Time Out for Women - Seattle 2015

My mom, Courtney, and I bought tickets to Time Out for Women this last March. It was at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. The venue itself was amazing, and the program was even better than I had hoped. Each speaker and musical presenter were incredible, and I gained so much from that weekend. It made it even more special to get to be there with my mom and one of my sisters.

They were long, tiring days because we would get up early, get ready, and then drive in to Seattle for the program, then drive all the way home again. So we got up early, got home late, and then got up early again. But, it was more than worth it. I've been to a Time Out for Women and Girls with my mom when I was a teenager, a Time Out for Women in Salt Lake City in 2011, and then this one. I think that attending one of these each year (at least!) will definitely be something I try to do from now on.

Hank Smith was one of my very favorites. He was a last minute fill-in because Sheri Dew was really sick. He got the call sometime late afternoon/early evening that they needed him to speak. So he flew from Salt Lake and arrived in Seattle just in time. He might have had little time to mentally prepare himself to speak that night, but he did an amazing job. His talk was on happiness, and I can't imagine a better talk for me to have heard that night than his. He was incredible.

Some Days...

Ever since we took away the binky, Reece has refused naps. She won't relax enough to lay down and fall asleep, so we have been introducing quiet time. She gets to look at books, do a puzzle, or draw. It's been a little bit of a rough transition, but she's been doing pretty well.

Today, I had to go upstairs and interrupt quiet time because I forgot about something that I had to go out and do. When I went into the bedroom, I found this.

Some days you're just too tired to stay awake for another second, and sleep overtakes you right where you are.

St. Patrick's Day

This is a holiday that my family didn't really celebrate all that much growing up. We would wear green and search the field in front of our house for four leaf clovers, but other than that, there wasn't much else. We still looked forward to it, but there wasn't any kind of celebration. This year, besides celebrating the birthdays of my Aunt Kayla and sister-in-law Marcie, we did some fun things!

First, we made these little shamrock necklaces. We cut out shamrocks, punched holes in the middle, and cut up some green straws and strung them on green yarn. Reece really likes this kind of activity, so she enjoyed making her necklace. It's definitely not the next big thing for fashion, but I think she wears it well!

Then, after nap time and quiet time, we gave the girls this for their afternoon snack. A fruit rainbow with a marshmallow cloud and a pot of Rolos! Needless to say, they loved it.