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The end of the work day on Friday was pretty sweet. Everyone went up to the Rec Room about three or so. So I got to spend my last bit of "working" by besting myself in both Burger Time and Galaxian. Then a little after 5, I got a message from the people picking me up to take me to the retreat that they were on Sam Cooper (much earlier than I was expecting) so I had to high-tail it out of there and throw my stuff together (I was mostly packed already) so I could be picked up for the trip.
The retreat was pretty cool. I rode up in Sherry's suv with Michelle, Daniel, and Sara. We stopped for food just outside Forest City at some mexican restaurant in a hotel. It was packed with locals. The retreat was at this place a little outside of Little Rock. We got in at night, of course. The house was pretty big with lots of rooms with lots of beds. We probably did get to work on the mission statement that first night, but we didn't finish. We had a bit of a conference room set up with several tables and a projector and giant post-it notes and all that set up in the back of the house.
The first morning I was the last person to get up but I was still up in time for breakfast and all that. We did a little exploring of the grounds. There's a farm and stuff. The place does a lot of youth camps and stuff. Anyway, we saw the chickens and the rabbits, but the best part was the goats! Two goats. And they were goats and they were awesome. We also walked down the gravel road to this lake and dam. There were boats and stuff but we didn't do anything, just walked up there and back. Even though the mission statement was what was slated for Friday night, we spent all the rest of Saturday morning working on it til we got a rough draft. Then more working out organizational structure and stuff. There was a game played where we walked in a line with balloons between us that we couldn't touch and if any were dropped we had to start over. We gave up before making it to our goal. More working on defining and organizing the organization the rest of the day. In the evening we walked back up the gravel road this time past the lake-front that I thought was the end. There was a whole bunch more stuff back up there. More cabins or houses and other buildings and stuff. There was also this big hill that had a tube down the side of it for a slide. So we slid down it and it was pretty fun. My second time, Zach shut the door at the end while I was sliding down for a second and I'm like, what the fuck dude. Thankfully he put it back up and I didn't die or anything. It was pretty fun. At first you're going slow and it seems like not much but you accelerate as you go and then you're going pretty fast towards the end. Back at night and more work after dinner. At a couple points things got a little tense. Well, before we broke for dinner and we went off, Sherry'd receiving some death-in-the-family news so she was pretty upset. Then there were some tensions where Laura seemed upset about our process but didn't really wanna talk about it. At the very end we did this activity (that we were all like what the fuck is this? weeks before we when we saw the name) called "unplugged web of love." The unplugged of course refers to not having any electronic devices. The web of love, as unseemly as it sounds, is actually pretty well-reflected by what it is. Everyone's together in the room and you have a big ball of yarn. Wrap it around your finger and throw it to someone and then tell them something positive about them and it goes on. I saw the ball of yarn and knew what it was going to be so I was a little apprehensive 'cuz I always hate trying to think of things to say. But as it went on it was actually pretty good and I really wanted it to just keep going and going and thing of more good things to say about people. A few people were crying at points during it. It was pretty nice after the day we'd had, which wasn't horrible, but of course had a few tense moments here and there.
Today I was up earlier even though I went to sleep later. We did some wrapping-up activities in the morning meeting and then were cleaning up to leave by noon. I rode back in Zach's car with Emma and Sara. Us along with Sherry's car stopped off in Little Rock to eat at this pizza place called Zaza (it was okay, not as good as Damgoode Pies, heh). Now I'm back home. Okay!
The retreat was pretty cool. I rode up in Sherry's suv with Michelle, Daniel, and Sara. We stopped for food just outside Forest City at some mexican restaurant in a hotel. It was packed with locals. The retreat was at this place a little outside of Little Rock. We got in at night, of course. The house was pretty big with lots of rooms with lots of beds. We probably did get to work on the mission statement that first night, but we didn't finish. We had a bit of a conference room set up with several tables and a projector and giant post-it notes and all that set up in the back of the house.
The first morning I was the last person to get up but I was still up in time for breakfast and all that. We did a little exploring of the grounds. There's a farm and stuff. The place does a lot of youth camps and stuff. Anyway, we saw the chickens and the rabbits, but the best part was the goats! Two goats. And they were goats and they were awesome. We also walked down the gravel road to this lake and dam. There were boats and stuff but we didn't do anything, just walked up there and back. Even though the mission statement was what was slated for Friday night, we spent all the rest of Saturday morning working on it til we got a rough draft. Then more working out organizational structure and stuff. There was a game played where we walked in a line with balloons between us that we couldn't touch and if any were dropped we had to start over. We gave up before making it to our goal. More working on defining and organizing the organization the rest of the day. In the evening we walked back up the gravel road this time past the lake-front that I thought was the end. There was a whole bunch more stuff back up there. More cabins or houses and other buildings and stuff. There was also this big hill that had a tube down the side of it for a slide. So we slid down it and it was pretty fun. My second time, Zach shut the door at the end while I was sliding down for a second and I'm like, what the fuck dude. Thankfully he put it back up and I didn't die or anything. It was pretty fun. At first you're going slow and it seems like not much but you accelerate as you go and then you're going pretty fast towards the end. Back at night and more work after dinner. At a couple points things got a little tense. Well, before we broke for dinner and we went off, Sherry'd receiving some death-in-the-family news so she was pretty upset. Then there were some tensions where Laura seemed upset about our process but didn't really wanna talk about it. At the very end we did this activity (that we were all like what the fuck is this? weeks before we when we saw the name) called "unplugged web of love." The unplugged of course refers to not having any electronic devices. The web of love, as unseemly as it sounds, is actually pretty well-reflected by what it is. Everyone's together in the room and you have a big ball of yarn. Wrap it around your finger and throw it to someone and then tell them something positive about them and it goes on. I saw the ball of yarn and knew what it was going to be so I was a little apprehensive 'cuz I always hate trying to think of things to say. But as it went on it was actually pretty good and I really wanted it to just keep going and going and thing of more good things to say about people. A few people were crying at points during it. It was pretty nice after the day we'd had, which wasn't horrible, but of course had a few tense moments here and there.
Today I was up earlier even though I went to sleep later. We did some wrapping-up activities in the morning meeting and then were cleaning up to leave by noon. I rode back in Zach's car with Emma and Sara. Us along with Sherry's car stopped off in Little Rock to eat at this pizza place called Zaza (it was okay, not as good as Damgoode Pies, heh). Now I'm back home. Okay!
