Siesta Fiesta, Baby!

I just don't even know where to begin. All of my thoughts are jumbled up in my head and I can't seem to get them out. The last 5 days have been days that I will never, ever forget.

A year ago, Beth Moore decided that it would be fun to have us a little Siesta Fiesta in San Antonio, TX! How much fun would it be to gather as many of the ladies (and one miesta!) together for a big ol' meet and greet?

A year later, I can tell you that it would be F-U-N!! I have to say that hands down, this was the craziest thing that I have ever done in my life and I wouldn't change it for the world. I finally got to hug my Suzi-Q and meet all of these wonderful women that I now consider true life friends.

You know, I didn't go with the attitude that this was going to be a test to see if these girls were the people that their blogs portray, but they were that and more! An honest to goodness group of beautiful, loving, sweet ladies who love one another and the Lord Jesus! Sisters in Christ, and the love just flowed out between us.

I had to start my pictures with this one of Suzi and little Aliya. This is the most precious baby girl and so good. She hardly made a peep while Beth was teaching. I got to spend some time with them after the conference. I will write about that in the next post! :)

And what would a Fiesta be without Big and Boo? I had the opportunity to meet Melanie, aka Bigmama, and she is so sweet. We only had a couple minutes until the event started again, so we didn't get to talk much. Can I just say that she is absolutely beautiful? I would have loved to have met Sophie, but I could never find her. I am sure there will be another time!

On Saturday, we were able to have a little time with Beth, Amanda and Melissa. These three girls are such a huge blessing and so, so funny! Melissa and Jenny were totally cracking me up with the whole hair thing!
I'm kind of back-tracking here, but this was part of my group of bloggy friends. We were waiting to get in and it was very windy and a little rainy. We tried to bribe the VIP girls with cash so that we could get in early, but alas, they would have nothing of it! If you want to see a picture of that you can go here. I so enjoyed getting to know these beautiful ladies! Cheryl, thank you so much for carting us between the hotel and the dome~~ you and your hubs are the best! Jenny, what can I say about Jenny? I love this girl and she is a hoot and a half. I will never look at backscratchers and jumbo pencils in the same way again! I am looking forward to getting to know you better.
This is Teri and me. We were waiting once again to get into the Alamodome. I love Teri and I was so happy to finally get to meet her. She is just a sweetheart. Thanks for the chocolate, BTW!

Amanda was one of the people I was looking most forward to meeting. I love her blog and it has been so fun watching her son grow up over the last year. I didn't even know that she was Beth's daughter when I first started reading it. I so would have loved to see her friend Janelle and was sad that she couldn't make it. Amanda, you are a gem. Oh, and you are makin' me look SO short!
Ok. I'm not really diggin' this picture of me but I love me some Fran so I had to post it! I just wanted to squeeze this woman with everything that was in me! She has been such a blessing to my life. I know that I can count on her to pray for me. We haven't talked much about it yet, but we both have boys that just started middle school, so I know I will need her to talk to...soon! :)
Steph is such a sweetheart. I so enjoyed spending some time with her. I know that if we lived closer we would be great friends.


Then there is Travis. Travis is a great guy and I couldn't wait to meet him. He was so kind as to give us the name of a church to attend while my family was in TN this summer. Our kids are just about the same ages and in the same order, boy~girl~boy, so in other words... Travis, I'll be prayin' for you! By the way, it took three times to get this picture. The first two ended up as videos that will forever be locked up for none to see... because, well, we look kinda goofy and I promised that it wouldn't be on here, EVER! Did I mention that this guy can sing and lead worship like nobodies business? He's awesome!
Last, but certainly not least is Suzi. I love her so much. We met through Beth's blog. She was the first name that I clicked on the first time I visited the LPM blog. I found her blog, read her latest entry and figured out that I knew her brother-in-law, Jake. Can you believe that? I e-mailed her and the rest is history. We have become good friends and I spent a few days with her and her precious family. I will be writing about that in my next post.
I can't believe that it is over now. I will be watching for the next one...if there is a next one! Until then, I will enjoy the friendships that have been formed through the wonderful world of blogging!

To all of my roomies, Fran, Teri, Jenny, Steph and Suzi: I hope that you will look at your ring and remember this weekend and pray for one another. No matter how many miles there are between us, we know that we can always lift each other up to the One that brought us all together. Love you all!