Take your college roommate to work day.

So, uh this is where my old college roommate works.   

I decided that I need a minute to breathe, so I booked a trip and went to Salt Lake for Time Out for Women.  First 48 hours completely kid/pregnancy free in almost 5 years.  Why would I do that right after surgery?  Well, the surgery kept getting bumped by the Dr.  so it happened to fall in the same week.  However,  I think it was a good thing because I wasn't taking care of kids for a couple days so really it was a break and my leg felt pretty good for the most part.  When I got there I felt all giddy and excited to see her - she has stayed such a great friend over 10 years.  We stayed up way too late talking in her cute little apartment, ate way too much yummy food, and loved every minute of the conference.  Anyway,  what an amazing place to work and she does an incredible job where much is expected of her.  The temple here has been closed for nearly six months now for renovations and it was wonderful to spend the better part of a day there.  I didn't have to rush home a babysitter so I was able to just savor all of it without distraction.  To have quiet moments to be still, to ponder without interruption just doesn't happen a lot with 3 little ones at home and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute.  

 This is my cute roomy and I at Time Out for Women.  There were so many great speakers,  Brad wilcox,  Sherri Dew,  Hillary weeks spoke and sang.  Emily watts,  Wendy Ulrich, and several others, but for me one highlight was when a last minute fill in speaker turned out to be Stephanie Nielson  aka nienie.  She is absolutely amazing and inspiring.  This was my first experience going to something like this and it was great to  hear so many positive, uplifting messages, celebrating womanhood, motherhood, life, etc.  I'll maybe share more detailed thoughts later, but I'm hoping that whether I travel to this or it's at home I want to make this or something similar a regular thing.     

 So I stopped at this fountain for a quick drink and my face got a drink, nice.

And this is my yummy lunch at this cute little restaurant called Blue Lemon in Salt Lake.  Don't eat your screen,  it really was that yummy. 
I missed my family and I was glad to come home,  I felt like I had a little better perspective on things and up for a challenge...got more than I bargained for though when I got home.  That perspective is lots harder to stay focused on when kids are beyond exhausted and whiny and won't stay in bed  and...its' going to take me a day to readjust.