Mary & Martha National Conference...

 Last month I took two of my team members to Mary & Martha's National Conference in Kansas City. I have been so crazy since we got back I haven't taken time to share it with y'all! 

I was blessed that the two ladies that went with me were Jenn who since joining Mary & Martha has become  family to us and Allison who is of course my younger girlie. With her headed off to college soon it was nice to share this experience with her! 

I drove through Kansas City years ago and I have to admit it was not high on my list of places I wanted to visit but it is also the home of Hallmark parent company of DaySpring, our parent company. It was the first time Hallmark hosted us so it was kinda a big deal.

We stayed at the Weston at Kansas City Crown Center the "crown" in that referring to the "crown" that is the symbol of Hallmark... Yes we were right across the street from their corporate headquarters.  

It was one of those ultra posh hotels with a waterfall in the atrium and a lobby that was at the same time enormous but very comfortable to hang out in. 

Here is a picture of a room that looked just like ours... (I took pictures but they turned out blurry) so I snagged this off their website. 

Our room didn't overlook the city but did overlook the Liberty Memorial...

Here is the view from our room! 

The hotel is attached by a series of sky bridges Union Station. 

Here is a view from the sky bridge.

 

It is still a train station but it also houses a museum, a science museum, restaurants, and much more. Also across the street was Lego Land and an Aquarium. Oh and our hotel was also attached to the "Crown Center" which is basically a mall. 

But we were exhausted since we had to wake up at 2 AM in order to leave by 3 AM for the two hour drive to the airport. So by 5 PM Central Time we were exhausted and starving so we went in search of some Kansas City Steaks and then did a zombie walk back to out room. 

Actually, let me back up... When I booked out flights I also booked a driver to pick us up. I specifically requested an SUV pick us up. Imagine our surprise when the driver who met us escorted us to this...

Yeppers... We were "upgraded" to a white stretch limo circa prom 1991! 

After the initial shock we decided to go with it... After all the theme of the fancy dress night was "Prom Through The Ages"!! 

When I said circa 1991 I meant it... Right up to the lighted mirrored ceiling!

Anyhow after a good night sleep we awoke all smiles and did our hair, made up our faces and greeted day one with excitement! 

Jenn & Allie got to go hang out and explore while the "Leaders" met up for a special lunch and a few activities...

One such activity was a VIP tour of the Hallmark visitors center where we were greeted by several of the company executives. 

Every division of Hallmark submitted a "crown" for them to display...

Here is the DaySpring crown.

(Sorry about the picture quality) 

This was on the screen inside the headquarters where we headed next...

How cool it that??

We then went to one of their meeting rooms where we were greeted by these cookies and...

Some more swag... 

(Did I mention they were giving us swag at every stop?) 

Kim Marquette the head of Mary & Martha spent some time with us leaders going over some business related matters, where we are in our corporate goals etc...

Then we filed next door to the Hallmark ballroom to greet our teams...

David Hall the president of Hallmark who had greeted us leaders as we left the meeting room spoke, and so did James Barnett the president of DaySpring (who spent the whole weekend hanging out with all of us) but the most powerful part was listening to three of our leaders share their testimony of how the Lord has used Mary & Martha in their lives. They were very powerful! 

Next they threw a "Welcome to Kansas" party for all of us...

Complete with a live band and KC BBQ...

We were welcome to bring our families and/or our husbands and those who did got to include them in this night... It was crazy but fun! 

Here are Allie & Jenn looking all adorable...

And my director Lanette looking adorable and me looking like I just smelled something bad! After posting this picture y'all can't claim I don't keep it real with you! Hahahaha!! 

The next morning we started the conference bright and early. 

After breakfast and worship Kim greeted us with her usual high energy... Her personality truly is bigger then life! She is amazing and on our first morning there Jenn & I were riding up in the elevator when she got on it with someone from the hotel and was discussing important things... Jenn of course recognized her right away and was instantly star struck... Jenn has been in other direct sales businesses so her experiences was that those at the top are busy and unapproachable, so imagine her surprise when Kim turned around saw us, threw her arms around me, greeted me by name and instantly went about meeting and getting to know Jenn. Mary & Martha really is a family and that was her first taste of that!

After our key note speaker (who was amazing) and another greeting by our president we got to the product reveal... Yay... (I had a lot more pictures but if you aren't in M&M I am pretty sure they would bore you and this post is already getting really long!) 

Instead you can scroll down and see some of our new product line...

After a bunch of break out sessions for the consultants and more "leader" meetings we broke for awhile... 

We headed back to our room where Allie decided to photograph some of her swag...

Then we got ready for our "prom"

Look at these lovely ladies...

I didn't have any pictures of me in my dress but I am sure Allie has one so I will try to post one later!

After dinner and an awards banquet we had a full on prom...

DJ and all... So we all danced the night away.

Sunday morning came bright and early and since it was out last day we were both exhausted and excited! 

After worship we had a time of prayer together that was powerful. After the closing we had to say our goodbyes to new friends. That is the hardest part but for us leaders we know we will all be together again in January. 

Allison was really fired up after conference. After meeting some of the people from our home office she was excited... For a lot of reasons that are mostly hers to share but mostly because she was able to see how Mary & Martha can help her graduate from college debt free.

We then embarked on the long trip home...

We had a major celebrity spotting in the Atlanta airport... 

Yes, we spotted Santa! 

Thanks for listening,