7QTs on Anything Other than SEEK2015

--one--

I titled my first #7QTs post after SLS14 like this, and I like it, so I'm doing it again. Like last year, I get one quick take on SEEK. It's over and that's crazy. I don't know how to handle it. The team got back late Tuesday night, and I've taken the past two days off. It's actually be great relaxing and gearing back up to launch into real life.

--two--

JP is moving to LA to get married this weekend, so we're having a big team dinner and party tonight to say goodbye. I've had the privilege of working with JP very closely on AV, sponsorships, and production these past few months. He's a great guy and I'm going to miss staying at the office really late at night watching movies in the background with him.

--three--

So, I have some news. I have a new job and I'm moving to Chicago a week from today! I don't think I've had much time to process this information until yesterday. I do not have a place to live, but I'm headed there very soon!

--four--

Verily Magazine has a great article about how to move to a new city, so I have officially made a "goodbye Colorado" bucket list. I've gotten calendar time with almost everyone I want to see, so now I just need to add calendar time to visit those few last place I want to say goodbye to. Also, I really, really want to go skiing before I move. I've lived here for a year and a half and I still haven't been skiing or snow boarding. I think I need to take care of that before going to the mountains become a long trip.

--five--

I arrived home on Tuesday night to many Christmas Cards, so that was pretty fun! Thanks to everyone who sent me a card.

--six--

Have you guys started playing Trivia Crack? My sister and brother got me hooked while I was home for Christmas. I can't stop playing.

--seven--

My teammate from Nebraska, Steph, is getting married in four months! I'm super pumped. However, I have to order my dress soon (like today), and I can't decide between these two...any thoughts on which one!? The left is the Poplin Dress and the right is the Marilyn Dress!

Head back over to This Ain't The Lyceum for more quick takes!

7 Quick Whats!?

1. Um, what? #7QTs moved!? Clearly I have been immersed in the SEEK planning world for way to long...but here I am! I'm popping in to say hi today because I've missed you guys, and I've missed writing.


2. I haven't written since October. Which is really weird. Life has been a whirlwind of sleep, work, sleep, work, repeat for the past two months. One of those reasons is because we exceeded our goal of 8,000 attendees...the last time I checked we had about 9,400 people coming to SEEK! Can you believe it!? I definitely cannot. God is so good - none of this happened because of us.


3. In TEN DAYS I will be in Nashville. I don't know how I feel about that! Excited, weird, nervous, hopeful, and like I'm going to throw up. Fun Fact: Jen is one of our main speakers! And I get to run production during her session! It is going to be awesome.


4. One of the strangest things about this job is the timing. I'm headed home for Christmas tomorrow, but I will pretty much be working straight through SEEK. Today I'm grateful that my family is understanding of the demands of this job and that my boss lets us work remotely.


5. My brother is coming to SEEK, so that's cool. It's strange to think how significant of a part of my life planning events is, but no one in my family has ever attended one I've planned. So I'm excited for him to see what I do, but I'm more excited for him and all other 9,399 people to experience the conference.


6. I would like to shoutout to Emily, Carley, Steph, & Carol for being really good friends this week. I love you guys. Additional shoutout to Murph who I get to see in the AM for brunch.


7. I picked up this book at the store on Sunday. Because I'm, well, Crazy Busy, I have only read the first chapter. And I already recommend it. I think it's going to be just what I need.

Hop on over to, um, This Ain't The Lyceum, for more quick takes!

7QTs on #whatmovesyou

--one--

Let's start with a question...What Moves You? What gets you up in the morning? Why do you do every little thing that you do? No, I don't want the answer that you know you're supposed to give, I want to know what really moves you?

It's time to engage that question, to go deeper than the simple, easy answers. Come explore with us; register at www.seek2015.com. Join the conversation: #WhatMovesYou.

--two--

I've watched this video a lot of times in the past couple of days and I've really started to engage the question myself. Sure, I know the answer. Jesus. He's the answer to every question, right? But...is He really what moves me? Is He truly the guiding force of my every action at every day?

