Time Out

So, it's been a long time coming, I know, I'm very behind in blogging and updating people on what's going on in our lives! I had the chance to attend Time Out for Women, a conference set up by Deseret Book, in Chicago February 29th & March 1st. I went with my mother and two of her friends. Perhaps it was geriatric-baby-sitting or escorting, but that's ok, I enjoyed going. It was so much fun to see friends there from each of the 3 wards that are close to my heart!- Madison 4th, Geneva, and Valparaiso. Talk about a blast from the past ;) So the conference itself was amazing. It was exactly what I needed to help feed the hunger I've been feeling this past year. Never before in my teenage years or newlywed years have I had this intense hunger for the Gospel, the Spirit, and learning everything I can get my hands on. Within the last 6 months or so I've been feasting and can't get enough of it! I know, it's weird, and it probably won't be able to last my whole life, so I'm cherishing this desire I have in this particular season of my life. Of particular emphasis in the last 6 months or so of my life has been searching for balance while simultaneously improving myself. I get on "kicks" and am not consistent in the things in my life I'm trying to do. It isn't so much a "recovering perfectionist" type thing, although that's maybe part of it, but it's more of prioritizing search for peace, calm, tranquility, and balance in my daily life. I'm racing through life and I don't want to skid on the brakes in 5 years and be like, "Oh my gosh, where did my young 20's go? I barely remember them! Did I accomplish anything worthwhile?" So much was said and performed during this conference all about WOMEN, but I'm including here just some of the highlights from my journal that spoke out to me the strongest and applied to me right where I'm at in life:

• Chieko Okasaki- Patiently listen to the less patient. Being right is less important than doing right. Our purpose here is to learn to love enough to be able to accept the Savior's love and all that He hath.

• Michael McLean- We know just enough about the Gospel to feel the guilt but not to feel the joy. His song: "Hope is hiding because it's saving all its power for your most desperate moment. Around every corner, though you're unaware, protected by grace, in the face of despair, there's hope hiding there. Hold on, the light will come, the answers never come without a fight." Kneel then take a stand.
  

• Elia Gourgouris- Communication is adjusting your expectations so they are on the same level. Would you rather be right or be happy? Being right is about pride and getting an egofix. Being happy is about humility. Read the book The Five Love Languages by Dr. Chapman and love your partner the way they want to be loved first, not what kind of love you give the easiest and most naturally (Quality time, service, words of affirmation, physical touch, and gifts).
  

• Merrilee Boyack- President Hinckley said "It's not enough to be good-you have to be good for something." CPR: Caring Plus Response can save lives, not caring alone. Christ didn't ask us to serve because he couldn't. Give away 5 split seconds a day. Listen to the Spirit and not your ward culture when figuring out what's best for you. If you put first things first, you'll get first and second things (Neal A. Maxwell paraphrasing C.S. Lewis).
  

• Hillary Weeks- New song coming out on her new CD this fall that really really really spoke to my heart, "If I Only Had Today." Snuggle more, relax more, savor each moment more, leave the dishes sit in the sink. We will all answer to heaven how we spent our priceless liberty. Loving children awakens them to a remembrance of the love they felt in the preexistence from Heavenly Father.

• Cherie Call- I liked her song about how God sees the strength and potential in us when we don't see it ourselves. It's called "The Ocean in Me." "But if I feel just like a teardrop in the rain when I meant to be a river, God sees the ocean in me. And in the depths of all my sorrow and my pain, when I asked to be delivered, He shows the ocean to me. He sees the ocean in me."
  

• Camille Fronk Olson- The trampoline effect: the lower down you go the higher up you'll be able to go and soar to new heights. We came to a fallen earth, went down so we could go higher than ever before. Our daily trials will strengthen us and help us achieve more. Chastening means being purified. Nowhere in the scriptures does it say Adam and Eve were cursed. It says they were blessed.
  

• Carolyn Rasmus- You did not come to this earth to get self-worth; you brought it with you. Too many times we confuse the culture of the ward with gospel truth- there is a big difference. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not insurance against pain; It is a resource in the event of pain.
  



• Dean Hughes- Tell yourself over and over that God isn't conducting a contest. The more we can turn people into people [instead of problems], the more patient, meek, humble, and kind we can be.
  

• Jane Clayson- In the preexistence, it was like Heavenly Father had said we're going to ask you to do things here that you never thought you'd be able to do. Today there is a full-blown blitz on women- to make them so distracted and distraught that they would lose sight of the calm and strong serenity that is in their nature. Trust in Him and know that His plan is better for you than the one you've mapped out for yourself.

If you are interested in any of the books I've been reading lately and want little quotes or synopses from them, check out my GoodReads website. I've been reading a lot of personal and professional development books lately. Well, and some books just for fun ;) Love you all- take care!