TOFW

After the boys had their getaway last weekend, it was the girls' turn for a weekend adventure!!! Friday morning, I left on an amazingly fun trip with some of my awesome girlfriends (including my big sister, Bev) to attend Time Out For Women in St. Charles (suburb of St. Louis). We had such a great time together!! Here are just a few words to describe our trip:

Laughing. Talking. Sharing. Crying. Hugging. Worshipping. Eating chocolate. Hot Tubbing. Staying up way too late. Getting up way too early. Eating cheesecake (at the Cheesecake Factory, of course!). Making new friends. Strengthening old friendships. NO DIAPER BAGS! Missing my baby. Glad to come home. Can't wait for the next girls' weekend!!!

Lisa, Jill, Bobbi, Lana, Nancy, Benson & Bev:


Cheryl, Cindy, Bobbi & Carolyn:


The presenters at this event were: Hilary Weeks, Michael McLean, Cherie Call, Kim Nelson, Jane Clayson Johnson, Michael Wilcox, Jason Wright,& Pam Hansen. They were all amazing and I definitely came home with the spiritual boost that I needed! I love these people who have dedicated so much of their lives to lifting and strengthening others. Heaven knows we all need it once in a while!!!

Before going to Time Out, I was randomly chosen to submit an essay about someone that I felt exemplified a joyful life. I didn't know beforehand, but my essay was one of three chosen to be read at the event! I wish I had gotten it on video...it really sounded so much better when Hilary Weeks read it out loud....but you'll just have to imagine the emphasis and emotion that she expressed in all the right places. Here is the essay that I wrote (and really do believe) about my good friend, Jill:

Jill Kirk is truly a joyful woman. From the moment you meet her, you feel that you have just met your new best friend. Jill is a devoted wife, who willingly left behind her comfortable Utah home, surrounded by family and friends, and followed her husband to an unfamiliar rural Missouri town, where ticks, snakes and mosquitos are her only neighbors. Jill is a super-Mom, who savors every moment with her sweet son, and will readily do whatever she can to make him happy, even if it means staying up all night cutting out paper masks for his 4th birthday party or letting him wear his batman costume to the supermarket because it makes him feel like a super hero. Spending time with Jill, you would never know the heartache that this strong woman carries with her. While I've never known a more energetic or fun mom, Jill has not yet been blessed with a biological baby of her own. For eight years, this strong woman has struggled to fulfill the measure of her creation, doing everything within her power to bring life to the earth. In the mean time, she has watched as friends, sisters and sisters-in-law, become pregnant and have babies. All the while, she smiles, cheers and celebrates with them, while her heart silently aches to know the joy of bringing a baby into the world. With every frustration, every let-down, every failed attempt to create life, Jill never loses faith that Heavenly Father has a plan for her, and that one day she will be able to give birth. She never gives up hope. I have learned a lot from Jill. I have learned that sometimes even our most righteous desires are not fulfilled on our time schedule. I have learned that even when they're not, we must never lose faith in our Heavenly Father's plan for us. I have learned that we are given a choice each day to focus on what's good and choose to smile and be happy, or to focus on our trials, and be downtrodden. Jill chooses to smile. I love her for that.


Jill, Hilary Weeks & Me!