Catholic Women Rejoice in Seven Quick Takes

It's been so hard to squeeze in blogging lately, but I finally have a few minutes at the computer this morning and want to share some pictures from our last stop on our recent road trip.  You can find my first post here with pictures from Idaho, Seven Quick Takes from Seattle here, and Our Visit to the American Girl Store here. Here are 7 Quick Takes from Catholic Women Rejoice!

— 1 —

The last stop on our recent road trip was Portland/Vancouver for the Catholic Women Rejoice! conference. It was my first time attending and I was so excited to finally get to meet Danielle Bean, my editor at Catholic Digest! (I have a deadline this upcoming week for the Jan/Feb issue which will begin my 3rd year of writing the Quiet Moments/Celebrate section!) After nine very full days on the road I was exhausted, but I'm so glad I was able to attend the conference and it was so great to meet Danielle!

— 2 —

I also had the pleasure of meeting Lisa Hendy, Teresa Tomeo, Lisa Ferry and Sterling Jaquith (the conference organizers), and quite a few online friends!



Danielle gave a talk all about how "God Equips The Called" which was excellent, and it was really interesting to hear Teresa Tomeo's testimony "From Secular Anchor to Media Evangelist.

— 3 —

Lisa Hendy, author of A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms and The Handbook for Catholic Moms, provided some great Ice Breakers and Games throughout the day. My favorite was CERTAINTY, The Opposite of Jeopardy! and I'm thinking about trying to incorporate a variation of it into our Annual All Saints Party this year. 

There were so many women of all ages attending the conference, including many mamas with babies! 

— 4 —

The schedule for the day also included Holy Mass offered by Father Juan Gonzales, who I first met last year at our Goddaughter's baptism. 

Speaking of our Goddaughter, here it what she was up to during Mass. It was such a joy to see her again and catch up with her Mama, my dear friend Ursula (Rose's Godmother). The girls actually spent the day having a blast with her Daddy (Rose's Godfather) and all her siblings. 

— 5 —

Ursula was actually helping out with the Soul Gardening Journal booth during the conference. You can sign up for this excellent FREE (provided exclusively by donations!) magazine here. I've been receiving it for years and it's just lovely.

— 6 —

The conference organizers kindly invited me to attend a special dinner with the speakers after the conference! 

I happened to switch places with Lisa for a few minutes, while she was visiting with another women at my end of the table, and Becky snapped this picture! :)  Thanks for sending me a copy! 

— 7 —

While we were in the Portland area we were hosted by Becky and her family! Becky and I have emailed back and forth a number of times over the years and it was so awesome to finally get to meet her and her super fun family! I really hope we can visit again someday. It was such a blessing to make so many amazing new friends on our trip!

You can click over to Becky's blog to see a few more pictures from our visit.  Please keep Becky in your prayers as she prepares to welcome her 6th baby any day now!