Today is the first day of the 10th Skyline Retreat!
I have some great memories from this retreat and I have also fulfilled some personal dreams through this retreat. Pretty weird that planning a retreat and attending retreats would be the way to fulfill dreams, but it has been for me!
#1
When I was younger and working as a fitness instructor/personal trainer, I told myself that I really wanted to own a retreat center and spa.
#2
I took the necessary classes to become a certified personal trainer and I even took a few classes on Skin Care, Manicure and Pedicure Techniques and Make-up. All of these classes were done to prepare myself for this dream of owning a retreat/spa center. I even joined Mary Kay to become a Skin Care Consultant.
#3
As I got older, got married, moved to Georgia, had kids, that dream started to morph into a different kind of dream. I wanted to plan events and maybe eventually own a retreat center.
#4
I started scrapbooking in 2002 after we moved to Georgia. I needed to find a way to organize all the photos I had and I needed the creative outlet.
Fast Forward to February 2007.... I joined an online community for scrapbookers and started meeting ladies all over the place that scrapbook AND go on retreats! I was HOOKED....
#5
I started making plans for a retreat that I could plan and had a list of ideas in a little notebook that I kept in my purse. It was the beginning of "my dream job" coming to life! I still have that little notebook, too! I knew that I had to get myself known on the online community if I wanted my retreat to be a success and I also knew that I wanted to go to as many retreats/day crops as I could in order to gain experience (as an attendee). So, I did just that! I took notes at every retreat/day crop that I attended. I wrote down the things I loved, liked, disliked and would NEVER want to do. I started to plan the first retreat in August of 2007.
#6
I had to find a venue and I needed it to be close enough that I could drive and cheap enough that it wouldn't break the bank. I met Shelbi in November 2007 and she told me about Camp Skyline. She offered to help me with the retreat and I decided that it would be good to have a sounding board to bounce ideas off of and vent to. Shelbi was a great resource and I always tell everyone that she was the one that found Camp Skyline and introduced me!
#7
April 11-13, 2008, we hosted the first retreat "Tri-State Scrapshare Retreat". It has been changed to Skyline Sisterhood because it is open to everyone now and not just the online community of Scrapshare.
#8
Planning this retreat has taken many learning curves. It has been an eye-opener and has taught me a lot about budgeting for incidentals, handling money (that isn't mine), group dynamics, personality conflicts and how to handle them, and many, many more things than I thought I would learn by just planning a retreat. It is definitely the closest to my dream that I will get, considering the economic times and the fact that my life has changed so much since my initial dream. But I am, surprisingly, okay with that. This retreat has given me some of the BEST friendships I have ever had in my lifetime, a Sisterhood support system to ask for help or prayers when needed, confidence in myself that I have always struggled to have, the satisfaction of "a job well done" at the successful end of each retreat.
A different sense of accomplishment that I rarely feel in my regular day-to-day life. It's ALL good.
#9
Now, don't get me wrong, it is also a "get-away" with the gals to goof off and be silly, eat whenever and whatever I want, have my meals cooked for me, take a nap whenever I feel tired and a much needed break from my home life with the kids and hubby too. But that is a whole other post! ;)
Who would have thought that 5 years later,
we would be having our 10th Retreat!!! Amazing!
Thanks for remembering the journey with me and reading this blog!
It means a great deal to me!
Until Next Time,
SCRAP ON!
~Cyn~
