pretty funny.

The next is of the Hard Rock Cafe sign. This was where we were going to eat but once we got inside it was so loud in there we couldn't even hear ourselves think. So we decided not to stay there.

This next one is sort of blurry but you can see the stretch of signs that ran along both sides of the street. I almost looked like sin city instead of Tennessee. Ha ha.

This next on is of the place we stopped at and ate. It is called Little Anthony's Cafe. If you ever get the chance to go to Memphis you should so stop in here and eat. I think they had the best food I have ever eaten. Yummmmmm.

This one is of a Bar but I couldn't resist taking the picture because it was just to funny. I don't think I have ever seen one like this before. I got a kick out of it anyway.

Ok so the next couple of picture are of before we made it to Beale St. I tried to get them all in order but it just wasn't happening so here ya go.

Ok so once we all decided to go out we went down to the front desk and told them that we needed a van taxi to take us to Beale st. Truthfully it was only about a mile down the road but we couldn't walk because we had a girl in our group that couldn't walk that far. Anyway once the cab got there it already looked like it was on its last leg. Then all ten of us piled into the cab and all of the sudden we heard this hissing sound. At first we thought maybe the tires had gone flat but then all the sudden we saw flames coming from the front of the cab. We all piled out in a hurry and they put out the fire. We had to wait for another cab to come. We ended up getting a van and a car to take us. It was the funniest thing ever. I think they thought we might be bad luck because it took them along time to send another set of cabs to get us.

This one is of the whole group minus two. Me of course because I was the one taking the picture and Ryan because she was getting change.

After all the fun we went back to the Hotel and had a great girls night in. We did Pedicures and each others toes and face masks and talked a gabbed about just about everything. It was so much fun. Anyway the next morning we all got ready to go and this one is of Ryan, Michelle, and Niki doing their make-up. Lets just say the four of us were just slightly late to the talks. Ha Ha.

Ok the next set of pictures are of the people who gave talks on Saturday April 10, 2010. I will give you just a few of the notes I took from their talks. This first picture is of Amanda Dickson. She was so funny. Here are my notes.

Here talk was on Getting your Hopes up and Why we let disappointment keep us from getting our hopes up.

• Think about change in a new way.
• Change can be fun and playful.
• When you need more energy in your life, Change something like your hair or your cloths or your furniture.
• When things seem to be stale in your life make yourself go a new way so that you have to pay attention.
• One of the things we do in our life when it comes to change is we always go to the bad. Do you ever think the worst case is going to happen.
• What if the worst thing didn't happen.
• Or if you don't change nothing bad will ever happen. Not true. Bad things happen all the time.
• Or I'm not going to like the worst thing. Just think great things come from the worst thing that could happen.

Another point she made was that these next six words always fix everything. No matter what you are going through they truly make you feel better. Your mom use to say them to you and I'm sure you say them to your kids. They are, " Everything is going to be Ok."

Why do we feel better because of these six words, because they are true and they are possible because of CHANGE.

One of my favorite quotes she said was " If you never change your mind, Why have one."

Another is " Be the change you want to see in the world." you can change that a little to fit you such as "Be the change you want to see in other people." If you can't change why should you expect others to. It makes since. You have to respect others in ways such as their time, and their intelligence.

She also said that you have to "Change the spirit of the work" Let me explain what she was talking about. She told this story about her family. One day she went through all the effort to make this wonderful Lasagna meal for her family and for once in along time everyone was there. After they were done eating everyone darted for the den to watch tv and violated the golden rule that " Whoever makes dinner does not clean up" so she went to cleaning and was not happy about it. She was putting the dishes in the dishwasher very loud hoping that they would hear her and feel sorry for her and come and help but they didn't. All of the sudden she had the most inappropriate thought. All of the sudden she pictured Mathew McConaughey was there with her. All of the sudden she went from putting the dishes in loudly and angry to slow and with a little dance. He he. Now did her work change any...No but the spirit of the work did.

A few others that I really liked where:

"Your best is good enough"

"How do you know you are the right Mom for your kids, because you Are their mom." that can also be applied to your spouse, or parents .

" You are the perfect daughter for me, How do I know, Because you are My daughter."

"Gratitude gives us proper perspective."

Those are my notes on her. I hope you were able to get a little bit out of them also.

This next lady was so funny. She even made herself laugh which I think was the best part of listening to her. Her name is Mary Ellen Edmunds Her talk was about a lot of things so I will just highlight a few points.

• Resilience is the ability to bounce back
• Resilience is like contagious optimism
• When everything says you can't believe in the part of you that says you can.
• Old age comes at a very bad time.
• Wisdom comes with old age, Sometimes age comes alone.

