Power of Moms Blitz

Alisa: Any physician (just your regular family doctor) can order blood work. I had my doc check everything from hormone levels to cholesterol levels. My insurance covered it, however, and they told me if it hadn't, it would have been quite expensive, so check with your insurance first. Also, how your blood work is interpreted and the treatment recommended could vary widely from doctor to doctor depending on what you've got going on, so you probably want to know your physician's wellness philosophy. Good luck!

I really wish I didn't need to sleep. It is so annoying at times. I really want to blog more, I really do, but I have to be a mom first. And I have to sleep. (And take showers.)

AND GO TO A POWER OF MOMS RETREAT IN L.A.!

Tiffany Sowby and I (retreat manager for Power of Moms) flew down here to L.A. together on Friday after getting the kids off to school, and we're heading back tonight. 


3 DAYS LATER . . . .


The retreat was a smashing success. I'm glad some of the other ladies wrote about it already, because now I can just link to their blog reports. Here's Emily's take on the whole experience, as well as Tiffany's. (What she's not telling you in this post is about our crazy travel experiences  . . .) 

My super quick summary of the weekend is this:

1) Survived the flight down sitting next to volatile Jack Daniels man. 
2) Felt grateful to my bro-in-law Todd for picking us up at LAX despite our flight delay.
3) Enjoyed an afternoon visiting with my sister-in-law Shauna. (But Todd stole her Granny Smith bread that I carted all the way down from Utah for her since he was the one who ended up picking us up at the airport. At least that's what he said; I bet she stole it back from him. Personally, I can't keep that stuff in the house. It's evil white goodness. Er, badness.)
4) Was lucky enough to go with my in-laws that night to take adorable little Liv back home after the birth of her new baby sister, Eden, and witness their first meeting:

5) Met up with April and took her to my favorite Japanese restaurant in town, Ichiban:

6) Had a mini-slumber party with April at my in-laws, but mostly just prepped for the next day.(Her, a lot, me, a little. I just did a spiel on taking care of ourselves both spiritually and emotionally and a few other things. She did . . . pretty much everything else.) 
7) Enjoyed a full day of awesomeness with 50 other like minded women. No matter how many times I go to these things, I come away with a whole new list of inspirations, or at the very least, a renewed commitment to the things that are already important to me. I absolutely ADORE the women who show up to these events. Some of my very favorite associations are with the women I've met through The Power of Moms. I did a really, really poor job of taking pictures, but here are just a few.

With Tiffany, my traveling companion:

With Alisha, our main editor on the website:

 (It's funny and FUN to see all these ladies in person since we normally just communicate by email all the time . . .)

At one point in the retreat, the rain clouds finally gave way to a bit of sunshine. Tiffany and I (the two who traveled from Utah) instinctively looked at each other and simultaneously snuck outside with programs in hand. We sat at a table and acted like we were going over something on the program, but really we were just soaking up what little bit of sun there was during our brief time in "sunny" southern California:

With the board members who helped with the retreat. I really am a midget:

8) Bought April a belated birthday gift of all my favorite grocery store skin care products (long story) and then made her take me to Pinkberry: 

9) Went for a late night walk in the fog and stayed up way too late talking and laughing about who-knows-what.
10) Participated in the church choir last minute the next morning with my mother-in-law. Tried hard not to laugh when I made eye contact with and saw the look on the face of my friend who was singing soprano and didn't even know I was in town. 
11) Relished a delicious meal made by my mother-in-law (it's always better when someone else makes it!) with Todd, Shauna, and their kids. NO PICTURES! (Like I said, I did a really poor job in the picture taking department this weekend . . .) 
12) Survived the flight BACK to Utah after a long delay due to heavy snow back in Utah. (Poor Tiffany has pretty bad flight anxiety, and I thought she might break my fingers at one point.) Once I got to my car at 10pm, it was about 3 feet under and, of course, I didn't even have a snow scraper . . .

Yep, those are the memories I'll be keeping from my time in Los Angeles. 

Oh! The reason I titled this post "Power of Moms Blitz" is because just three nights before the retreat I was also lucky enough to attend a much shorter (and closer) mini-retreat of sorts in downtown Salt Lake. But I'm getting deliriously tired now, so you can read all about it on Saren's blog. 

Good nighty night!