My friend Mary writes for Catholic News Agency, and she wrote an awesome blog post about SEEK, Socrates, & Beyonce. You should check it out, and start asking yourself that question. (And if you don't know #WhatMovesYou, join us for SEEK!)

--three--

I've been praying a lot about living simply and living in the moment. On the Feast of the Assumption, I went up into the mountains with (a different) Mary & Steph to go stand up paddle boarding. It was so much fun and so incredibly beautiful. As we were paddling, Mary said, "Isn't it awesome that God's will for us today is to stand up paddle board and soak up the beauty of nature?" That is living in the moment, my friends.

--four--

Last week, FOCUS Events was so #blessed to be able to help out with the Amazing Parish Conference. It was an intensive two day workshop for parish leadership teams to help their parishes become truly, well, AMAZING! It was cool stepping into another event with the goal of making disciples, but for a different audience. I think this Amazing Parish movement is really important. I'm excited to see how they grow in the next few years, and how Amazing our Church can become.

image via.

--five--

Christine and John Paul asked me if I would be interested in helping with production (aka Audio Visual things) for the conference. While I basically had no idea what I was doing, I had so much fun. I got to run microphones to people asking questions in the audience, move chairs and podiums on stage and then off again, and help Matt Maher sound check. 

But the BEST part was getting to call camera's for the Thursday morning Mass. I was terrified that I would mess up, but I think it went pretty well. It was cool knowing that what everyone was seeing up on the big IMEG screens was there because I put it there! Our AV team (JP, me, 2 PSAV guys, & 3 video guys) was the reason every went so smoothly. Everyone was so much fun, especially when we told lame jokes over our headsets. 

--six--

Recently, we've been talking a lot about how important it is to spend time with the people we work with and invest in our teams so that we have trust and a good working environment. I am so #blessed that the Events Team gets along so well and we make loving one another a priority. 

On Wednesday, we had a team half day offsite with our #SuperTeam (read: all the departments that my boss' boss oversees) at the Colorado Rockies game. It was crazy hot (read: 91 degrees on the roof of a baseball stadium), but it was crazy fun. It was really fun getting to know everyone a little better and learning about their team dynamics. Take some time to intentionally invest in your team this week - you won't regret it.

--seven--

I have very exciting news, my friends. On Monday, the FOCUS Blog is publishing one of my posts! I'm pretty stinkin' excited.

And let's be honest...it's the main reason I posted some quick takes today. If you're stopping by because you found me via the FOCUS Blog...HI!!! IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU! Leave a comment and introduce yourself! I hope you like cat pictures and FOCUS Conferences, because that's pretty much all I write about.

Here's a cat pic, incase that's your thing.

Everyone else: be sure to check out www.focus.org/blog on Monday to see me in all up on the fancy FOCUS Blog!!

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Linking up with Jen. Check out more quick takes at conversiondiary.com.

7QTs on Jim Gaffigan at SEEK & NST

--- 1 ---

So, this was announced on Tuesday:

People were pretty excited. Heck, our whole team is pretty excited! I think my favorite reaction was this:

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.

We had like 10 people sign up within three hours of the announcement. Which is so great! We're bringing Gaffigan so more people will come. You should probably come, too.

--- 2 ---

Also, when you search the #SEEK2015 hashtag on twitter, it seems that people who are not in college really want to come to SEEK, and think that they can't.

Good news, people. You do not have to be a college student to come to SEEK. It's for everyone! If you want to know more about the Catholic faith, want to deepen your faith, and are at least a senior in high school, SEEK is for you. Registration is open at www.seek2015.com, so go check it out. And register now, because there are some legit contests going on.

--- 3 ---

Jen's book, Something Other Than God (or SOTG), came out on Tuesday! Hooray! You can buy it on amazon & enter in her amazing contests. I need to remember to buy my copy!!

UPDATE one minute after publishing - I just bought my copy! 

--- 4 ---

Remember how I gave up TV for let? It was a really good life choice...except now I want to watch everything nonstop so I can get caught up. Ugh.

