FUN PICS FROM LEADERSHIP

I cannot tell you how much fun I had at Leadership this year - it was a total WOW! event! I mean, every event Stampin' Up! does is a total class act, but this one was absolutely AMAZING!! From the hotel, to the classes, to the food, to the demonstrations, momento mall, and of course, the fabulous giveaways and make 'n takes! I was so inspired and so proud to be a part of such a wonderful company, I just want to shout it from the rooftops LOL! I felt special, really special - I bet not every direct sales person can say that!!! I have always thought that SU! was awesome, but I am in awe of how truly wonderful they really are in every way! From Shelly on down, they are one class act!!! So, I thought I would show you some of the fun pics I have from Leadership - I just love to share!! The first picture is of our whole group plus a few we have adopted, LOL! We had dinner out at the Steak House and this was the stairway inside the restaurant. Dinner was really good and we had a great time laughing our way through our dinner!!!  These next few shots are of areas all around the hotel - which is more like a little city - which is absolutely beautiful! We stayed at the Opryland Hotel and I highly recommend this place if you like to have everything right on site when you are vacationing. There are several eateries, lots and lots of shopping, entertainment venues, bars, and a full service spa! I would have loved to take advantage of more of the options here, there just wasn't enough time!  This is one of the archways leading out to the center and lobby area of the hotel - it's just beautiful! And, check out these beautiful water features - they are in the main area of the hotel as well, and there are a couple of restaurants surrounding them so you can listen to the water, watch the light show, and view the beautiful flowers while eating - just gorgeous!! This waster fountain was towards the Convention Center where we spent most of our time - isn't it purdy??!! There is a light show that goes on in these fountains each night at different times during the night and they are amazing!!! I could stand and watch these for hours if I had the time, LOL!  I could not get over how many beautiful light fixtures they had hanging from the ceilings - just amazing!!! Look at how beautiful they look at night - and they had all different shapes and designs as well.  The garden areas that surround each walkway were full of exotic, tropical plants and so the whole inside of the main areas felt like a hot house, LOL! But, it was totally worthy it, they were absolutely gorgeous and reminded me of Florida and Hawaii!

Okay, so not that I have shown you the inside of the hotel, I guess I should share some of the fun things I actually did do while there, LOL!

Here is a picture of me holding the wonderful bundle that Stampin' Up! gave to each and every one of us - so cool!!! I was so excited because that red glitter paper ROCKS and we also got some fun glitter brads to go along with it!!!  There was also some fun Champagne glass glitter int here too - such a wonderfully nice thing for Stampin' Up! to do - they sure do spoil us!!!  I also won one of the prize patrol offerings they do - they call a color of the buttons that we received when we first got there, and everyone with that color receives a prize - mine was Melon Mambo and we got a great stamp set with matching accessories - whoooohoooooo!!!!!

This next picture is of me and my new friend Darcy, who hails from Louisiana and is absolutely fun to hang around with!  We met during a Focus Group and she is just the sweetest gal - I also got to meet her whole group and they are all so sweet and nice! One of the best things about being a demonstrator is all the new friendships that come out of it - I am so glad to have met Darcy and I am hoping to see her again at Convention and get together for a fun night out!  I have a feeling we will be friends for a long time - she is just my kind of people :-)

I love Stampin' Up! events because I get  a chance to see and catch up with old friends as well! My room-mate Peggy and I had not seen each other in awhile because first I moved and then she moved so we both missed a couple of events - and went to ones where the other was not there, LOL!  Sooo, this was a great time for us to catch up and we so did! We roomed together and had the best time chatting and laughing and yes, stamping! Peggy NEVER finishes her swaps until we are at the event and she didn't' change for Leadership - each night she sat up in bed putting more swaps together for the next day to swap, heehee!!! She is sweet and fun and I am glad I got to see her!
Here is a pic of her and Holly - she is a new team-mate to me, but has been a demo for a couple of years and lives in Colorado Springs.  Holly and I hit it off right away, and we had a great time hanging out together! She is also hugely talented - you should have seen what she made during our card challenge - I so wish I would have gotten a picture of it! She took scraps of paper and totally created a flower pot and flowers while I sat and stared at this paper wondering what the heck to do with it, LOL!

 Well, this post would not be complete without sharing one last picture and that is of me and my upline and friend Kimberly! It is nice to be able to see her at these events because we have never lived in the same state since I have been a demonstrator (the three weeks she was in Jacksonville after I signed and she moved doesn't count!)  Being military has its downfalls and one of them is you don't stay in one area very long - Kimberly has moved twice since I have been in her group - maybe someday her and Russ will move to California, LOL!  In the meantime, we will continue to catch up via email, phone, and at Stampin' Up! events!! So, now you have had a little taste of what Leadership was all about - it was sooo much fun and if you ever have the chance to attend a Stampin' Up! event, I highly recommend you go! And, if you are not a demonstrator and this looks like fun to you, you are welcome to join my team - we have lots of fun, do lots of fun stamping events, and of course attend these fabulous events put on by the home office!!! I will be back tomorrow with a couple of fun class projects that I have recently done - I am excited to share them as they have become very popular with my customers!!!  Until then, happy stamping!!