Weekend in Philly

This weekend, I flew to Philadelphia for the ASCD National conference. I went with a group of 10 ladies from work.

We had a blast.

When we got there Friday night, traffic was a nightmare due to some rally. It literally took us half an hour to go 8 miles from the airport to the hotel.

Rainy Downtown Philadelphia!

After arriving we decided to eat dinner close to the hotel so we ate at a quaint little place called The Rose Tattoo Cafe.

Dinner was a bit pricey but it was super good. We all shared the appetizer and then I had salmon for dinner. It was really delicious and healthy! It was one of the ladies birthdays so they brought out Philly cheesecake for us to share. It was heaven on a plate and the two bites I had were just enough to get that sweet ending to the meal.

Saturday and Sunday were both early days getting up at 5:30. Breakfast was a full buffet so I filled up on an omelet with a big thing of fresh fruit and coffee of course.

The whole day on Saturday was spent at the conference where I heard some great speakers on integrating technology into the curriculum. I walked away with lots of great ideas.

Lunch was at this amazing market in downtown Philadelphia, Reading Terminal Market.

What a cool market this is!

I wish I had one of these markets where I live.  The fresh fish and produce there looked amazing!

Fresh Fish!

The place was packed too!

I had to have a cheese steak since I was in Philly, with whiz of course. Surprisingly, it wasn’t all that great. I guess maybe my expectations were too high. Or I just didn’t get a really good one. Either way, the amount of grease probably put a damper on the taste.

The afternoon was filled with more sessions including two Google Chromebook presentations.

I love Google Chromebook because my husband and I have one at home and we use Google docs and a shared Google Calendar. Even with all my prior knowledge of Google Docs and how Google Chrome works, it was a very interesting presentation.

I ended up with a raffle ticket to come back later and possibly win one of three new Chrome laptops. I headed to my next session not thinking much about it. While I was in my next session, I had a very strong urge that I needed to go back to the laptop drawing. In a very calm voice, I heard God tell me to go back to the drawing because I was going to win.

The funny thing is, I never doubted it. I even told the other ladies I was with, after the session, that I couldn’t go back to the hotel just yet because I had to go win a new laptop. On the other end I heard, “Yeah, right. Ok!” My faith never wavered and I headed back to the Google Chrome presentation about 20 minutes before the drawing.

Another presentation was going on so I sat through it and ended up with a second ticket. My chances of winning had just increased. The good thing was you had to be present to win and there were only about 50 people standing there. The other thing I didn’t know was that they were giving away three!

I said a quick prayer right before the drawing, “God, you know I really want that laptop. Please have me win it!” Again, I felt a complete peace that I was going to win.

Not only did I win it, I was called first!!!! He didn’t even make me wait to be called last! I serve an awesome God!

Winning the laptop was the highlight of my trip! Of course, I gained so much knowledge and I am so pumped to teach these kids even more than they already know!

Yep...I won this!

I came back exhausted but thrilled! It was a great trip and I got to know my co-workers even better and on a more personal level.

People say I am lucky that I won the laptop but I say that God rewards us who trust in Him and have Faith!

Have you ever asked God for something, no matter how big or small and He not only gave it to you but exceeded your expectations?

Birthday WeekendReady for the Weekend

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