Women's Conference day 1

On Thursday morning, Jill and Kristi came to pick me up around 10:30 and I gave Kristi a quick tour of my (messy) house. By the time we got to campus, parking was a mess. I went to pick up my nametag and they went to park by the stadium, then took a shuttle back. I saw Jill's mom twice while I was waiting for them to get back to the Marriott Center!

When the parking issue was resolved, we decided to walk through the art museum, since Kristi wanted to see the Minerva Teichert exhibit.

Then, we decided we were hungry. We went to the Cougareat, but we were discouraged by the long lines. We did run into fellow blogger Ryann, however! It was so funny that everywhere we went, Kristi knew someone -- and she cried every time she talked to someone. That's so foreign to me, but it's really quite endearing.

{this is a former YW of Kristi's from New Orleans -- see the tears?}

We ended up getting barbecued sandwiches outside where the lines weren't quite as long, but then it was so cold we had to go back inside the Wilk to eat! A 25-year-old pregnant woman came to sit with us. She heard us discussing American Idol and joined our conversation. When we told her we were having a college reunion and had been friends for nearly 20 years, she said "ohhhh" and had a look of dawning comprehension, like "whoa, you guys are old!" Be that as it may, I just can't even explain how much fun it was to be back on campus together -- reliving old memories and making wonderful new ones.

{just had to document this pleasing sight}

All of this sight-seeing and friend meeting and eating messed up our plans of getting to classes, but since none of us really had any agenda other than hanging out and having fun together, we didn't see this as a problem.

We made it to our first class! (2:00 p.m.)

It was the new Young Women's presidency talking about For the Strength of Youth. Some highlights from my notes:

-- Young women struggle with knowing who they are, and may be pulled away. We need to help them recognize their divine natures.

-- To have a successful home, there must be standards, rules, and absolutes.

-- If it is in the mother's heart, it's in the mother's home.

-- There are too many that are counting on our faithfulness for us to falter: Heavenly Father, our Savior, our parents, our children, and future generations.

-- We must never under-estimate the spiritual capacity and hunger of our youth. They have burning questions, and heaven has answers.

-- We may all be at different points on the path - but the important thing is that we are on the path.

-- They issued an invitation to women everywhere to: pray, read the Book of Mormon for at least 5 minutes, and smile -- every day, 100%.

-- We can unfurl our banner to the world, calling for a return to virtue.

Jill called Cherity so they could meet up on campus. Cherity happened to be one building over from us, so we walked over to meet her. I otooa photo of the three of them with somebody's camera, but we're not sure what happened to that picture.) She was just darling, and her family was sweet to sit in the car waiting for her while we chatted.

We then returned to the Marriott Center to hear Brother & Sister Bateman talk.

-- Parents should model their homes after the house of the Lord. These things create an environment that is conducive to spiritual growth:

1. Speak with soft voices.

2. Everyone should be trained in their responsibilities:
first teach, then show, then children should perform their duties with assistance until they are ready to do it alone.

3. Every day should begin and end with prayer.

4. Kindness, love, and service should abound.

5. The home should be clean & orderly.

Sorry about the shaky cam. I just wanted to document what it is like to be among tens of thousands of women all singing together. Quite often, the music is the best part for me. There is just something so strengthening about being with so many other women who want the same things that I do. This part of the experience means more to me even than the words of the speakers.

It was a very cold and windy day!

Kristi was dying to go to Training Table, and she wanted to phone in our order. Her Utah desires were so easy to fulfill!

When we finally got back to Jill's house, Kristi put in a video she had made of the last week of our freshman year. I never even knew she had made a video! It was hilarious and such a time warp -- everyone looked like they were about 14 to me -- and it was interesting to see things from Kristi's point of view, we definitely had different BYU experiences!

Later, Jill took a hugely unflattering picture of me reading my scriptures in bed. Nothing is off-limits to that girl.

Day 1 of our girls' weekend was so so fun -- so much freedom! It was everything I'd hoped and more.