Update

Hello again! I had totally intended to blog at least once before my trip to Memphis, but it did not happen. It looks like it's been about two weeks since my last post, so I'll give a very quick rundown of what we've been up to.

On Sunday, January 8, my mom flew to Las Vegas to spend a couple of weeks with us. This was very fun! We had a couple of days together before I left for my trip to Leadership Training for Stampin' Up!, during which she got to see our home school routine in action. The kids were thrilled to finally have Grandma K here and regaled her with tales of their exploits and numerous show and tell items. I spent much of my "free time" frantically preparing for my trip, working on swap cards, gift items for demonstrator friends, and packing.

On Wednesday, Jan. 11, Ted drove me bright and early to the airport, where I hopped to Phoenix and on to Memphis. My friend Monica was waiting at the airport for me, and we met up with our other demonstrator friends at the Convention Center, where we received GORGEOUS bags with our usual free stamp set and Make-and-Take materials. We stamped a bit, but not much since we were late getting there. Then it was out to eat at The Pig, a local joint with fabulous pork barbeque sandwiches! After that was a meeting with my 3rd-level upline and her group, at which we learned some great business ideas and got to visit with other friends.

Thursday was the first day of the conference. Stampin' Up! unveiled many changes to our career plan, and let me tell you, they are INCREDIBLE!! I am so excited! And, by the way, if any of you are interested in building a home business with Stampin' Up!, I would LOVE to talk with you about the wonderful possibilities! :-) That evening was the Managers' Reception, with a 50's theme. Very fun.

Friday was the second and last day of the conference, with an additional Workshop for Leaders that several of us attended that night after dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. I left on Saturday to come home and enjoyed reuniting with my family. The hugs from the kids are extra precious after being gone a few days!

I am so thankful my mom could be out here to help take care of them. She has been having some physical pain, and I'm thankful the Lord sustained her during my absence. Now we are enjoying her company for another 10 days or so before she flies to Phoenix to visit a friend, then on home to Wisconsin. My mom, the world traveler! :-)

Later I will blog about some personal things we have been going through...right now, though, I will just say that I need a little more time before we share what those are. I need to focus on some positive things, so I will post again responding to a tag I got from my friend Claire, my first ever blog tag--and I'm not even sure what it is, other than I'll be answering some fun questions!