The three things we all need in our lives are:

• Faith in God
• Love of family and friends
• Good health

Some times when you are in the middle of something in your life you can't see the shore and you want to quit. Don't.


This next woman was such a great inspiration to everyone. She has been through so much. Let me tell you a little bit about her. This comes from the hand out that we each received at the beginning of the day on Saturday. Her name is Mariama Kallon. She was raised in war torn Sierra Leone. I think that is in Africa. She saw many things as a young girl that might fill a person with fear and hatred. But soon after witnessing the violent murders of her parents an siblings and spending her youth fleeing from rebels, she was introduced to the gospel of Jesus Christ and found hope in god and peace in a knowledge of eternal families. She was given a humanitarian kit by the Church, which became a treasured symbol of hope that she used to bless the loves of many as they again fled for their lives. After returning to her town, she was eventually called on a mission to the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission, and wept in gratitude to the the Lord as she visited the place where her humanitarian kit was made. Today Mariama stands as an example of the divine purposes of humanitarian work and tells her story to numerous audiences, urging them to participate in humanitarian efforts.

Personally I think she is beautiful and a wonderful person. She had me in tears when you told us her story. In her talk she quoted a lot of scripture from heart. Here are some of the ones I wrote down. I cried most of the time she talked so I didn't get many notes.

• Ester 4:14 The lord wants me here at this time and to be grateful for each moment of my life.
• 2Nephi 4:26 Rejoice with all my heart.
• D&C 84:87 Be a missionary
• D&C 31:31,6-7 I will bless you and your family even through your problems.
• Alma 7:11-12

Next she told a story about the first time she was at the temple and she was wearing these socks and walking on the carpet and as she walked down a ramp she went to grab the railing and got a shocked a couple of times. She turned to her friend and said the spirit was shocking her. Ha ha. After that her friend teased her all the time saying " Is the spirit still shocking you"

Some of the quotes she said were:

"Angels will be around you to bare you up"

"Never doubt the lord, Do as he asks you to do"

One of the things that her talk did was really make me think about things. One quote I got out of all this is " Remember that you are blessed, for there are others who have nothing, so be thankful for every small thing you have no matter how trivial.

This next picture is of the kit she received. Well whats left of it anyway. Ha Ha. She shared this kit with a few other woman who where very happy she did.
This one is of her family. I think that is her niece at her temple wedding and the family that adopted them.
This guy is Michael Wilcox. Here are the notes that I got from his talk.

• Look forward
• There are always going to be walls and giants to see the fruits
• God will help us bring down the walls -pray-
• Sometimes we get comfortable and the obstacles in front of us get harder.
• When will God give us the hope to face our Giant?
• There are lion and bear experiences early in our lives to prepare us for our Giants.
• How did I get here and where do I go from here.
• When you need hope look beside you
• All things are created to bare record of me.
• There are purposes to the Book of Mormon, we only get half of one of them.
• Even Sparrows don't fall without the Fathers knowledge.
• Look around you at your sisters and you will see all the hope you need.
• Love every man in every hour and every season until his is finished.

This is Emily Watts. Her talk was wonderful. I got so much out of it. Her talk also was on Hope. Since that was the theme of the weekend.

First thing she talked about was the three Hopes to Abandon once you become a mom.

• getting any sleep at all
• control over your own life.
• and having anything nice or unspoiled.

Then she talked about the three things you as a Mother should never Abandon.

• #1 That your children can progress, grow and improve.
• Remember that years fly by even when they seem to be taking forever at the moment.
• No matter how old a mother gets she never stops looking for the improvements.
• Romans 8:24
• Hope is "Waiting with Patience"
• #2 That this work we are engaged in is worth it.
• hope that this principle of the atonement applies to me.
• Our work is never finished and its worth it.
• #3 Somebody who is a lot smarter than me is standing by to help me in this calling.
• While we are teaching we are being taught.
• Help comes in unforeseen ways.
• Parenting is not easy.
• Be kind because everyone you meet is going through something difficult.
  

This is Hilary Weeks. She was our musical performer for Saturday and every time she sang a song she had me in tears. She is so good. Later I will put up a list of all the songs she sang but I don't have them right now.

These next few pictures are of us with the speakers and Hilary Weeks.

So that is our weekend. We had so much fun that we are planning on going again in October to the one in Atlanta. I can't wait. I really needed this weekend and it was so nice to go and really be able to get to know my sisters. Yes I called them my sisters because now I trully feel like they are more than just friends but a true part of my life. I am so blessed to have each and everyone of them in my life. The lord really knows what he is doing when he places us in our lives. I love you girls.

That's all for now. Blog at you later.