--- 5 ---

The theme of my week at work has been CARNIVAL!! We're having a welcome carnival to kick off summer training and it is going to be SO FUN. A few of the FOCUS execs have agreed to sit in a dunk tank for a bit. It is going to be legit. The main thing I have learned from this carnival endeavor is that photo booths are expensive. 

--- 6 ---

Last week 4/5 of my team finished reading Divergent. In the back of the book, there is a quiz that you can take that will place you into your faction. Christine & I made everyone take it at the Fort Myers Airport, even if they didn't read the book. We declared our layover in Indianapolis "Choosing Day." Hilarious. Christine & Christina have now both watched the movie as well, and they engaged in quite the passionate discussion about the differences between the two this morning. Christina just said, "I don't want to work! I want to talk about Divergent! Yes, we are all working adults and we are obsessed with this YA book. #notashamed

I just got my hands on Insurgent and Allegiant, so I'm looking forward to some quality reading time this weekend.

--- 7 ---

We are 22 days out from week 0 of NST, and I am 28 out from heading down to Ave for a month. The worst part of NST is packing for it. How do you even pack business casual for a whole month!? I know I did this the past two summers, but the task seems so daunting. I think I need to start planning my packing strategy now so I don't go insane.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7QTs on Traveling to 10 Cities in 8 Days

If you were to count airports, I was in 10 different cities these past 8 days. Woof. Please enjoy the following quick takes that chronicle my cross country journey this week.

--- 1 ---

City #1: Leawood, Kansas. My whole family was home for a hot second with enough time to go to lunch on Saturday. It was great to be back Friday & Saturday afternoon to spend time with those that were home. I didn't do much, so it was a nice, relaxing way to start this cross country adventure.

--- 2 ---

City #2: Kansas City, Missouri. Megan, a friend from Drake, lives in town, so I got to spend a bit of time with her Friday night. Also, she's watching my cat before my allergic roommate moves out, so that was fun.

--- 3 ---

City #2: Lincoln, Nebraska. Read about this trip in more detail here. This trip was filled with ALL THE NOSTALGIA. It was great.

City #3: Omaha, Nebraska. AIRPORT.

City #4: Chicago, Illinois. AIRPORT & being reunited with Carol!

--- 4 ---

City #5: Nashville, Tennessee. SEEK 2015 is a mere 8.5 months away. Crazy. I am so glad I was finally able to see the space so I could stop picturing the Hyatt in Dallas for this event. The Gaylord Opry is HUGE and has three giant gardens indoors. It's amazing. I could start to picture what it would look like with 8,000 college students bustling through there. Our CSM, Banquet Manager, & Sales Manager were great - it is always nice to have a face to all the emails you're getting.

The best part was spending time in the exhibit hall with EideCom, our production company, and the marketing team brainstorming ways to implement the theme and the feel into the set and the space. I am so excited to keep working on it and to see what happens when it comes together. #whatmovesyou

Something I don't think I'll ever get quite used to as a meeting planner is the VIP status the hotels treat you with. When we check in at the Gaylord, they took us into a room called Celebrity Services. What!? I am not a celebrity. Regardless, it's fun to be treated well every now and then, even though it can get awkward when they discover our whole team is under 30.

City #6: Atlanta, Georgia: AIRPORT.

City #7: Ft. Myers, Florida: AIRPORT.

--- 5 ---

City #8: Ave Maria, Florida. We returned to the tiny, tiny town near Naples to prepare for New Staff Training (NST). Not only was the trip fun, it was essential to the success of NST. For the first time we had the Event Managers (the events team), the Collegiate Outreach Representative, Formation, the Committee Heads, and Ave Maria together in one place to talk about NST. We toured, we planned, and we had a lot of meetings. But mainly, we had epic golf cart races from Queen Mary's Pub back to Xavier Hall. Brian, Cait, & I totally beat Christina, JP, & Mark. This team is great, and I think we are going to ROCK NST2014.

--- 6 ---

City #9: Indianapolis, Indiana: AIRPORT. When we got off the plane I mentioned to Christine that every single time I've been in this airport the last few years I've run into someone I know. To which she responded, "well, today is the day that will change." Such a naysayer. Approximately 10 minutes later we were waiting for our lunch and Paige, a former camper of mine strolled by. I had her in Teton in 2011 when she was a baby sophomore. Now she's 18 and graduating in 19 days! I'm old.

