It's the Little Things

So, coming back after a nice little overnight "retreat" away was wonderful.
I left on Friday around 4pm with 2 other Mary Kay girlfriends to go to our directors lake home for Dream camp because we qualified for a sleepover. It was a blast to say the least. We worked on Dream Pillows, got to sit and learn from a Millionaire National Sales Director, and had a BLAST just being together and having fun on the lake.
Friday night we went out for dinner just the girls, I am not sure the last time I did that, it was a little, umm, perfect. I was able to enjoy without worrying about which kid is trying to get away from the table. After supper we went back to the lake house to do our dream pillows and just plain have some girlfriend time. It was wonderful to get to know the ladies I didn't know and get to know the ones I did, better. Can't wait to celebrate with everyone as they achieve their goals. After a campfire and s'mores, a few of us went for a walk under the stars. It was beautiful as we walked and admired the beauty of the sky while lightening streaked occasionally. It was just wonderful, of course hitting my step goal of 10k was great too. :) We got back and even though our director knew that we were out for a walk and told us which door to come in when we got back, it was all locked up. I felt like a little kid again as we GENTLY tossed an empty water bottle at the window we knew another girl was in as she hadn't gotten our text yet. Yep, great memories were made and that was all on day 1.
Saturday morning dawned bring and early, I didn't sleep very well as the bed was a little harder than I am used to so I tossed and turned a lot. I got up and got ready for a run. Then of course ran into some girls in the kitchen so had to visit for a bit and then finally got out the door. It was a beautiful morning to just take in all that God blesses us with every day. I ran around the loop that the house was on and out to the main road where I saw our director and a few other gals with her horse so of course I stopped to visit and see the beauties. Seriously, God created some AMAZINGLY beautiful creatures when he created horses. Just stunning to watch them and talk to them and watch them respond to you was quite, well it was awesome.
I should have finished the run back to her house but I road with her instead in her all terrain little vehicle thing. When we got back it was time to get Big Mable and the paddle boat out and down to the shore. I helped with that and then of course it was swimsuit time. Of course being the best girlfriends one could ask for we decided to take 4 of us, adult women mind you, into the paddle boat. It Was a brilliant idea, kind of. It was a tad difficult to steer and was an EXTREMELY good workout on the legs. We were finally getting the hang of it when the jet skis were launched. Let me tell you, it was crazy fun. Oh wait, that was until we literally were sunk, by our director no less. She was driving all around us having fun and then decided to spray us, which felt great, until we realized that our entire back was full of water so we began the attempt to bail out the water. It didn't work very well so we did the best we could and then had the 2 in back sit on the top of our seats to try and have balance with all the water and paddled back to shore to dump it all out. We didn't let that stop us though, we decided to take it back out but with just 2 of us this time. Man, that thing can actually steer when you only have 2 grown adults. It made it much easier but still tons of fun. Of course, we can't be without some drama so as we were paddle boating we noticed one of the other jet skis had stopped and we watched as the occupants bailed. Oh man, we are really great with water toys, I promise. It was the sister of the one I was boating with and another MK girlfriend. We went to there rescue and realized that the emergency key had been pulled out and none of us could remember where it went so, I took over paddle boating and the other 3 pushed and pulled the jet ski back towards shore. I am sure we were a site for sore eyes, but it was hilariously funny. When we all got back to shore it was time to get ready to learn. Our NSD was almost there and that was a huge highlight. It is pretty much NEVER that you get to sit down with a National and 10 other MK ladies and visit and learn and just soak up her wisdom. It was fantastic. She is always so kind, loving and passionate about what she does. Which is one of the reasons she is so good at her "job."
We finished our training with more visiting after lunch and soaking up all we could before she left us.
Then came the real sisterhood and FUN! We took the pontoon out with Big Mable and man was that a blast. 2 gals jumped on the tube and we road around the lake a ways until we got to an area we could drop anchor. Then we all jumped out and enjoyed swimming and playing in the water. It was a blast. Of course we couldn't leave the lake without making sure everyone had a chance to ride Mable. We took our turns and man we all laughed so hard. Whether on the tube our in the boat, it was a blast and we all got a serious workout in. There were a few times while riding Mable that I thought we were going to flip and a few times, we got some serious air, the tube left the lake and we left the tube. We landed in a fit of laughter as it was just plain fun.
We got back to the shore and a few of us decided to try to take one more spin on the jet ski but apparently the jet ski was smarter then us so we had to have our director remind us how it was done. lol The lake was not very smooth and by the time we came back in, both of us had some serious difficulty walking. However, waking up the next day made that feel like nothing. Everything ached!
It was wonderful to get away and have some me time and some girlfriend time because it allowed me the chance to cherish my family even more. It was wonderful to build new relationships with some and to deepen relationships with others. One of the best gifts of the whole time though was coming home to seeing my table set and a beautiful home cooked meal, complete with made from scratch meatballs with the help of my sons. It was delicious, and heartfelt and meant the world to me.
It was also finished off with brownies. Such an incredibly sweet gesture that I felt so incredibly loved. Also makes me think I need to may go away a little more frequently. Not only for my family to miss me and have such an incredible reception home, but also for me to feel so cherished and loved upon my return because there are days, sometimes weeks at a time that I feel, well, like a doormat. But not today. Today I feel like a princess, like the amazing child of God that I am and I am surrounded by people who love me and I couldn't be happier!