Enjoying the conference

A picture of a section of the conference

As you probably know, Stephanie lured me to New England with the promise of meeting Sally at the Iron Sharpens Iron conference for women in Hartford. It was held in a beautiful (and very large) church. We did have an enjoyable time. I particularly liked Elizabeth George's keynote speech that morning and only wished it was longer.

Since Sally's seminar had been switched to the afternoon session (so she could appear on Fox News' Fox and Friends program that morning in New York), Steph and I decided to attend a morning seminar about raising teenagers. While she is far away from having a teen in the house, she thought they would have advice she could use now. I thought they had some good, practical information about parenting.

Of course, my favorite was being able to hear Sally's seminar that afternoon. It was suggested I run ahead and save a seat for Stephanie (who was with Sally and Sarah) and me as they expected her seminar to fill up quickly. It turned out to be good advice.

How Sally can travel to New York to appear on TV at 9:00 (at least a two hour drive, even if they were picked up by a Fox News driver), travel back to Hartford, and give a great presentation... is beyond me.

Stephanie and I had already decided to get away for lunch and thanks to the directions of a very nice African American parking lot guy at the church, we found our way to the nearest Boston Market. It was so good to get away and chat "just the two of us". Steph has long been my best friend and each time we get together, it is like no time has passed at all.

How wonderful to have another person on the planet who has a shared family history and talks the same language. (At Stephanie's church, the ladies kept talking about how alike we were... poor girl.)

We returned from lunch a little late as we stopped for caffeine for the Clarkson ladies (a very important stop on the way back). Even then, there was a big crowd. I wanted to take a picture of the sanctuary but I soon realized if I didn't hurry, I'd be separated from Steph. This is the only picture I had time to snap.

I don't remember the last time I was in such a huge crowd where everyone was pushing each other around. Hmmm... perhaps a couple months ago during my last visit to Starbucks on a weekday morning? :)

It was nice to meet Irina, who is a reader of this blog. She said she would be there but what were the chances of meeting one person in the midst of thousands? She was sitting near the entrance to the sanctuary where Sally's book table was located... smart! We also met her adorable little baby. :)

Except for meeting Sally, my favorite part of the conference was the worship. The worship leader was amazing. I could have listened to him for hours and I usually am one of those people who gets tired if the praise & worship goes to long at my own church.

Next time I'll share about the Bed & Breakfast (since I've received e-mails asking for details) and I think that will be enough talk about the trip. :)