Joint Spouses Conference '12

I was so excited about this year's conference that I was up early with my list of desired classes waiting for registration to open! I didn't want what happened last year to occur again... despite a server crash and having to register for Adrien (she had to go to work before they fixed the server and re-opened registration) I got the workshops I wanted this year!

It's not often that I am up before the sun, morning and I just don't mesh, but Saturday I was and off to pick up Adrien at 6:30am. We arrived on Ford Island, got a prime parking spot, checked-in, got our goodies, then chose a spot for the opening ceremony. Breakfast was delicious!

After breakfast Adrien and I headed to one of the hangars for our first workshop of the day - Yoga Therapy! The class was very informative and interesting to see how we treat our bodies. Jennie Lee was our teacher, she was extremely knowledgeable and approachable in all subjects that were brought up during our session.

My second workshop of the day was Chocolate Paradise! MmmmMmmm... Lèzanne Fourie of Lively Appetite was our teacher, she is originally from South Africa so she had the coolest accent and called things some different names (such as "slicker" instead of "table cloth"). We were taught how to make chocolate ganache to turn into truffles - I made cocoa, spicy cayanne, Hawaiian sea salt, and walnut - chocolate dipped strawberry tuxedos, and sugar/chocolate after dinner mints! I was so full and happy after this class.

Lunch was next on the schedule so I went back to the conference room and met up with Adrien and Yvette. Our guest speaker Mrs. Hawaii 2012, Stacey Snee, is a Navy Veteran, Navy Spouse, and Mother of 2! She had some awesome words of encouragement and advice to offer to each of us women living this lifestyle. After her speech we were treated to hula by some beautiful girls and some door prizes before heading back to workshops.

My third workshop of the day was Digital Photography taught by Jeff Baldwin. We talked about light, tripods, and using angles to your advantage. I was also happy to hear that he personally doesn't shoot in all manual... usually av mode. Which was a sigh of relief for me, because constantly changing EVERYTHING on my camera while trying to capture fleeting moments is kind of overwhelming. We took a photo of a torpedo in the hangar at a "unique" angle and then had him approve or have us try again.

My final workshop wasn't very impressive, Healthy Cooking, taught by Chef Leslie of Macrobiotic Hawaii. For some reason I thought it would be more hands on instead of a dialogue format. I learned a couple of things, but I won't be changing to a macrobiotic diet, and I still can't afford to eat all organic... I do my best. We all do our best with what we have. After this workshop there was a closing ceremony info expo & social. We got wine, pupus, signed up for information we were interested in, and then they gave the raffle prizes away. Adrien won a basket, she was nice enough to split its contents with Yvette and I. Walking out to the parking lot the sun was dipping down over the horizon so of course I had to grab some photos! It was a GREAT day!