Club Scrap Friendships

With the conclusion of the August edition of Retreat 2012 so fresh in my memory, I hope you’ll indulge me just a bit—but after spending time with all of the wonderful women and men who joined us this year, I just couldn’t help blogging about it! It even inspired my chosen topic for the Weekly Chronicles Challenge this week. (Hopefully y’all aren’t too sick of hearing about Retreat—if so, please forgive me, you have my sincere apologies.)

(My friends from "Down Under": Rhonda and George from Pegs Creek,  Western Australia)

What inspired me most over the weekend was hearing all of the wonderful stories of how folks met and became friends through their connection with Club Scrap: Through the Coffeehouse Forum and/or because of a Club Scrap Retreat event. On a personal level, I’ve been blessed with many good friends over the last 10 years...friends I have because of Club Scrap. I’ve had numerous opportunities to meet some really awesome people, both at the Retreats here in Wisconsin, as well as the Rolling Retreats we did years ago. We joke, “I have lots of friends…they’re just online”, but really, the statement is quite true! I may only see these friends once a year (or once every 2-3 years), but the beautiful thing is, we simply pick up where we left off and have a good ‘ol time doing it. I am forever changed, and I am truly blessed and grateful to have so many Club Scrap friends.

So, to my August Retreat friends: It was wonderful seeing you and spending time with you this weekend. You are an amazing group of people, and I am honored you chose to hang out with us here in Wisconsin. I hope you have/had safe travels back to your loved ones and I hope you’ll come back and see us again really soon!

To my October Retreat friends: Even though I am a wee bit tired from this weekend, I’m actually very excited and I can't wait to do this all over again! We had such an awesome weekend…I look forward to sharing all of the fun and inspiration of this experience with you, too.

To my friends who couldn’t make it to Retreat: I missed you! I hope all is well with each of you and that I will have the opportunity to see you again soon.

Finally, if you're reading this, and I haven’t met you in person yet, I do hope you’ll consider coming to a Club Scrap Retreat in the future, I’d love to meet you! We have such a great time at Retreat, you should really be a part of it. And when you join us, hopefully your time here in Wisconsin will leave you with a smile, some creative inspiration, a strong sense of community...and most important of all...lasting friendships.