Women of Faith 2010

I had a wonderful weekend get-away to fabulous Las Vegas (I know, it's in my backyard.... but a world away at the same time....) at the end of April to attend the Women of Faith Conference with 100 women from my church and 5000 other random women!  I stayed with a couple of friends at the MGM (kindly comped by a client of one of my friends, YAY!) and got to have some "girl time" as well as some "God time"!  It was much needed and I have made some good changes in my life because of it!  Here are some of the highlights for me:

• A day off of work (friday) and a day off of chores (saturday) to go enjoy speakers, music, skits and of course, book shopping in between sessions!
• A night away from the responsibilities of being a mommy and wife to spend time with good friends, enjoying good food, good drinks, high heels (and the inevitable sore feet that Vegas brings), and some face time with Elvis impersonators, haha! Not to mention the laughter, time to relax, and a good old cab ride... too bad we didn't get to play Cash Cab; although I think that our ride topped that!

• One of my favorite speakers was Marcus Buckingham who has a book called Find Your Strongest Life.  He has an online test you can take here Find A Stronger Life which will show you how to focus on developing the strengths that God blessed you with so you can live the life He intends for you.  It was wonderful to hear him speak about not worrying about your weaknesses, but finding your talents and your passions and working into them!  I loved that he wasn't just about "to feel good; do your best, be perfect, blah, blah, blah..." but gave very practical advice on how to change.  I am really enjoying his book as well.  I took the test and am amazed at the results; it pinpointed my strengths exactly! I am a "Caretaker" first and an "Equalizer" second; which means I want everyone to be happy and I want everyone to do the right thing because its the right thing (oh, yeah... it also says I love organization and I might have a fondness for spreadsheets..... !)  Told ya, it was spot on! 
• There were many other wonderful speakers including Sheila Walsh, Lisa Harper, Karen James, Lucy Swindoll, drama by Nicole Johnson and an amazing performance by Mandisa of American Idol fame (she was dynamic & I don't think there was a dry eye in the place!). 
• Natalie Grant!!  I was so looking forward to seeing her perform, and she was unbelievable!  I loved her and hope I have the opportunity to see her sing again.  She ended with a gospel song "His eye is on the Sparrow" and it was so moving.... My favorite song that she performed is Held, I only wish she would have performed In Better Hands.  Next time, Natalie?! Still, I Will Not Be Moved!
• Rich Stearns!!  He is one of my favorite people right now and I was like a kid at Christmas ready to see Santa.... I don't think some of my friends quite got why I was so excited to see him speak, but his book changed my life.  You can read my blog about The Hole In Our Gospel for why I love him so.  It was an honor and privilege to see him speak.
• I am now the proud sponsor of a new World Vision child who shares my youngest daughter's birthday and lives in Indonesia.  I can't wait to get to know her....

All the above made for a great weekend for me;
but this is why it was amazing to see God in Sin City: 

• 462 Women committed their lives to Jesus!
• 787 Children have new sponsors through World Vision!

Countdown is on for next year....

Women of Faith Las Vegas April 29-30, 2011

Phantom of the Opera

For Christmas we gave Rose & Bella tickets to see Phantom of the Opera!  This was my mostest favorite-est gift ever!  (I know those aren't real words, but real words do not describe my excitement, people!) 

Phantom of the Opera holds a very special place in my heart for several reasons:

• I was introduced to Andrew Lloyd Weber music by my Father & Smother.  I remember listening to the stories of Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Cats, Starlight Express, Jesus Christ Super Star, etc. from Anne in her Texas drawl while playing card games and drinking starbucks.  Not to mention that the music was always streaming in every room of their California house that my father had wired his coolio stereo system into!
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was the first Andrew Lloyd Weber musical that I saw on-stage.  It was in Wichita, Kansas where we lived at the time, it was put on by a youth drama company.  I loved it!  I knew all the songs, because of course Father & Smother had given me most of the CD's as presents over the years! 
• Hubby and I saw Phantom of the Opera three years ago and really enjoyed the music.  I must admit, I knew every word of the songs, but the storyline did disturb me a bit.  People who were there to see it were dressed up as the Phantom, complete with mask and cape!  It made me a little uncomfortable how obsessed people were when I realized the Phantom is a sick-o! 

