Hello Sweet Shoppers! This is Lydia, here to tell you a little about a fun event I attended this last weekend. When I first signed up for this blog post, I had no idea what I was going to post about. But, then it dawned on me that I would be attending Time Out For Women just days before I posted on the blog. And, I knew that that’s what I would talk about. Time Out For Women is an event produced and sponsored by a local faith-based publisher/bookstore. Every year, they put together a program of speakers and musical artists to do a 2-day event for women. And, then they take the show on the road. This year, they are putting on events in 22 different cities throughout the United States. For the last two years, I’ve been lucky to work as a volunteer at Time Out For Women, helping to spread the word beforehand and then helping with whatever needs to be done during the event itself. This year, I was assigned to time the speakers. Basically, each time a presenter got up on stage, I (and my fellow timer, Rebecca) had to set the timer on a big clock that sat in front of the stage so that he/she could see how much time was left. It was a fun job, and it put me up front and center, right near the action. Bonus!

The speakers this year were fabulous! I laughed a lot and cried a little. I came away with new ideas about how to be a better mom, a better wife, a better friend, and a better me.

But, one of the best things about this weekend was that I got to spend a little time with some great friends (and I got to make some new friends, too).

The two gals on the left of this photo are some of my oldest and dearest friends. We’ve been friends for more than 30 years. We went to Elementary School, Jr. High, and High School together. As the years have come and gone, there have been times when we’ve lived far away from each other and times when we’ve lived closer, there have been times when we haven’t been as “in touch” as we were at other times. But, these gals have always been there, part of my life that I treasure. After I had my baby in August, these two beautiful women came to my house one day with lunch for me and my kids, a freezer meal to use later, and a sweet baby gift. We ate lunch together, they held and fed my baby, and we just chatted. I appreciate their friendship so much. That lovely gal on the right is someone that I only met last year. But, it feels like I’ve known her for a much longer time. It probably has something to do with the fact that she went to high school with my hubby, married a guy from the neighborhood that I grew up in, and currently lives in my hometown. If we sat down and made a list of our mutual friends/acquaintances, it would be a very long list. It was so fun to see her again!

You may recognize Tana and Andrea in that photo above. Tana (tanbanan) was the one who first got me started in digiscrapping. When I expressed an interest, she showed me the ropes and linked me up to the best places to buy digi supplies (including the Sweet Shoppe). Andrea (AndreaG) is another member of our SSD community. I knew her from the digi world for quite a while before I ever met her in real life. And, another digi friend who was at the Time Out For Women Event was Rebecca. We are on a CT together, but I had never met her before. In addition, she was my follow timer at this event, and it was really fun to talk to her and get to know her a little bit. Here I am with these other wonderful digi girls.

The theme for the 2012 Time Out For Women event is “Seek the Good.” Coincidentally, my One Little Word for the year is Good. I’m working on seeing the good in my life everyday and creating good memories for myself, my children, and my family. Already, that word has helped me to feel more positive and upbeat about all the twists and turns that seem to come along in life. And, attending this event over the weekend only helped me to find more ways that I can find good things in my life.

I thought my pictures from this weekend were perfect for doing a layout for one of the February Portfolio Challenges this month. While I don’t consider myself to be a fantastic photographer, I did try to get a few photos of some of the details of this event, and I used them to make this layout for Challenge #2.

Well, that’s it from me for now. I hope everyone has a great day and that you all find lots of GOOD things to be grateful for!