Hearts at Home

Hearts at Home is a ministry, based out of Bloomington, IL, that was designed to inspire & encourage Mom's of all ages, and, all walks of life. They host an AMAZING conference every year - we are fortunate enough that the National is held at ISU. Last weekend I went with a group of 11 awesome ladies & had such a great time again.

The conference is a 1 day event (can you tell, designed by Moms, for Moms!) with Keynote speakers, and, several breakout sessions you can choose from. They also have an optional Friday night "Mom's Night Out".

On Friday morning we all piled into 2 cars, and, headed North. We shopped a little, checked into our hotel (The Chateau...so nice!),went out to dinner & then headed to the Conference. This year the Friday night entertainment was Chondra Pierce, a Christian Comedian, and, she was really funny! After the event Friday night we all went back to the hotel. 4 women to a room...yes, 4 women, 1 bathroom & 0 casualties..that's what I call success :) We talked for several hours (would you expect any less?!) then got a little bit of sleep before getting up Saturday morning (early!) to start our exciting day. The Conference opens with the worship band & keynote speaker. This year the Main speaker was Jennifer Rothschild - she was AWESOME. I had read one of her books last year..and after hearing her (and even meeting her in the exhibit hall!) I have to say I love her book even more now! Very Cool lady :) Then we all head off to our 4 breakout sessions. It's such a fast paced day! We stop briefly to eat a quick box lunch (sitting on the floor in the hallway!) and then were back off to sessions. There are a wide variety of sessions to choose from every year. I actually found so many I liked, that I bought several recordings to bring home of the ones I didn't make it to. I have to admit though, that my favorite session this year was "No More Headaches" by Dr. Juli Slattery (Focus on the Family). Jason really seems to be enjoying that I attended that session too :) After a full day of sessions, we hit the road home. Of course, we had to stop at Cracker Barrel for some amazing food on the way though :)

My weekend in a nutshell...
1. I ate in restaurants that did NOT serve chicken nuggets as a main menu item.
2. Not once did I have to take anyone to potty. (although, I did tag along with my prego friend a few times!)
3. I laughed & cried until my head hurt (literally!).
4. I had the best Cinammon Crunch Bagel, and, I only shared because it was too big for me. (thanks Alycia!)
5. I'm fairly sure we made a record for the largest number of U-turns on a road trip.
6. There is nothing in the world like sharing these moments with the best girlfriends anyone could ask for :)

Although it was wonderful to get home to my boys...I am already thinking about next year :)