The truth is… that there will probably be several posts relating to United.  It’s just THAT kind of conference with THAT kind of impact.  And for now, I’m going to give you a short list of things that make United awesome.

• It takes place in Santa Barbara, California.  Which means lots of things…
• …we get our yearly fix at In ‘n Out Burger.
• …California is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L… even when it’s 65 and cloudy, it’s still gorgeous.
• …Santa Barbara has become one of my favorite places to go.  It mostly has to do with the people we get to see there each year, but it’s just a gorgeous place with so many fun places surrounding it.
• …we get to visit the beach and drive into the mountains just by turning around.  Seriously, it’s all right there together!
• United is filled with way more hugs than handshakes… so much so that a few people with our group hugged people NOT with our group a couple of times!
• United is about sharing, serving and celebrating… and getting to see that on all kinds of different levels last week was so good for my heart.
• Laughter… lots and lots of laughter!
• Getting to spend the last 10 days with my husband is one of the best parts of taking this trip each year.  We just enjoy BEING together.  Seriously, I’d be content if all we did was sit and watch the grass grow as long as we were able to do it side by side.  So, getting to go on trips like this (even when it’s business related) is SO much fun!
• The hardest part about coming back from a trip like this is that when Ben goes back to work, it’s an adjustment to not be by his side all day long!
• Being able to photograph people and styled shoots that I don’t otherwise have the chance to do is SUCH an amazing thing.  I only did a couple of shoots this year because we didn’t want to schedule ourselves like crazy and it was wonderful!
• Although, next year, I think I’m going to go for it and sign up for a sunrise shoot… I’ve heard (and seen the photos as proof!) that they’re SO worth the early wake-up call!

Here’s a peek at one of the shoots I was able to be a part of… I introduce to you the gorgeous Lecia!  You’ll get to see more of her later this week!