laugh lines

I have newly formed wrinkles upon returning from my weekend retreat, and yet I could not care less about them or the fact that at eight months pregnant I was forced to sleep on a half-inch thick mattress on top of a piece of plywood.  Yes, the weekend retreat was just that - a retreat!

I had the extreme pleasure of spending two nights away from my daily life and responsibilities and surrounding myself around sixty wonderful ladies.  We spent the weekend laughing, eating, experiencing God, laughing, doing girly things, eating, and laughing.  I don't think I have laughed so hard since I found my son covered from head to toe in poop.  Oh wait, I didn't laugh then.  I cried...and then yelled.  So truly I don't remember the last time I was able to laugh that hard.  It was a perfect weekend to cap off this pregnancy before life takes another wild turn.

In between meals, getting a sunburn with some pretty awesome sunglass lines, taking pictures, learning how to make fantastic tablescapes, and devouring an entire chocolate buffet, we also got to hear from an incredible speaker speak on the book of Esther.  I had no prior knowledge of anything to do with Esther and this short book in the Bible turns out to be rather sweet!  I also got to talk with some of my best girl friends, all of whom have kids, without the interruption of kids needing to go potty or throwing a fit because someone took the toy they were playing with.  We were able to be completely selfish in our time and it was fabulous!  I stayed up until nearly one o'clock each night, which is highly uncharacteristic of me, but it was so worth it.  I think the whole purpose of the retreat was to feel rested and recharged when we came home, but since I only averaged about six hours of pregnancy sleep I definitely didn't come home rested but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

I am so thankful for my friends who relentlessly encouraged me to go.  As you might remember, I initially said no way to the thought of being three hours away from medical care, but as more time passed I started to feel a peace about going.  A lot of my friends don't mind that I'm a hypochondriac and they even offered to listen to me if I needed to vent my worries to someone.  Many times throughout the weekend I would have someone come up to me and ask me how my stress level was doing, which further proves the fact that I have awesome friends. :)  AND, I came back still pregnant so all of my worries were for not.

I must say, though, sleeping in my own bed on top of my own mattress is priceless.