Hearts at Home

This past weekend I attended a women's conference in Rochester, MN. Hearts at Home, by name, has recharged me! It is a conference that focuses on equipping, professionalizing and recharging women in the areas of motherhood and wifedom! A large group (about 20) of women from church went. We stayed at the La Quinta Inn and ate at TGIF and Victoria's Italian Restaurant. We also enjoyed a little shopping!

My hotel roomies walking to the car. The fourth roomie is taking the picture.

The schedule was something like this:



Friday Night: Meet for dinner. We ate at TGIF and they managed to sit all 20 of us together at one LONG table. The waitress stood at one end and tried to take every one's orders for that place at the end of the LONG table. After shouting my beverage choice (Dr. Pepper) across all 20 women, I thought (along with those around me) that she should come down to our end of the table to take orders. She eventually did.


After dinner, we headed to the Mayo Convention Center for a large group session of praise and worship and skits and speakers. Cheri Keaggy and Go Fish were the musical guests for the weekend.



Once the session was over we headed back to the hotel. Some of us showered and put on pajamas. Most everyone congregated in one particular hotel room and found a chair, bed corner, or floor space. We chatted....for a long time. Men, have you been wondering what we women do in a hotel room until 1:00am? Well, here it is! Proof. Yes, we just sit around in a circle and talk. For a majority of the time we actually went around the circle and took turns talking. Topics included: politics, funny stories, something we admired/appreciated about our husband, our kids, favorite restaurants, alternate life/profession of choice (I mentioned that I would be the next Diane Sawyer in a different life. I think someone else mentioned a Rockette.) purchases from the conference, etc...



Here are some pictures from the hotel rooms...

Here everyone is laughing because somehow the bed broke. Yes, the support beam just gave way and the mattress and box spring fell.
Lisa is investigating!



Saturday:

The main session started a bit earlier than we would have liked. But, such is life. So, we headed to the main auditorium to sing praises, listen to a few brief speakers then went to our breakout sessions. The breakout sessions are my favorite part of the conference. I have been to Women of Faith and it was alright. It's hard to sit in the same chair for 8-10 hours. The breakout sessions allow for movement and a more personal/intimate setting. Also, you can pick topics that you are interested in learning about. My sessions? Chocolate Kisses for Couples, Education as a Way of Life, Family Fun Time

Saturday night we ate at Victoria's Italian Restaurant. Super yummy! I hope to return there! I had the Chicken Parmesan. Excellent! Then of course we all gathered in the hotel room and chatted some more!

Sunday was a slower paced day. We browsed the mall for a about 2 hours then headed home. I returned home to a loving husband and happy kids. I am grateful for my in-laws and my husband for taking care of the girls while I was gone. And, thanks to Carey for bringing a cute green purse stocked with gum!

Funny Story: Saturday we found a wasp in our room. Yes, a wasp. No, we didn't have our window open. We trapped the wasp under a glass. Then we all squealed a bit and summoned Lisa to our rescue. She came in and quickly grabbed the wasp in a paper towel (I think). she squished it so well....I heard its teeny bones crackle and its buggy insides explode. YUK!! That makes my skin crawl!

I walked away from the conference with 1 or 2 fresh ideas. Mostly, I was refueled and excited about my role in my family/home. I was reminded about the importance of being an intentional wife and an intentional parent. I was reminded about being intentional with words while I am doing an activity. I will probably organize a few of my notes and post them (probably to this post!).

Leave a comment! What did you walk away with!???

For another perspective click here or here.