Hangin' at the Horse Farm

Toward the end of June, some business associates of ours gave us the opportunity to enjoy their beautiful and serene horse farm for the day. David and I and some of the other leaders got there early to cook breakfast for our friends and associates who were driving in from New York for this play day at the farm and a meeting later that afternoon. We had a beautiful day for playing outside and touring the farm. After breakfast some people played football, some played basketball, some played volley ball, some walked around the farm and petted the horses, and some just hung out on the deck enjoying the peaceful day. Later in the day some of the guys braved the pond water and went swimming as well. But one of the most fun things we did besides just hanging out and building friendships was taking a golf cart tour of the whole farm. Here are some pictures I took around the farm.

Fun in Florida (and South Georgia)

Some time in June David and I took a business trip down to Orlando, Florida. Now our business trips are never boring, but if you have to go anywhere for business, Florida is great place! We left on Friday afternoon and drove all the way to Jacksonville. We stayed in a practically empty hotel that night and left the next morning to head to Orlando. We met up with some new business associates at the exquisite Gaylord Palms Resort for a lunch and a huge expo. Then from there we drove over to Disney Village and walked around the shops. It was soo hot we had to stop in a giant music store for smoothies in their cafe.

David and I drove back to Jacksonville that night and had a wonderful dinner all by ourselves in the hotel restaurant - we were literally the only people in the entire restaurant. We had planned to leave to head home just after lunch the next day, but since we were so close to a Florida beach (Ponte Vedra Beach) I convinced David that we should just go for an hour or so before we leave. So we did get a chance to swim in the ocean and lay out for a little while before showering and heading home.

Since we weren't on a very tight time schedule coming home, we decided to stop and tour the hotel and grounds of the historic Jekyll Island Club. It was beautiful and very interesting as well. I won't write all about the history of it since it is so well put on the link above. There are also some great pictures in the photo galleries on that site, but here are a few that we took as well.

A Lovely Ladies Weekend

Around the same time as the Memorial Day activities, we also had a Ladies Leadership Retreat with many different aspects. Aside from the awesome conference part, there were 3 other events that are definitely worth recounting.

It was such a wonderful weekend. The first night there was a special, intimate banquet to recognize a couple of ladies for acheiving a fairly big goal. We all dressed up in our cocktail dresses or evening gowns and had a lovely catered dinner and ceremony.

Then as soon as that was over, we rushed back to change into our pajamas for a girls only PJ party. It was like old school, only better. The food there was amazing too. Even though I had just eaten a nice dinner, I just had to make room for the carnival-themed food - caramel apples (that you dip yourself) theatre style popcorn, big soft pretzels, and cotton candy! No, I didn't have some of everything, but I did have to have one of those caramel apples. They just looked sooo good. We had a blast hanging out in our PJ's and being girls. Some ladies played games, some painted fingernails, and the rest of us just chatted. But when it came time for a group dance lesson, we all joined in. It was so much fun to learn a new dance and look silly trying to do the moves all together. The night ended with a really sweet, old fashioned, bed time story that just melted your heart. What a special time for us ladies to spend together.

Amanda and I roomed together and stayed up talking late into the night. Then we awoke pretty early and drove to a local gym for a volleyball tournament. I was actually one of the women chosen to play. Now I hadn't really played volleyball competitively since I was teenager (and even then I was only average) but we did play well as a team and our team ended up winning!

After the game, we had Back Yard Burger cater a cook out for all of us. Then it was off to the room for naps before the conference session began. It was such a great weekend - One of the best Ladies Leadership Retreats ever. It'll be hard to top next year.

Recapping Memorial Day Weekend

I know that was about 3 months ago, but I didn't want it to go by without mentioning it. We actually had a really great weekend. On Memorial Day David and I went hiking at Hanging Rock State Park. It was actually the 1st time David had ever been. It is only a mile to the top, but it felt like more becuase some parts were rather strenuous for us novice hikers. But as always the view from the top was all worth it. Here are some pictures of that trip.

Also that weekend we were invited to our friend's dad's house out on Lake Norman. The guys played golf while Allanna and I rollerbladed the neighborhood. When we had all finished our athletic activities, her dad took us out on the boat to see all the gorgeous houses on the lake front. I absolutely love being out on the water, so I had a wonderful time. David and I stayed for barbqued ribs and corn on the cob, then we headed back home before it was too late.