Time Out for Women

aaaahhhh... That's how I feel after my weekend. Relaxed. Ready to take on the week. Excited to become better and improve myself. And a smidge sad that I don't live closer to my mom and sister (okay, maybe it's more than a smidge sad...).

Friday morning I got the kids on the bus and then headed out to Cincinnati, Ohio! Steven was so great to take the day off, so I could have all day Friday to spend with my mom, sister, Amanda, and friends Miranda and her mom, Joy. And I didn't have to answer to any kids, wipe any noses, change any diapers, or share any food!! Ah, it was bliss!! We met at a HUGE Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic Outlet Store. I got quite a load of goodies! Of course, most of it was for the kids, but still! Then we headed to Ikea. Oh, Ikea, how I love you!! We were all hungry so we grabbed something to eat there at Ikea. I wanted to document every moment, but my camera battery was dying. So I had to be very choosy when I took pictures, so I didn't get a ton.

Getting fueled up to tackle Ikea!! Then I wanted to get one with me in it. Miranda was kind enough to take three or four, in which I looked fat, or mom looked asleep. So, I snapped this one, which was not AT ALL better, but I had already erased the 'bad' ones off the camera. So, this is what I was left with!

Amanda brought Ender along and he was SO GREAT! I love this picture below, because it looks like he was being fed ketchup, but really, he was just super happy to see his Aunt Sarah. He's the smiley-est baby ever! You just have to make eye contact with him and he cheeses it for you. He really grew to love me and mom because we introduced him to french fries and frozen yogurt (much to Amanda's dismay).

When we exhausted ourselves with shopping, we headed back to the hotel. Amanda had packed her stuff in a laundry basket. Twice while getting to our room we passed the same guy who heckled her for carrying around a laundry basket. "Laundry!?! Who comes to a hotel to do LAUNDRY?!?" We about peed our pants laughing when Miranda said (as the elevator door was closing after the first run in with him) 'Well, who comes to a hotel to get drunk?' Then, the highlight of the weekend. We got to our room, mom put the key in the door, opened the door, walked in, and the SCREAMED! Like, someone was going to kill her she was SO terrified scream. What caused this terrifying reaction? Her reflection in the mirror!! She thought someone was in the room and it terrified her before she could realize it was only her reflection. Then she started laughing so hard that she just about peed her pants!! Too funny!! We spent the rest of the evening playing games, eating pizza, and talking. It was perfect!

Saturday morning we headed to the convention center for some great and uplifting speakers. We enjoyed lunch out, more speakers, then a great dinner with great conversation. Another fun thing that happened was I ran into one of my old roommates. Candace and I lived together in college for a year. It was so great to see her! We now only living four hours apart, and she's actually in the same town as my sister! It's a small world!

I feel like we all arrived on Friday feeling like this:

But left Saturday feeling like this:

I feel like I need to explain that the tree behind us had a branch that was poking me in the head, which is why I am leaning forward in a weird way. There, now I feel better...

We were very sad to see the weekend come to an end, but SO glad we were able to do this. I'm already looking forward to our 'Craft Weekend' we started planning.