I was able, this year, to go up to Utah for the annual Rootstech Family History conference. Kristy and I made plans to attend last year and it was a really fun weekend! We managed to fit a lot into the three days we had together.
Wednesday (February 11th) I went to my biology lab and lecture, then straight to the airport. On the way to the airport I got the phone call that I had gotten the second job I had applied for at LDS Family Service. But more about that later...
I got into Prove about 5pm. Kristy and her roommate Alicia were there to pick me up. Then we went to dinner at Zaxby's - a really good fast food chicken place. When we got back to Kristy's condo, we spent a little bit of time planning which of the classes at the conference we want to go to each day, and then we rented and watched the Backstreet Boys movie. It was a little ridiculous, but of course we had to watch it. We both thought there was a lot about their history as a group that was left out and found that kind of interesting.
Day one of the conference: Thursday.
We decided to take the Frontrunner train from Lehi up to Salt Lake because we thought it would be cheaper. But it wasn't. However, by the time we figured that out, it was too late and we were committed. It was an experience and just added to the adventure of the weekend.
Neither of us were really interested in the opening keynote speakers for day one, so we didn't rush to get up there for that. When we got to the Salt Palace, we checked in and got our name badges, then went to our first class. It was an interesting class about learning how to search for information on how old people had to be to do certain things in history by looking at the laws of the time and place. This is helpful when you come across documents that mention someone doing something (witnessing a will, being a guardian, holding a government office, etc) but there is no mention of how old he or she was. You can look at the laws to figure out an age range which is really helpful in determining if the person in question is your relative.
After that first class it was lunch time and we walked across the street to City Creek and went to The Cheesecake Factory. It was really yummy! As it always is. I got the BBQ Chicken pizza (my usual) and we share a piece of the Adams' peanut butter cup cheesecake. YUM!!
The second class we decided to go to was all about tips on using Google to search for family history information.
As part of the conference there was a large Expo Hall set up with tons of vendors with booths. We spent a lot of time walking around, trying things out, getting information, and looking at all the cool things people had.
By this time we were so tired that we sat down in the area they had set up as a demo area. Every 10-15 minutes a different vendor would get up and give a little demo about their product or service. We sat through a couple different demos. At each one they would pass out raffle tickets and at the end of each presentation the vendor would have something to give away. During the second presentation I won! I got an Anniversary Plaque showing two family crests.
Since my parents' anniversary is coming up I got McLaws and Matsen.
Now. Here's the thing. I don't think this is real and right. Because #1) They had to use "Madsen" for anything to come up and we're not really from that lineage. And #2) I don't believe the McLaws one because that line is so muddled up right now. Nevertheless, it's still kind of fun to have. The two family mottos are fun and we've decided to adopt them, whether or not they're really true, or not.
Matsen motto: Woe to the timid
McLaws motto: Let us be judged by our actions
After spending some more time wandering around the Expo Hall we went to the opening concert they had. The performers were Alex Boye and The One Voice Children's Choir. They were both really good and it was a fun time. Finally, we left and made our way back to Lehi on the train. By this time it was almost 9 o'clock at night and we were both starving! Luckily there is a Cafe Rio close to Kristy's condo, and we went and got salads.
So good! But we both ended up having really weird dreams and decided that maybe eating Cafe Rio that late at night wasn't such a good idea...
Day Two: Friday
We got ready early and drove up to Salt Lake. The train yesterday had cost us both almost $9. Parking was only $10-$12. It was cheaper to drive up and split the parking cost than to ride the train again. We both ended up wearing grey jeans and a maroon shirt without coordinating with each other! Great minds think alike :)
We caught the tail end of the opening speakers (Laura and Jenna Bush) then went to a class about the myheritage.com site. It was really interesting and I think it might be a good resource for my researching because they specialize in British (including some Scottish) and Irish records and documents.
Lunch today was at the Olive Garden. Yummy soup and salad! After lunch we went to a couple more classes that were kind of boring and not really about the things we thought they were about according to the written descriptions they had.
We decided not to stay for the closing performers and instead cut out early afternoon to do some other things we wanted to do. We went to a small little Parisian bakery close to where we were. We bought a couple different things and shared them: macaroons, shortbread, and a nutella muffin thing. The nutella one was the winner as best tasting.
Then we went and got pedicures, and went and saw the movie "Jupiter Ascending" on the IMAX screen at Thanksgiving Point. We got a mammoth sized popcorn to match the mammoth screen we were watching the movie on! The movie was fun and we both really liked it. When we got back to Kristy's house, we ate some of the Valentine's Day chocolates Kristy had gotten from her students at school (her roommate brought home the valentines from the school parties).
Day Three: Saturday
We got up even earlier today and drove up to Salt Lake again. We wanted to be there for the keynote speaker: Donny Osmond!
It was a good opening session. Donny spoke and sang a few songs. Noelle Pikus-Pace (olympic skeleton racer) spoke as well. After the opening session, we left and walked over to the City Creek mall again. We walked around, and went into a few stores, then met up with Aunt Jeri for lunch at Blue Lemon.
After lunch we went to another general session with Elder Anderson as the speaker. He issued an extended challenge to everyone to focus on this year when it comes to family history and temple work.
We didn't go to any classes today because there weren't any that we were really intersted in. So, after Elder Anderson's presentation we went back to the Expo Hall for a little while because Kristy was interested in getting some information on getting a Master's degree in Family History. We got some information and then left.
There were so many people there today because it was Family Day. The closing session was with Elder Cook. Today was probably my favorite day at the conference because it was more LDS focused and we got to hear from two apostles.
The closing ceremonies were with the cast of Studio C (who were kind of lame and just sat up on the stage answering questions from twitter) and David Archuleta!
He's so cute. I love him.
For dinner we went and got sushi. This was my first experience with real sushi and I really liked it! The funny thing was: today was Valentine's day and I'm pretty sure everyone at the restaurant thought Kristy and I were there together on a date. When the bill came I offered to pay it because I owed Kristy for my part of the parking the last couple days and, I said, "Everyone here thinks we're on a date and I'm the butch one so I'd be paying anyway."
We both laughed, but it was also kind of sad, that that's the way our society is. And even though not everyone was probably thinking that about us, there was probably at least one, and it makes me sad.
Sunday we were able to sleep in a little, then we got dressed and ready and I packed up. Kristy drove me to the airport then went to church.
It was a really fun trip and I learned a lot of great tips for continuing my family history search. I wish we'd had a little more time so I could have gone over to the family history library and spent some time talking to someone and getting some help with my McLaws line.
I love having a best friend that will go to family history conferences with me, who will watch silly Backstreet Boys movies with me, who will eat yummy food and not judge me for how much chocolate I eat and how much Diet Dr. Pepper I drink. I wish we lived closer so we could hang out more, but it just makes the time we DO get together more fun and special.
