How to get the best seats at General Conference + What cinnamon rolls and swimming have in common!

Goooood morning friends! We hope your weekend's going well. Ours sure is - it's General Conference!

GC is basically a holiday around here, and we get to devote the whole weekend to celebrating it! :) We're watching from home today, and spent the day in Salt Lake yesterday to take in all in! Just livin' the dream! (a description of General Conference is at the very end of this post)

More on that in a minute! This whole week has been pretty darn good, too. It started bright and early Monday morning with PT (Matt's ROTC physical training) and I dragged myself out of bed and ran around campus while he led his squad through a workout. I ended up being so glad I went!

the statue of Brigham Young on campus, in the dark early morning!

 (doesn't it seem like workouts are like that half the time? You have to convince yourself to go, but then they'r great. Haha)

Thirty minutes afer PT Matt was in charge of a small group who raised the flag on campus for the day.

The rest of the day was a regular work day for both of us! My wellness programming projects are coming along at the Provo Rec and I'm looking forward to sharing those with you in a week or so, when they're made public!

Matt stayed nice and busy: midterms started this week!

On Monday night a community FHE was held for the children in our area: a rescue helicopter was flown into our 'backyard' and all the kids in our apartment complex got to learn about it and talk with the EMTs (or whoever flies those helpcopters). 

Although we didn't participate (it wasn't really for adults), it was still fun to watch everyone gather around the attraction. Family Home Evening is taken very seriously around here!

The rest of the week went as usual: I worked full time and Matt worked even more than that. I took time to wind down (and give Matt the apartment to himself for homework) with a long bike ride out in Provo Canyon:

And a long swim at the Rec Center's beautiful pool:

view from the upstairs running/walking track. borrowed image

I haven't gone swimming for exercise in a pretty long time, and was surprised to find that I stayed in for much longer than I expected! It was just so nice to unplug from emails,  and swim up and down the lane without distractions. :) 

I was also surprised that as soon as I walked into the pool room, the smell of chlorine reminded me of cini minis.

Does anyone else remember these bad boys? :D

You see, after summertime swim practices growing up, my mom would occasionally take me, Sarah and Ellen to Burger King for this cinnimoney treat. And even though I haven't had them in years, somehow I've assosciated them with the smell of chlorine! I told my Mom about it and we had a good laugh over this memory!

     =          ??

Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this. Has anyone else made a funny assosciations with scents? :D

Anyway. :) Another highlight of the work week was TEACHING WATER AEROBICS for the first time!! 

Part of my job as wellness programmer is to teach various fitness classes. So, I went back to the pool on Friday to teach the class that was geared toward seniors (ages 60 and over). I started out a little apprehensive!

Since my fitness experience is mostly based in land fitness, I was unsure how this class would go. I had prepared all week though, and was determinded to give it a try. 

It turns out, water aerobics is a lot like land aerobics! The 45 minute class went by in a flash and turned out great! My students left with smiles on their faces. :)

The text message above is from Matt! He was super supportive. :)

It was a fulfilling way to end the work week, and by then we were ready for the weekend! 

Saturday morning, before the sun rose, our alarm went off - it was time to go to Salt Lake for General Conference! :D

We drove to the Front Runner train station in Orem and hopped on the first train heading north. 

It was about 30 degrees that early in the morning, so we bundled up in warm winter clothes. :)

The ride took about an hour. It was a nice alternative to driving - we got to talk and do homework and look out the window, instead of battling traffic and searching for a parking spot!

We arrived in Salt Lake with thousands of others gathering there for the semi-annual (every 6 months) conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Good morning Salt Lake!

 The Church says they expect about 100,000 visitors on Temple Square every Conference weekend. That's a lot of Mormons! :)

We got there early before the first of four Conference sessions and walked around Temple Square, taking in the beauty and excitement. :)

Salt Lake Temple on Temple Square

When it was time for Conference to start we headed to the Tabernacle to watch!

We enjoyed the first session from there in the Tabernacle where they broadcasted it, and loved every minute. Watching General Conference invites a spirit of warmth and love. During Conference we hear from Prophets and apostles who give us direction and guidance for living our best, happiest, most productive lives. Can't do without it!

When the session was over we were happy to hear that those who wanted tickets to the next session LIVE in the Conference Center, just had to wait in the Tab until everyone else had cleared out! Twenty minutes later, all who wanted them were given tickets fo practically the FRONT ROW!

Outside the Tab with our tix

Ever wondered how to get amazing seats at conference last minute? That's how! :D

After a quick lunch we headed to the Conference Center and took our seats. 

You could say we were pretty close up. ;)

By the time the session started, all 23,000 seats in the conference center were filled. 

In a series of announcements about the growth of the Church, our President and Prohet, Thomas S. Monson, announced that the Church now has over FIFTEEN MILLION members!

There are also more members living outside the U.S. than thare are living in it. Pretty sweet, huh? :) It is truly a worldwide Church. 

This session also was amazing, and being there in person was so special. A live session of Conference has the most amazing atmosphere. 

One of my favorite parts of sitting that close was being able to observe Church leaders off-camera: 

Everyone coming in

The women leaders as they started to take their seats

waving 'hi' to each other :D

Being reunited with spouses after conference - look, they're RUNNING into each others' arms! Haha! :D

And walking back out after Conf.

It was so special! These leaders are amazing, through and through. 

One of the highlights of the day was immediately after this session ended, when we were all walking out. We happened to be seated right next to the 'friends and family of church leaders' section, so after the meeting the leaders came down to greet their loved ones. 

As we were walking out, I happened to walk right next to Rosemary Wixom, who has been the General President of the Primary (or Church childrens' group) since 2010. She shined! I must have been staring at her because she looked right over at me, from about 2 feet away, and gave me the biggest smile and waved. Aah! She had such an incredible light and spirit. :) 

After that we walked out and back to Temple Square. 

We hung out, got dinner, ran into friends, and enjoyed Salt Lake for a couple hours. 

Sushi for din!

Then it was time for Matt go to to Priesthood Session!

During the two-hour session, I went to the Ladies Night event at Deseret Book. The store was a zoo, with women crammed into every corner! They had a Hilary Weeks concert, free food, and raffle giveaways all night. It was fun!

Hilary Weeks performing

By the time it all ended, I was exhausted and happy. :) I won a free necklace at the event and got lots of sweet samples. Matt met me in the store when the Priesthood session got out, and together we headed back to the train for home. :)

But the weekend's not over yet!

General Conference continues today. You can watch it too, at LDS.org - that's what we'll be doing! Today we'll be watching from home, and I plan to bake up some pumpkin muffins to have as we watch. 

As you can tell, General Conference is very special to us and thousands (millions!) of others! We devote 10 hours within one weekend every 6 months to watch speakers from our church. 

But why?

Here's a descirption that a friend gave. I cannot agree with it more!

Ever heard of Moses (10 Commandments) or Noah (Noah's Ark)? These men were prophets of God. As prophets they were chosen lead and teach God's children (you and me) and testify of Jesus Christ. God chose prophets throughout history. If there were men chosen of God to teach his Children today, would you want to meet them? GUESS WHAT? There is a prophet and who leads and teaches God's children today. You can hear what God wants His children to know live today. I know God loves His children and He has chosen a prophet to teach us today! Check out what He is telling his children! Click here: http://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng

Will you watch with us? I know you will be so glad you did :)

Enjoy your week, friends! Excited to check in with you next week! :)