Junior League New Member Retreat 2009

I hope everyone has had a great weekend so far! I attended the Junior League of Northwest Arkansas New Member Retreat last night and today. We stayed overnight at the Embassy Suites in Rogers , which I must say, is a pretty awesome place for a retreat!.

The retreat began last night at 5:00. We arrived and were so warmly welcomed by current JL members. First, we got our roomie assignments, which was exciting! My roomie was Heather, a super-sweet new member. After that, we went downstairs to the conference room to meet our new member groups that we'll be with for all of 2009. My group was the "Green" group and frankly, we rocked : )

At 7:00, we were shuttled to one of our member's houses for dinner (yummy lasagna, salad, french bread and veggies) and had some time to eat and bond. We also took part in a group scavenger hunt, which was fun and absolutely hilarious. Picture 44 overly-caffeinated young ladies running around in the woods with flashlights, looking for random objects, LOL

The Green group (my group) won the scavenger hunt and, as a result, were treated to ice cream sundaes first!

Today, we woke up around 6:30 for a 7:00 a.m. breakfast and began our day. We spent the first half of the morning cleaning and organizing the storage shed for the "That's My Bag" project. "That's My Bag" is a Junior League project that provides everything from school supplies to basic necessities for needy, displaced or homeless children in Northwest Arkansas. It gave me goosebumps to see 44 young ladies my age working together for a common goal: to improve the lives of local kids. I don't mean to sound like a Miss America contestant, but it's the truth!

After our work at the storage facility, we went back to the hotel and listened to one of the most powerful speakers I've ever heard. Her name is Tonya Waller and she is an active Junior Leaguer. Tonya survived a terrible domestic violence situation and today, works with other women to battle domestic abuse in their own lives. I really don't think there was a dry eye in the house after her speech, which made me realize how vital this organization is to our community.

Women are amazing creatures and I really believe it's our social responsibility to empower and give back to our own communities.

I'm so excited about the upcoming year and KNOW that these new members will quickly become life-long friends of mine!

Enjoy the pics below. There will be MANY more to come!

A too-cute-for-words cookie that was waiting on all of our beds when we arrived.




A room full of great girls!


Our oh-so-pretty room at the Embassy Suites in Rogers.



Even our vanity was nice!



Amanda and Shannon, two of my fellow new members and "Green" group buddies.



The Green group table.



Another shot of the room.

P.S.- Remember those Fish Tail bracelets I was going to try to make? Well, I finally made some earlier this week and am so happy with how they turned out. What do ya think, am I the next Martha Stewart or what? : )