Wisconsin Training

Y’all—I’m at my second full weekend of SeneSister time in two weeks!

Yes, I went outside my comfort zone AGAIN and am attended a Wisconsin team training (at a stunning mansion right on Lake Michigan) with a bunch of ladies (none of whom I’d met before)! The main event is a personal training from Joni (again, the second time in two weeks!).

I felt very awkward (of course) because everyone knew everyone else, but we played some games and got to know each other and I tried to not be anxious.

I did have a roommate this time, so that helped!

Wisconsin Training Day 2

Ready for Joni in our SeneGence blue!

Afternoon group training—we were each responsible for a 15-minute training on any topic we wanted. I talked about Shout, the customer retention management and communication system I use.

Then I got to try a new release in advance of it being released! (The Wisconsin leader had received it earlier in the week at a Leaders event.) It’s totally my color!

After some relaxation, it was time for the main Saturday night event — and the thing I was MOST not looking forward to — a murder mystery dinner party. We were told we could dress up but didn’t have to — and from how many were concerned and anxious about it, I was sure I wouldn’t be the only one not dressing up.

I was wrong. Everyone had a costume (most really involved) and my roommate had two extra pieces she gave me that worked for my character…so at least I wasn’t a total fail.

Her secret scrub was to keep stealing everyone’s drinks.

It ended up to be much less worrisome than I predicted. It helped that we spent so much time together before the event. I still didn’t love it and felt very out of place but at least I did it!

Fab Squad Retreat Day 3

Group training today…

After lunch it was out to the pool for the next session! We each had to write down the thing(s) that were in our life that if we could just get rid of, our life would be better.

And then they were mixed up and redistributed and we each read someone else’s card out loud. Lesson? Every single person has something stressful/heart breaking/anxiety-inducing going on even when it looks like we have our lives together and we are not alone. It was really eye-opening and emotional.

Then we had small group sessions in which we had to all say something nice about everyone else in our group. Lesson? It’s easy to discuss all the bad things about ourselves but it’s much harder to talk about and hear about the good things about ourselves. And it was hard hearing people tell us how awesome we were.

Compilation of ladies enjoying the waterslide:

Impromptu training by Abby!

And what Joni posted on Facebook…

Fab Squad Retreat!

I earned my spot at 50%! I would have made 75% if that was an option!
Travel makeup!
At my gate!

Our Airbnb was INSANE. Check out their promo video:

This is what you see when you walk in—Owen would have loved it!

This is Jenna, the one who adopted me into her group. I love her so, so much.

My Twister-themed room:

I had to FaceTime Katie to show her. She was totally jealous!

Here’s a great pic of the room with Jenna!
A random cool chair.
Funhouse mirror in the stairwell.

If you were a hidden lottery ticket, where would you be? (We never found it.)

Did someone say charcuterie dinner for 45?

I was honestly overwhelmed once everyone arrived. There were like 45 of us staying in the house, and I had only met like 15 of them previously (and really only knew less than a handful of them) so I was a bit anxious…but I’m apparently good at faking it. I did tend to stick to the people I knew better but did go outside my comfort zone a bit.

I normally would have been sharing a bedroom with someone, but as it happened to work out, I was by myself. That was good because I don’t mind being by myself and having a place to escape, but it was bad because having a roommate helps get me out of my box and gives me someone else to talk to and get to know.

Getting to know each other

The end of a loooong day that started at 5:30am cst and ended at 11:30pm est.

Here we go again.

Look what I found on Katie’s phone…

A YouTube account.

Sigh.

I guess I technically knew about it because I’d heard her and Owen talking about posting things and about how many views they had (I think they were having a competition). But long story short, there more videos on her account than I’d thought — not quite as bad as her TikTok account but still some things I didn’t like — so we had a rational discussion. She could keep the account but had to change her username and delete some of the videos.

I’m hoping that this will give her enough room to feel older without being dangerous.

Time will tell.

Lobster, lobster, lobster!

When in Rome…

When vacationing in Maine, fresh lobsters straight from the dock are mandatory. You’re looking at nine lobsters coming in at 18-ish pounds!

Yesterday’s leftover lobster getting made into lobster rolls for lunch!
Katie loved exploring on the beach and looking for sea glass. She’d send us pictures when she found things!
Beth and Kath flew in today for the long weekend!
We dared Katie to touch a lobster again.
Grauntie Rose offering to take Katie’s share of lobster.
Mmmmmmmmm.

Maine, I am in you.

My mom said this was probably going to be their last trip to Maine—so I took both kids out of school for a week and off we went!

And with my mom, the reason for the vacation!

Looking up at the beach cottage from the fire pit.

Two-pound lobsters for dinner? Yes, please! Katie hated it (color me not surprised) and Owen liked it. Tomorrow we’ll have lobster rolls.

Katie wasn’t thrilled with any of it.

Owen tried everything—from cracking to eating.

After dinner they surprised me with a birthday cake—complete with 50 candles!

Michigan State game day!

Owen has mentioned more than once he’d like to attend MSU and today he said he really liked it (but to be fair, it’s the first real campus he’s been on and he didn’t see much of it). I then asked if he wanted a pic on the campus of his future alma mater…and he obliged. Unbelievably it’s just 3.5 years away.

We got free tickets from Vettix and Grannie went with us!

We got some souvenirs—and Tom got a Sparty Party beer!

We had a cool view.

Right in front of the scoreboard!

This cute little one was in front of us!

Unfortunately they didn’t play too well and lost so that was a bummer. But we still had a good time!

And on the way back to the hotel, we took a mini detour and drove by the capitol.