Another One Month Hiatus

So, if you've been following my blog for awhile, you'll remember that I unpurposely took a one month hiatus last year, due to the climation of my professional efforts all year... the Annual Conference that I plan. Well, like a bad cold, that sucker came around again. Ahh, who am I kidding. I love my job and it's great to see all the hard work pay off. More on that later...

................................ OK, I'm not quite sure how to say this. I guess I'll just spit it out. On April 6, I lost my father-in-law to cancer. After a five-year battle with Leukemia, his body decided it was time to stop fighting. He received a bone marrow transplant in 2006, but faced various complications that weakened his body (but certainly not his spirit). He passed away peacefully in his own bed, surrounded by all of his family, after coming home on hospice care for about five hours. We held a wonderful memorial service at Riverview Church, celebrating his life. We are holding together strong as a close-knit family. In fact, last night, we took family pictures with Amy Carroll. We had scheduled them awhile back, intending for Dave to be in the pictures, but we know he is all smiles up in heaven. Here's a few pics from our wedding back in June 2008.

So, I took a week off of work to be with my husband's family and returned to work four days before my big conference. Nothing like hitting the ground running! I worked long hours but it all paid off when I arrived in Grand Rapids and saw 700+ participants enjoying the three-day event that we had been planning for the last year.

Oh, and I forgot to mention I had a birthday, too. I turned 28 on April 18. With all of life's craziness, it came and went just like any other day, which is fine by me. Matt let me pick out a new Coach purse, so I got a cute green sling and watermelon coin purse. Also, I did get a delicious cake during the conference. :-)

I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to a more normal routine. I have lots of blog updates that need to be written and shared! Nice to "see" you all again!!!