Remember that time I auditioned?

Well, I made it! And in so doing, joined the cast of some pretty amazing women.

Tomorrow night, May 9th, we will be performing at Thanksgiving Point in the Amber Room at 7 pm. I hope you will join us as we “give Mother’s Day a microphone”. It’s a show of live readings from local writers all centered around motherhood and what it looks like through our lens. You are sure to laugh, to cry and to call your mom on the drive home.

And you know what? I AM SO EXCITED! You better believe I will be practicing in front of the mirror all day today and tomorrow. My piece honors birth mothers and their motherhood and how it is linked to mine …a topic that is so important to me.

 

10% of ticket proceeds go to The Utah County Children’s Justice Center

Tickets are $10.00 online at the Thanksgiving Point box office or call 888.672.6040.

Use “LTYM2″ at check out to get $2 off the tickets in your basket. TODAY ONLY!

Win 2 tickets to the show from The Healing Group today only.

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day to ALL kinds of mothers.

 

Have a heart for international adoption?

On Monday, April 8th STUCK, the award-winning international adoption documentary film, will be coming for one night only to Salt Lake’s Tower Theater (876 E 900 S, Salt Lake City, UT).

It’s a film that celebrates family with aims to bring more light and hope to international adoption.

Below is a trailer for the movie that will be shown in SLC. (Press the black and white play triangle to watch.)

 

 

You can purchase movie tickets to the event in SLC (or any of the other featured cities) here or you can purchase the movie and watch it at home by clicking the red button above.

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Mr. R and I will be there on Monday as the petition coordinators asking you to sign the petition that will be taken to Washington, D.C. for the Step Forward for Orphans March on May 17th.

Even if you cannot make it to the viewing party on Monday, we would still love for you to sign the petition now encouraging lawmakers to make a child’s right to family a priority.

 

The petition is pretty simple, nothing outlandish or crazy …it just needs your support.

Read and sign the petition.

 

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL (and your signatures) THERE!

 

Not in SLC? Check the tour schedule and see when they will be close to you. You don’t want to miss it.

*This giveaway is CLOSED and the winner has been notified.

 

Mr. R and I are always on the lookout for a good adoption and/or infertility conference.

We are so thrilled to be attending the Choose Joy one-day conference in Laguna Hills, CA next weekend …as well as a little getaway to the sun and sand.

There will be speakers from all walks of life with different stories …who have all decided to CHOOSE JOY in the face of adversity. Check out the classes:

• Blending Bios and Adopted children & Transracial Adoption {Jamie Fink}
• Having a Heart of Hope: Overcoming the Hurt from Infertility {Lesli Westfall}
• God’s Heart for the Hurting; Waiting Hurts, Waiting Perfects {Rachel Goode}
• Fundraising for Adoption {Kathleen Ellis}
• Infant Loss & Miscarriage {Julie Carson}
• When Adoption is your First Choice {Chrissie Rouse}
• Foster Care {Allison Dalke}
• Living Hannah’s Prayer {Amy Srch}
• Living in 2 Week Seasons; Waiting in the Lord’s Timing {Beth Lauder}
• When Adoption Fails {Dena De La Toree & Lisa Frattone}
• Open Adoption {Lesily Davis}
• Special Needs Adoption {Lyndsay Boulton}
• The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly of International Adoption {Vanessa Clairmont}
• The Ethics of Infertility {Scott & Marlo Kurz}

YOU CAN REGISTER HERE.

This is Emmy. Choose Joy is her event. Isn’t she adorable? My sisters-in-law met her at Swiss Days (a handmade market in Midway, Utah) this summer and put us in touch with one another. (Because now my whole family is like one big adoption connection magnet.)

Emmy is an infertility survivor and an adoptive mom who wanted to reach out to others and lift them up–especially those involved in adoption or working through infertility. (Don’t worry, I will be sharing her dramatic and awesome and totally inspiring story with you all next week. Don’t miss it!)

Emmy’s Choose Joy Event will include a luncheon and a dessert, and at the end they will be raffling off a cash prize to help someone grow their family. AMAZING, right?

In order to raise money for the cash prize to be raffled off to someone at the conference, there will be an Instagram Auction. If you have a heart for families hoping to grow their families through infertility treatments or adoption and would like to donate something, shoot me an email and I will get you in touch with Emmy. You do not need to be a Choose Joy attendee to donate to the auction or to bid on an item during the Instagram Auction.

To bid on something, simply check @itsjustemmy’s Instagram feed on Monday for details on how to bid and items to bid on.

You may even want to bid on this baby from The R House Couture:

Tickets are on sale for $30 through the 25th of January (TODAY!).  After that the price goes up to $40, so don’t delay!  Please visit the website for all the details on the location and schedule, bios on each speaker, and to register for the event.

Today I am giving away Choose Joy conference pass! Join us for a day of inspiration and hope if you are in the area, if not, make a little trip out of it and come for the sunshine too.

All you need to do to enter this giveaway is leave a comment. That is all. Tell me why you or someone you love would like to go. Emmy would like you to know that if you have already purchased a ticket and you win the giveaway, your money will be refunded. That way, no one misses out on the sale price.

Giveaway closes February 4, 2013.

I hope I see you there!

 

Disclaimer: I was given free conference tickets in exchange for this post.