From Sea to Shining Sea
Hello my friends!!!
It’s been a while since I caught you up on what’s been going on around here. I’ve been home for almost a week now from my big trip to Utah for the Young Living International Grand Convention. I went with 2 of my grown kids who also love the oils and we had a grand old time. Since there were three of us, we decided it would be more economical to drive. To Salt Lake City. From San Antonio, Texas.
I don’t know what I was thinking. It seemed like a good idea when we were looking at the cost of flying, but on the seventh hour of the second day I wondered what on earth had come over me when making that decision. My back side is still protesting when I go to get in my car. I feel like I drove form one side of the country to the other.
The long drive was really pretty easy though, so I shouldn’t complain. My children that were with me are adults so they don’t require any sort of entertainment or stops for diaper changes and snacks. I met several ladies at the convention who had driven further than I did with babies and toddlers in the car. My hat is off to them….I have nothing to say after that. Frankly I was harder to travel with than my kids, with my constant need for Sonic ice and freezing air blowing on me. At one point my daughter was in the passenger seat next to me wrapped in a blanket and shivering…..it was 100° outside. It was 60° inside.
But convention was AMAZING! I shared a lot of live videos on Facebook showing the new products and how I kept my anxiety in check. Hop over there and you can see the beauty of where we were and how much fun we had. I learned lots and fell even more in love with what this company does for its members and the people in the communities where the farms are. I so wish you had been able to hear all of the beautiful stories of service….that’s where my heart is!
On the way back we decided to take a detour and drive south to see the Grand Canyon. I had not seen it since I was about 13 years old and my kids have never been there, so it was a real treat! Of course, it was so majestic that it took our breath away and we took a zillion pictures. I spent about an hour and a half just staring at it and praying while my kids made videos and went walking down the trails a little ways. Even though it kind of ended up adding a whole day to our trip it was totally worth it. Now I want to take my other kids there….especially the 4 youngest who are still in school. I feel a homeschool road trip coming on!
Once I got home it took me 5 days to unpack. I was worn out and spent the first day resting. Then ever so slowly I started putting things away. First my suitcase got unpacked, but it was all kind of piled in the bathroom. The next day I put those things away either where they belong or in the washer. I tucked all of my oils and supplements back in their places and started finding places for all of the new products and junk I bought. By junk I meant things I am sending to my new members….I absolutely LOVE to send them gifts! And I found a bunch of good ones at the convention from various oily vendors. There were books and cases and gadgets and bottles.
Why oh why do I love those empty bottles?! I think it’s that they’re nothing but possibility. I can fill it with anything I want and create.
By the weekend it was all cleaned up just in time for one of my boys’ birthday, which meant a trip to the city with him and a couple of brothers. We saw “Finding Dory” which they liked, but I thought was pretty much the same as “Finding Nemo”. I wasn’t that impressed, but who cares? They had fun and it was a clean movie, so that’s a win-win in my book. It is way too much to ask for me to enjoy it too. Then we shopped for his birthday presents and I got home that night and fell into bed.
One of these weeks I’m gonna do nothing at all. No parties, no shopping, no cleaning, no nuthin’. Don’t you ever feel like you just need to stop so you can miss some things and want them again? I need to miss people. And grocery shopping….if it is ever possible to miss grocery shopping. I think I could go the rest of my life without grocery shopping and never miss it.
For the fourth we had friends over. These are some of our best friends and we generally spend all holidays together. There’s never an end to the things we talk about, from the state of the church today to food from the 70s. The flow of conversation is always interesting, although in the end we really never settle any of the world’s problems.
This next week it gets even busier for me because my nieces and nephews arrive tomorrow to spend 10 days with us. We are really looking forward to seeing them and spending time together, but I am trying to find ways to fill the days and wear everyone out. My theory is that if they’re exhausted then they won’t complain about missing their parents or not having their own beds. I have a feeling, however, that I will be the only one who gets truly exhausted.
Have a great week! See you in the funny papers.
There’s still time to register for my Moms’ Summer Camp!!! Hop over and join us!! You’ll love it. 🙂