The Woodlands, TX Convention

Had a great time at my last convention of the season. Started out a little rocky though. My plane was late leaving, so I arrived about 30 min later than scheduled. We checked into the hotel, went to a local BBQ restaurant called Thomas BBQ (it was delicious, tons of food, very reasonably priced), and then went to set up our booth at the Marriott Convention Center. I'm so glad Esther and I had decided to just take our work clothes to change into, because our pallets were FILTHY! Some kind of black, oily stuff was all over our boxes. Everything was so black, we had to keep washing our hands between boxes so we could actually touch our curriculum books without leaving handprints, ugh!! Finished setting up around 4:15 and our booth was supposed to open for business at 5pm!!! Keep in mind that during set-up we already had people coming around asking questions.

We were one of the sponsors of this convention, so we had an EXCELLENT booth space. Foot traffic was phenomenal. As well as, we were listed on a punch card for customers to take to all sponsoring booths. When they had their card filled, they were entered to win an IPad2. Needless to say, we had a lot more people come through than we would otherwise have. I believe that really helped with our sales as well. We didn't just punch their card and let them move on :) We started asking questions finding out what their homeschool needs are and it gave us a chance to discuss what is so awesome about our curriculum!

Worked 5-7pm and were very happy with our sales. We went to the Cheesecake Factory and enjoyed a delicious dinner, then crashed at the hotel because we knew a busy 2 days were to come if Thurs night was any indication.

Friday and Saturday passed in such a blur! I have never worked a convention that seemed to go by so fast! We were busy back to back with customers from start to finish of each day. Friday night, we went to Outback and one of the reps from Pensacola Christian College went with us. It was really neat being able to laugh about our college "rivalry" and the differences between the two colleges.

Saturday, as I was helping a customer I looked up to see Casey standing behind them showing me 2 tickets to Tim Hawkins!! I couldn't believe it! Didn't even know he was there!! He was on the hunt for a 3rd ticket for Esther because it was a sold out show! A few hours later, he walked by flashing 3 tickets!!! He's awesome! :)

We finished up the show, got everything packed away and on the pallet. Casey ran to get in line for seats since the concert was general seating. Esther and I took all our bags out to the car. As we were walking back in, I started getting texts from Casey saying that they were closing the doors in approx 10 min! We hurried in and finally were able to sit for a bit and recover from packing up. Casey got great seats! Tim Hawkins didn't disappoint! We laughed so hard, we were crying and our cheeks hurt! I've been a fan of his since I found him on youtube. He's actually a homeschool dad so he had some great homeschooling material that we could relate to. I've been wanting to see him in person, but it had never worked out up until that night!! What a great birthday present since my birthday was the next day :)

We were starving when we left the concert since we had been so busy that we hadn't eaten since breakfast, and it was now 9pm! So, we headed out to P.F. Chang's. I had never eaten there before so I'm glad Casey was a veteran :) He gave several recommendations, and I have now discovered I LOVE that place! I am a very picky eater, and don't really branch out to try new things. However, during my travels I have really learned to stop being that way. I am in LOVE with the lettuce wraps! Going to try and figure out how to make them! We also shared the Great Wall of Chocolate cake! Oh my goodness....you've never tasted anything like it!! 6 layer chocolate cake with delicious fudgy icing and chocolate chips on the outside, surrounded by a raspberry sauce and a pile of strawberries. Huge rush of flavors in just a tiny bite! Soooo delicious!

Had such a great time, but was very glad to be going home to my family. I miss them terribly while I'm gone, but I do enjoy the few days of just "getting away". I have found that while I'm gone, they seem to really appreciate me :) Had to fly home on my birthday, but I came home to a great welcome.

We had pizza for dinner at my in-laws and found that Ashleigh and Grammy had made my favorite! Iced Chocolate Chip Cookie, sheet cake size. It was delicious!! Enjoyed the fellowship and celebration.

Now back to the grind of daily RV living.... :)