November 3, 2023 - Friday


School went well today, but, really, I was just waiting for the retreat all day! Promptly at 4:15, I was packed up and out the door, heading out to pick up Caitlin and Megan. There were no tears when I left (thank God), but lots and lots of sadness and soooo many good hugs. Pick ups went really smoothly and we were all in really good spirits and very excited for our weekend! We headed to Applebee's and got there at the exact same time as Emily, and Jenny was only a couple of minutes behind. We ordered and hung out for a bit and got over to the retreat place at 7:35ish. The teaching started at 8, so we were cutting it a bit close! It was very confusing, figuring out where to park and where to go, but once we did, we got our stuff put down near some bunks, took some Fireball shots, and headed out for the teaching!

The teaching was pretty good, but it was really cool seeing all of the ladies that were there and hearing them interact, comment, and question. I was so impressed with everyone's boldness! Even thinking about answering a question in front of all of those people made my heart race. Pretty scary! After the teaching, we hung out around the fire pit for the next few hours. I met a new lady and got to know one of my volunteers a lot better for a little over an hour, but mostly us ladies from group hung out together. There's definitely a part of me that wants to kind of replicate Ben's amazing experience he had at his retreat, meeting all those new people, but I also think that it'll be really cool getting all this concentrated time with Emily, Caitlin, Jenny, and Megan. I rarely even get to have one on one convos with three of those ladies and our group is so loosely bonded right now, so I'm thinking that I'm just going to follow where I'm led! 

I'm a little anxious about sleep tonight. I took meds, but my bed is basically a cushion on a piece of plywood and I'm shivering violently. Praying that whatever tonight ends up being like, I have a great day with everyone tomorrow. 

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