Getting ready for Brave Girls!

So last year about this time, I was really brave. I had read about Brave Girls on a couple of blogs and decided it was something I needed in my life at that time. I didn't know a soul but I signed up anyway and got on a plane for Idaho to spend almost a week with a group of complete strangers. I wasn't sure exactly what it was going to be like except the women who *had* been described it as "amazing, life changing, uplifting, a gift to yourself". It was all of that and more.
It didn't take long for this group of strangers to turn into friends. Brave Girls is a safe place where women can open their hearts and minds. It's also a place where I learned that we ALL have insecurities and we all have pain - some just hide it better than others. But we learned to open up and share our pain, share our insecurities, learned that there are people who will hold our hand, wipe our tears, listen to what we say. We all need support, love, friendship, encouragement and people who love us enough to offer that is who we need to surround ourselves with. All others need to be kicked to the curb - or the moon in some instances. That doesn't mean we don't still love some of them, it just means that we don't allow them close enough to hurt us.

When I returned from Brave Girls last year I knew there were changes I not only wanted to make in my life, but had to make. It took me a while to process what I had experienced in Idaho but slowly I began to make some changes and I still am working on some. I'm excited to see what Brave Girls has in store for me this year as I am in a totally different place than I was last year. I'm not going with any expectations of how it will be or even what I want to work on while I'm there. I'm just going to let things unfold as they may.
Below is a picture of me and Jennifer. She understood me. She cheered me on and offered me the sweetest support. She made me feel at ease, at peace. I'll miss her this year at Brave Girls but she is on bedrest. She has twins that are not due until April but she has been in preterm labor for a while. Please send up some prayers for all of them - for Jennifer to hold off as long as possible and for two healthy babies when the time comes.

I cannot wait to see Rachel and Dawn! If you have read my blog at all you already know that Rachel has been my partner in crime at several Artsy Retreats this past year. We've had so much fun meeting in Omaha, Minneapolis and St. Louis - and as I've already mentioned we are already scheming this year's retreats. Sweet, sweet Dawn. I haven't seen her since last year at camp and even though she isn't attending this year, she has offered to pick me and Rachel up at the airport and we are spending a night at her house at the end of the week. Can't wait to catch up with her too!

I'm going to be busy packing my stuff the next couple of days and praying that the weather holds out long enough for me to get my plane out of here. Until yesterday, it didn't even seem real but now the butterflies in my stomach are starting and I'm getting so excited!