Filled to Overflowing

This past weekend I went to the Ladies' Retreat that Julia's church was hosting. It was held in the Amana Colonies on Friday night and Saturday. Everything was so great! The one and only thing that wasn't wonderful was that it rained almost the entire time. :P Minor obstacle when you're hanging out with such great people, though! ;)

I met up with Jess and Julia & Kaden at the Tanger Outlets in Williamsburg a little after 10:30. We shopped hard all day! I was so excited because I found a couple pairs of shoes and a pair of jeans, which were the very things I was hoping to be able to find that day! :) Kaden was great the whole time and just let us shop to our hearts' content without any complaint! Love that in a guy! Haha! ;)

Around 5, we left the outlets for the Amanas. We stayed in the Die Heimat ("dee high-mat"; it means "the homeplace") in Homestead (one of the seven Amana villages).

The front of the inn

The back of the inn

The inn was huge and really nice! The decorations were so cute and 'authentic' - old furniture, hand-made quilts and lace, antiques, etc. Jess, Julia, and I roomed together in one of the big rooms (like the one pictured on the website). The people who own the inn are SO NICE! They let us use their main room for our supper that evening. We had 20-some ladies there, so it worked out great! After supper, we sat around and played a great 'mixer' game and then we broke up for some other activities. One of the ladies from Julia's church sells Mary Kay, so she brought all her stuff and did facials all evening. It was amazing to see some of the 'makeovers'! Another lady from Julia's church had planned a 'craft' for anyone who wanted to try. It only took about 15 minutes or so, and it was so fun! :D

The craft - an edible turkey!

Julia and I brought a bunch of games and set them up in our room, and we got a few group games going. We had so much fun with "Catch-Phrase" and "Guesstures"! :D Of course, no slumber party would be complete without staying up and talking until almost dawn! It was about 3 when we went to sleep, I think! We were crazy!!

Our room

Jess & I Saturday morning

Saturday morning, we had a wonderful breakfast there at the inn. The lady who owns the place did a very interesting presentation about the Amanas...really made me want to go back there sometime to explore it all!

Jess & I in the rain before leaving the inn

Next, we drove over to the Ronneburg Restaurant in Amana.

We had a room reserved for us there, and Mrs. Janke shared with us some things that she had been studying from the Bible. She used the theme "Filled to Overflowing" and spoke about how we need to be filled with the Spirit and bearing His fruit. It was very encouraging and challenging.

Our room at the restaurant - ironically named the "Beer Garden" - Haha!

We ate lunch there at the restaurant (which was delicious, by the way!) and then spent a little time roaming the village.

Jess & Julia loved these old-looking keys they found at one of the shops

Julia & I

Thankfully, the rain had finally let up, so we enjoyed the time outside! :) We had one more session in the afternoon before everyone went home.

Me, Jess, and Julia before we left
(We asked a guy to take the picture and he cut off the top of Julia's head! I cropped it in so it wouldn't be as noticeable, but I will definitely make sure we ask a girl next time! Haha!)

I cannot even say how much I enjoyed the retreat! It was such a blessing and just a wonderful encouragement that I really needed! And it was SO wonderful to come back home to Jordan & Macy! We took the motorcycle out for a spin when I got home!! :) I am so blessed! I love Jordan and I love the life God has given us here!