Monday, 31 August 2009

Refreshed, Renewed, Rejuvenated

That’s just a few of the words I would used to describe my time at the scrapbook retreat.

I tried all week to decide what I would take and leave behind. As it tends to happen I got overwhelmed and ended up taking nearly everything I own! There wasn’t a store near by that I could run to for last minute items so I had to be prepared! I really need to take the time to match cardstock to patterned paper and the paper to pics so that when I want to go to a crop it’s not a major ordeal! I’ve been putting it off because I know it’s going to take a lot of time!

Wednesday Vanessa had her monthly check up. She is doing fine. She’s 128 lbs. The next visit the doctor will do a glucose test to check blood sugar levels. This is standard at this stage of the pregnancy. On our way home from the appointment I get a call from the lady who had invited me to the retreat saying she had a last minute cancellation and did I know of anyone who would want to go on this short notice. I told her “yes, I did!” I called my buddy Teresa. I had told her about my experience the last time I went and she said she would like to go if there was ever an opportunity. I called Teresa and said “do you remember that retreat I went to that you wanted to go if there was ever an opportunity? Well, now’s your opportunity!” She was shocked and told me "I think I can do this. Let me check my calendar, talk to my family and get back with you." It didn’t take her long and she was calling me back to say she could go! We were both like giddy school girls!

We made plans for her to meet me at my house and we would drive there in my vehicle. Doyle told me I could take his which was nice. My old truck runs pretty good but things are beginning to quit working. Like the other day I went to set the emergency break and it broke! That may not be a major deal for most people but when one is driving a manual transmission it is a must! Then the day before I left for the retreat I was going to the post office to pick up the church’s mail and my spare tire fell off!

I packed my stuff in the car Wednesday night. Teresa makes it to the house and we load the car. It is full! We couldn’t have taken anyone else with us! It was about 2 ½ hours to our destination. We get there about 5:30PM. We unload and wait for the others to arrive. When they get there we got into Canton to eat at Ochoa’s Mexican Food. It is an awesome place to eat and they have the VERY BEST PIES I’ve ever eaten! Teresa & I got a piece of Banana Cream. We were going to share it but it was so good I ate it all!

Food at the retreat was good too! I watched several movies, got 22 pages completed, took a couple of walks and had a great time during our devotional when we encouraged and prayed for one another.

Vicki the owner of the retreat mentioned that she discovered a little scrapbook store out in the middle of “nowhere” close to Mabank. She offered to take me there. My curiosity got the better of me and I told her I’d like to go so we went. I’m not sure I would have ever found it! There were no signs, you just had to know where it was! I’ll have to admit I was skeptical but when we arrived and I went inside I was amazed! She had a lot of inventory for the size building she had.  She had some of the new products too like the Tim Holtz alcohol inks, Graphic 45 paper, Stickles glitter glue and more! When I go to a place like this I am always looking for things our local store doesn’t carry. I did find some unique ribbon that reminded me of one of my scrapbooking buddies and bought some for her. I can’t wait to show her either! This place is called Country Scents & More. It is operated by a mother and daughter. They don’t keep regular hours. You must call first before you go because they are not always there. Interesting setup I must admit but considering she is in the “heart” of scrapbook retreat centers it works. There are two close by (Heavenly Acres & Heritage House) and the one I was at (Ragles Retreat) is about 15 minutes away. It’s really nice if you’re in a pinch as there is no other place to shop.

Our group. Back row (L to R) Teresa Montalvo, Andrea Taylor, me. Front row (L to R) Denis McConnell, Marci Purtell and Carol Vickers. (Marci is the one who organized the reatreat.

We had a great time!

Have a good one!