Paige is Mt. Wister in this picture.

City #10: Denver, Colorado: HOME.

--- 7 ---

You know you've been on a site visit when the last 25 pictures on your phone are of different meeting spaces.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

My Favorite Moments from SLS14

Gosh, what a whirlwind. From Tuesday, December 31 to Wednesday, January 8 I was living the dream as an event planner. SLS14 was incredible and I can hardly believe it's over. Since arriving home on Wednesday I have rested up and I think I finally know what day it is. 

So many incredible things happened at SLS. It's hard to pick just 10. But here's a quick list of moments I wrote down on the plane.

My 10 Favorite SLS Moments

1. The crux of SLS was what we called "Power Sessions." Students were randomly sorted into small groups and were supposed to teach each other the basic tools for evanglization that they learned earlier that day. It could have fallen a part so easily. So watching the Power Session begin to  actually work on Friday night was awesome. Everyone filed in, got into their groups, and figured out who was going to do what for the rest of the week.

2. Okay, great. They got into their groups...but would they actually teach each other? After all of my things were settled Saturday afternoon, I headed down to Marsalis Hall to see how the Power Sessions were going. I was not prepared for what I was about to walk in on. There in that exhibit hall were 1500 students teaching each other how to share and teach the gospel message with others. I was so overwhelmed. I could feel the grace pumping through the room. I teared up and thanked Jesus for these students who were open to learning how to share His love with others.

Image via John Paul Rudolph.

3. Did you know that Pat Lencioni and Matt Maher are good friends? Well, now you do. During the closing session, Pat was talking about Matt, and Curtis interrupted by saying, "Pope Benedict told me never to name drop." Quite the hilarious moment.

Image via EideCom.

4. Christine, Carol, and I went to see the beginning of Dr. Sri's keynote on Saturday. I was unable to sit in on the opening keynote on Friday night, so this was my first time in the main ballroom with all of our attendees. Steve Pries, our emcee, introduced Dr. Sri and the crowd went crazy! The students were standing and cheering - before he gave his talk! It was cool to be in there for that moment knowing I had helped make that happen in my own small way. Carol, who does our speakers and entertainers, loved that moment a lot.

Image via John Paul Rudolph.

5. John Paul let me listen in on the production com and watch production on Monday night during the keynote. It was crazy and fun to hear them count down the keynote and call different camera shots. 

6. While on com, I got to help our emcee, Steve Pries, and Matt Maher sneak into the audience to do an in-house interview before the keynote. It was so fun and the crowd went crazy. 

7. After Curtis keynote Monday night (a lot of these top moments happened Monday...), we launched SEEK 2015. The student's reactions were so great - one jumped up and yelled, "I'M REGISTERING RIGHT NOW!" Christina verified it over the walkie.

8. We ended SLS with series of short talks on what it means to be a Catholic Leader in the world. Pat Lencioni talked about what it actually means to be successful. He told the room full of students that if he had the choice, he would rather his kids grow up to be FOCUS leaders than anything else. It was pretty powerful.

Image via EideCom.

9. The high of SLS: Adoration/Confession night. I loved adoring Jesus from the balcony Sunday night and realizing just what was happening all around us. The incense, the spot lights, the worship band, the procession - it was all beautiful. I was overwhelmed each time the spots would hit Jesus and I would see students weeping. Walking through the ballrooms there were students being prayed over, a packed confession line was overwhelming. In this moment I felt so grateful to be called to this mission with FOCUS. I am so humbled that Jesus has asked me to bring others to Him through these events.

Image via John Paul Rudolph.  

Image via John Paul Rudolph.

10. As SLS drew to a close, all FOCUS leadership starting say that this event is a game changer for FOCUS. My favorite quote came from Jim, my team director from last year. Jim said,

"We will be talking about what FOCUS was like pre-SLS14 and post-SLS14. FOCUS will never be the same after this weekend."

Thank you to everyone who helped make this event possible!

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