5K Walk & Women's Conference

For this years Stake Women's Conference at church, we started with the Family Fun 5K For Food at 7am. This was not only for church members but for the whole community. Our family was going to do this walk/run together until Aubrey came down with a cough and sore throat earlier in the week so John shooed me out of bed at 5:30am to go on without them. So I did and I'm so glad! It was so much fun and we had a great turn out of about 400 participants. The donation truck was completely full which was just awesome! And the best part was that the non-perishable items were going to the local food bank to help those in need. Physically, I was not prepared for this walk whatsoever. Yes, it's only 3 miles but when you aren't doing that on a regular basis, well - it hurts! And I'm feeling the aftermath of the walk with sore muscles. Since having Andrew I have not gotten back into the routine of regular exercise. This walk has pushed me to start now. I figure now is better than never. Walking with my friend and her mom (also my friend), we walked the 5K in 47 minutes. Not bad! That's a little over 15 minutes per mile. We were talking the entire time that we didn't even realize we were only about a quarter of a mile to the finish line. I think I'm going to be scouting the community for more 5-10K's - especially ones I can involve my children in and walk as a family. I not only attended this 5K for myself and for the women's conference program, but I did it for my Grandfather - whose birthday was today and who also passed away from Parkinson's 8 years ago. He was my favorite! So I walked in his honor and felt good exercising at the same time.

{Me after getting home from the 5K & Women's Conference.}

After the 5K ended, we headed over to the Stake Center to have our women's conference which started out with a really good and healthy breakfast: fruit cups, breakfast burritos, organic salsa, and non-fat cookies (which were surprisingly REALLY good and the extra 2 I brought home were gobbled up by the girls).

{After the conference ended, I snagged this cute angel to take home to my girls that was one of the table decorations. Didn't they do a great job? Aubrey and Jocelyn loved it!}

We were then treated with a great talk given by Pam Hansen, who flew here from Utah to talk to us on bettering our journey. She happens to also be the author of the book Running With Angels that we read last month for our book club. I met her at the 5K and she is such a sweet lady with such an inspiring story!

Here are some notes that I jotted down from her talk:

* When things get hectic, read your scriptures.

* D&C 89:19-21

* Dallin H. Oaks talk (Oct. 2003 Ensign):

"Because of things over which we have no control, we cannot plan and bring to pass everything we desire in our lives. Many important things will occur in our lives that we have not planned, and not all of them will be welcome. Even our most righteous desires may elude us or come in different ways or at different times than we have sought to plan."

1. Rearrange priorities and make time to rejuvenate yourself - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

2. Cultivate respect by respecting yourself in body, mind and spirit.

3. Hold yourself accountable for your actions.

* Sir Edmund Hillary Quote: "It is not the mountains that we conquer, but ourselves."

4. Take care of yourself.

5. Celebrate the small steps in the right direction.

* Alma 26:12

6. Recognize the "times and seasons" of your life.

* Ether 12:6

7. Think positively.

8. You can make a difference.

9. Express gratitude for heavenly and earthly angels.

10. Learn from your marathon journey. Instead of asking, "why me?" ask "what can I learn from this experience?"

I just love women's conference. Every year I go and they are always so uplifting and encouraging. My friend who is the Stake Relief Society President, among many other talented and wonderful women, really pulled off an amazing day! I'm truly thankful for all the time and effort that was put into this event to help recharge our spirits and remind us of the potential we all have to be better women. And now, as always, I'm looking forward to next year's conference!

{These were left on our tables for each of us to take home. GREAT reminder!}