• The movie came out when I was pregnant with LaLa.... I remember this because I didn't see it in theatres; I watched it on video in my truck ~ I was doing the extended gestational diabetes test at the lab because I had failed the first one.  They had told me I could leave between blood draws and come back and I didn't have the energy to run errands, so I sat in the truck and watched the movie in between sticks!  (There's a random side-story for ya!)
• I have been reading the "Classics" this past year, and the Phantom of the Opera is one of the best books that I read.  The movie / play cannot portray the backstory of the Phantom in two hours the way that a book can.  It makes you see the Phantom as a terribly wounded person who was never treated with an ounce of love or affection.  Good Read.
• The movie is Bella's VERY FAVORITE movie ever!  This is the child who loved to watch ballets over and over and over.  We watch the movie together at least once a month and she sings every word every time!  Rose & Bella have been begging to see it on stage for a couple of years now.  What a perfect gift!

The music was amazing, Rose loved that we got to look down in the pit after it was over.  Music is her LIFE and she plays piano, french horn & a little guitar.  She loved that there were four french horn players in the orchestra and she has mentioned several times that she would love to play french horn professionally.  What a job that would be!    Bella kept singing, and I had to ask her to stop a couple of times!  We had the most amazing seats, too!  Center Stage right under the chandellier and I am not saying any more because I don't want to ruin it if you haven't seen it live!  There is a HUGE suprise and we were in the perfect spot for some excitement! 

That was so much fun and it was such a pleasure to share that with the girls.   Rose posted on her Facebook status that "seeing Phantom was the Best Christmas Present EVER!!!" I hope to instill in them a life long love for music and the arts.  What a way to start!

P.S.  We just found out that Gerard Butler plays the Phantom in the movie and he sings every note!  Did you know this?  We have seen the movie at least 50 times and never realized it until we were finished watching it right before Christmas and I noticed it on the credits!!  That's another reason I love Phantom! ;)

Casting Crowns Concert Weekend!

One of my favorite bands is Casting Crowns and I have been wanting to see them in concert for a few years now.  It seems they aren't going to come to me, so I decided to go to them!  I looked on their website and found they were going to be in Southern California on a weekend that my family could schedule in!  Yay! 

 Family Vacation Weekend 2009! 

Oh, it was such a perfect weekend!  One of those that makes you go, WOW, this is what I always pictured when I was a little girl and wanted a husband and children!  Sorry so Polly-Anna, but it was a

much MUCH MUCH MUCH much

 needed weekend getaway that only laughing, tickling, music, ocean, movies, junk food and the people you love most that makes the daily grind worth it all! 

• The kids watched some great movies on the car ride down (whoever invented the built-in DVD player; I love you sooooo much!). 
• Saturday morning was full of driving around Hollywood trying to get our GPS unit to work with no success, so instead of geo-caching, we played tourists and drove in circles around the Hollywood sign; good times (it is a QCrew tradition to "get lost on purpose" so we see more sights, I truly love this part!)
• Saturday afternoon was spent at Zuma Beach in Malibu enjoying the sand between the toes, waves, and playing tag with little Man, I think we ran a 5k on the beach!
• Finally, time for the Main Event ~ Casting Crowns ~ BEST CONCERT EVER!!!  I would drive to Cali anytime to see them again.  My favorite part?  That my girls loved it when Mark Hall (lead singer who is also a youth pastor) spoke about his faith and told about their new album coming out November 17th, titled Until the Whole World Hears and how their mission with this new cd is to share the love of Christ Jesus with the whole world through World Vision (seriously??? This was their favorite part of our Hollywood / Malibu / Beach weeked???? ).  It was especially touching because we recently started sponsoring a child in Albania through World Vision and just received our first letter from his family!  It really hit home that we are trying to share our faith with others as well! 
• Sunday came way to fast, but we decided to drive to Malibu and up the coast a little then swing over to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  It was so much more than I expected, they had a full size Air Force One there and a piece of the Berlin Wall.  We spent all afternoon there because we just couldn't leave without seeing absolutely everything!  Of course we got home super late, but it was so worth spending the time doing all we did!
• The ride home was the icing on the cake!  We had an amazing, open, honest, serious life discussion with our teenager about life, love, friends, marriage, music, God, Jesus, family....... it was amazing and I am so grateful we have the family I always prayed for. 

Rose & Bella didn't come out of the water for hours!

Little Man and LaLa didn't make it throught the concert, Casting Crowns weren't as exciting as the beach!

piece of the Berlin Wall

I can't figure out why Air Force One is sideways, sorry to give you a crink (sp?) in your neck!

http://www.worldvision.org/

CastingCrowns.com

 *** Reminder!!  The new album comes out November 17, 2009

 & after hearing most of the songs during the concert, it is going to be aaaaahhhhhmazing! ****