Thursday, January 9, 2014
This is the official start of Leadership. Here I am with my roommates, Brenda Georgi (who is on my team) and Monica Reynolds! We had a yummy complimentary breakfast at our hotel, then got great seats for the General Session – the start of the day.
Shelli Gardner (the CEO & co-founder of Stampin' Up!) greeted us and kicked off the conference with some goal-setting ideas.
Then Sara Douglass did some stamping – gave us great ideas (of course!) and gave us some sneak peeks of upcoming NEW products! Yippee!
After lunch, swapping, visiting booths of products and ideas, it was time for the Share Fair presentations. And I was a presenter. Here is my display board.
I spoke about how I combine my club events and classes and how that works in my business.
(I REALLY enjoyed this experience. I hope I get asked to present again in the future.)
After dinner it was time for Manager's Reception, an exclusive event for Managers and above. Here I am with Susan Campfield (my upline) and Selene Kempton standing in line to board the bus.
We were all treated like royalty at Houston's Downtown Aquarium.
After being greeted with beverages and chocolate covered strawberries, we boarded a train ride to see sharks!
The train took us "under water" – the sharks swam on both sides and above us.
More fun experiences were when we got to feed the stingrays…
…pose with the divers…
…and EAT! Here I am with my table buddies: Angie Lunden, Kay Kalthoff, Susan Campfield and Dave Baugh.
(And I have to tell you, I was in heaven! There were many foods that I COULD eat. Plus the chef brought me a special gluten-free dessert.)
Here I am with my Business Development Advisor, Sarah Rhodes. She's been a big cheerleader for me and has been a great coach.
Piranhas!…
…and other scary looking creatures.
My boys are really into snakes lately. So I was pretty excited that they had a Reticulated Python! This one is over 20 feet long and over 300 pounds.
Of course we also got to see some very beautiful creatures as well.
Good thing they are behind thick glass, though.
By the way, did you see in the first photo above the handle of a cane near me? I sprained my ankle at around 10 PM on Tuesday night at my house by trying to walk down some stairs in the dark. I had to leave for the airport the next morning. So…a $20 cane from Walgreens was my answer. I've had some difficulty getting around, but I'm trying to be good to myself – ice it, elevate it, wrap it, etc. Fellow demonstrator, Mona Low helped me out tremendously, though. Today she brought me a special boot to wear, so I'm using that now. (Stampin' Up! demonstrators are some of the kindest people!)
Stamp Your Art Out! ~Rachel
