I met Kate Gosselin!

Hershey, PA is a great place to be no matter what! THERE IS CHOCOLATE THERE! LOTS AND LOTS OF CHOCOLATE!

The street lights are GIGANTIC HERSHEY KISSES... every other one is unwrapped. You can actually SMELL chocolate if your windows are down! With streets called Hershey Drive and Cocoa Avenue, how can you NOT love this place?

Not sure how that HOCKERS fit into the whole Chocolate theme, but, hey...to each his own!

Kate was slated to be the guest speaker at the STEPPING OUT: WOMEN OF PURPOSE 2008 Christian Women's Conference. See those dancing ladies?! Aren't they awesome?! 3,000 very cool Christian women were in attendance! They weren't all dancing! (Those are actually cardboard ladies, not real ones!)

And we sat in the second row...RIGHT BEHIND THIS SEAT with THIS SIGN ON IT!

Now, I need to explain...MY focus for the day was NOT to be a "fan" - I was completely HONORED to meet Kate! They told us at the book table that those with books would get priority to meet her so she could sign them. I had my book with me. I bought it a couple weeks ago and finished it in 2 days!

I know I have said this before and I know some of you scoff and think, "Whatever!" (it's ok that you scoff, I still love you! Even my BFFs that were with me scoffed...all day!) But, here it is! I was as excited to meet Dawn and Mimi (last years when we got to go see Oprah, thanks to a WONDERFULLY AMAZING READER! Thanks Kendra!) as I was to meet Kate. Dawn, Mimi and I had never met in person, only knew each other via the blogosphere but we had a connection that was unexplainable! Like sisters separated at birth!

So, I felt like I was meeting up with just another friend I had yet to meet! I took no pictures. (The pictures in this post are from my friends' cameras.) I didn't squeal and get all goofy! I did get her autograph but when Dawn's books come out, you better believe I will get hers, too!

So, we sit down in our seats behind the SPECIAL GUEST SIGN...not because it was MY choice, but because my friends insisted. Quite honestly, I agreed because I thought it would be easier to give her the huge giftbag with NAMESAKES in it at our seats than make a production of it for the audience of 2,999 other women standing in line after she spoke. But, whoever was supposed to sit in that seat never came. That was ok. We were in the second row and I was happy!

Then I hear an, "Excuse me!" My friend, Dina, tapped me and pointed passed Anne-Marie (our third musketeer) to a girl with a huge smile. What she said made my bones giggle with excitement! It was the best thing I had heard all day! She said, "Hi! Do you have a blog? I think I read your blog!"

This is me texting Dawn and Mimi and 400 other people and telling them about my fan! Actually, she had Googled something about "seeing Kate speak" and I can't figure out HOW I came up in that search...can you? *grins* I am embarrassed to say that even though my fan and I chatted for sometime about how thrilled we were to see and hear Kate, I never got her name. If you are reading, please introduce yourself! I feel horrible!

Before Kate came on stage there was a slide show of the kids and sweet worship music. Some of the photos I had never seen, so that was fun! (Not that I think I have seen ALL of Kate's photos!) One photo that always makes me giggle is the big belly shot. The one from the side on the day she delivered the sextuplets. Why do I giggle? Because the caption under that picture tells that her belly was 54" in circumference. Not funny? It is when mine was only 2 or 3 inches smaller and I only had ONE baby! How sad is that?! LOL! But...my daughter was 11 lbs at birth...almost as much as Kate's 6 COMBINED at birth!

Anyway, it was so neat to listen to her speak without all the interruptions TLC provides. She spoke so calmly and like we were all...all 3,000 of us...sitting on her couch in her living room! It could happen. She is used to crowds! She birthed one!

She spoke of all the miracles that happened, of her faith, of Jon and his strength...GO HERE TO BUY HER BOOK! You will be so blessed by knowing her story...not just what you see on TLC! Kay Arthur spoke after Kate, I made my way to the exit to stand in line so I could give her the NAMESAKES! There were already tons of people in line. I started to worry that I wouldn't get to her before she had to go. But, I figured God had blessed me with the time to make the NAMESAKES, He would make sure I got the chance to give them to her.

I did!

She signed my book as we chatted! I handed her the bag and told her I made something for "the kids."

Then the guy with the gray hair inspected my gift bag as if I stuffed it full of Poison Ivy! But, I get it...she's a celeb and you can't be too careful! They were trying to get so many people through the line, there was no time for her to look in the bag and that was just fine with me. I am just so thrilled to have had the opportunity to make them for her!

The previous shot is funny! See how she is saying, "Awwwww." It's because my BFF, Anne-Marie leaned over and said to her, "She just might be your BIGGEST fan!" Then I leaned in and said, "But NOT the scary kind!" Kate, I think, was relieved! LOL!

I thoroughly enjoyed the conference! The worship was amazing! Kay Arthur, of course, was amazing!! And I am so tickled that my NAMESAKES made it to Kate safely!

I hope they like them!

Thanks, God, for the gifts you have given me so that I can bless others in Your Name!