Wonderful Women Weekend

I just got back from a Ladies CRHP (pronounced CHIRP) retreat at my local Catholic Church. It was very powerful and exactly what I needed right now in my life. My faith has always been pretty strong, but sometimes I need some "reigning" back on track in my life and this weekend provided it. It was empowering to me too, as I walked in the door yesterday morning, not knowing a single person there. Literally. In fact I was shocked when a couple of the ladies greeted me with a "Hi Shannon" when I got there - I thought I was the last one. "No," they said " You were the only one that no one knew!" At the end of the weekend, I can honestly say that I now have 25 new friends in the church and I love it. I have never been afraid to walk into a situation by myself, as I always know that I will walk out gaining so much. How many of us have always relied on being there with someone else to "help" us through? And then ended up only being with them the entire time and not branching out? Did that really help you grow in that situation? Really? Try it all by yourself sometime and see how that works for you....

So one of the most powerful things I heard this weekend was something to the effect of: "The same Holy Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead is alive in our hearts and in our lives today!" Think about that. Seriously. How awesome and amazing is that?? If it's powerful enough to do that, imagine what it can do in our lives!!

Ok, those of you who know me well, know I don't usually throw my religion out there for anyone, so this is a stretch for me. I just had such a great weekend that I needed to throw that out there....

In addition to meeting lots of great new women, I got to spend some time with some other fabulous women this weekend - The Fiber Warriors! (They are Knitters, Spinners and Weavers - I wouldn't mess with them!) Friday night was the STL Weaving Guild sale, so we got together at Robin's for dinner and then to go to the sale. Enabler Anna was there, as was MaryAnn and Sandy, who is a non-fiber woman, but was incredibly interested in the weaving stuff, so there may be a future convert in our midst! The sale was fabulous as always and there was some really wonderful items for sale. The weaving items seemed to be more numerous than in years past, but no less beautiful. If I had the time and money, I would totally get into that, as it was absolutely amazing!! There was fiber for sale too, so I spent part of my "allowance" on about 6 packages of fiber to spin. I have no idea if any of it will really be knit into something, but it will be fun to spin. I have a connection at another sale in Union next weekend, so the rest of the allowance will go towards that. Now I just have to find some time to spin!

Here I am at the end of the "women's weekend", I'm getting ready to take a nap, as I am wiped out. The pups are still at the sitter and I'll get them tomorrow. BW called me from the airport in Tampa on his way back from visiting a cousin and his wife. He's going to drive back to TN tomorrow, so he asked me to come and see him tonight. I get to meet his parents tonight, so that will be interesting. (I think he'll meet mine this weekend - equally as interesting) I was supposed to go with him on this trip, but I am actually glad I did not. While I would have loved to be in FL in Nov, I am really happy I was able to spend lots of time with "old" girlfriends and meet new girlfriends. It was exactly what I needed right now and I am so blessed to have had the opportunity for both. But admittedly I missed him this week/end, so it will be good to see him before he goes back to work. And I think I am going to take a half day on Friday for my birthday and he's coming back earlier that day, so that should be fun.