I know you are probably saying, gee you already posted this, and well I kinda did and I kinda didn't. Some of the posts I did ahead of time before I left for Founder's, and then ones with no pictures I posted from my Precious while I was there and now I have my pictures uploaded. I know you have probably seen these all over blog-dome, but this is kinda my journal so I am gonna tell my stories anyway. I hope you don't mind.
I had an early flight to Salt Lake City, so that I did not miss anything and also so that Jeff could drop me off at the airport on the way to work. So it was dark when we left. I got on the plane and headed to Salt Lake City. I knew I would see Tiffany Bauer there as we had the same flight.
But then I ran into Mandy Grant at the SLC airport so we sat and chatted, this was her first time too. Then a few more people showed up and they finally let us get on the plane. Well it reminded me of the President's plane…in color…it was silver…the size…not so much. Here I am sitting in my seat so excited to be almost there.
Here's cute little Mandy, well I should say young, she is not little she is way taller then me. She was in the back of the plane which is only like 10 seats from the front of the plane…ha!
What was so funny is Glenda Travelstead was also on this plane and she sat in front of me and Vicki Edwards, and I guess she usually takes the bus, so she was not very excited to be on the plane. Once I told her that the in-flight movie was going to be Twilight (she is a die-hard fan, worse then me), she calmed down. Of course I was only kidding, cause we didn't have a movie…ha! We did feel like we were on a rollercoaster though as we landed into St. George there were several screams and my stomach was jumping around, but we landed safely.
Here it is, look how close we were to the propeller as we exited Airforce One.
How sad are we? We all took pictures of the baggage claim area, I wish I had of taken a picture once it opened up. See that little garage door thingie? That just slid up and we could see right outside and our plane and they just dropped our luggage in and it slid the 12 inches down and we picked it up. I mean we could have given the bag handler a handshake and a tip it was that close.
Then we were loaded in a van, and our luggage in a trailer, and off we went, it was a quick ride and we got to the Hotel. Kellie Sue handed us our room keys as we got out of the van, no having to wait in line at the hotel clerk desk, how great is that. Kelli Sue even knew my name without me even having my name tag on…how sweet is that?
Look at the fun sign to welcome us! There were neat Decor Elements all over the hotel. Tiffany and I teased over how to say Decor…I say Dicore, other people say Daycore. Whose right?
We picked up our name badges, and they all had a colored scarf on them and we had to find our other 7 team mates and they would be who we would eat dinner with that night, they said no switching as they had a master list. At first I was not liking this, cause I was gonna be glued to Tiffany's side, but then I got a bit more comfortable when more people arrived and I saw some familiar faces.
Once we got our name badges, we headed into the gathering place and they had all this yummy candy and chocolates around. Stampin' Up! has an employee that does the Decor Elements on the windows and he is also a chocolateer, so he did all the chocolates for us each day. Can you say extra poundage? I have not got on the scales yet since I got home.
Oh and remember when I mentioned Plinko and I talked about spinning the wheel…well…ummm…there is no wheel, well unless you count the round little wheel that you drop in the plinko thing so it goes plink plink all the way down till you see what prize you won. We could do this every day!
We headed up to our room to drop off our stuff, and this is what was on my door and everyone elses too. Our names on a record. How cute is that? This year's theme was a Retro theme. Which was cool, cause our Founder's bag did not really let you in on that at all.
Here I am standing at my door. I wonder what my room will be like?
Wow, 2 big beds, a bar area with a fridge and a microwave, and even a corner nook thing.
Here's from the other side. I could live here! I made sure to take the picture right away, usually I forget and then forget it, I have a mess all over, this year was not bad cause I had so much space for just me.
Then we headed back down to the gathering place to pick out our candy apple. There were all sorts of flavors.
Here is sweet Cori as she hands me my butter finger one.
Then I think we ate lunch and in case we didn't get enough candy they had all these cute desserts on this glass topped table and it looked so cute. I picked the strawberry tart.
Here is Jan House and I, we have been Demonstrators about the same length of time, 11 years can you believe it? We met gosh I can't even remember when, 8 years ago maybe, whenever we had Convention in Orlando. We both worked Make n Takes that year, and we have been friends ever since. This was her first time too, and not the last right Jan?
This is Vicki Edwards and I, she was one of the Rising Stars. It was so nice to meet her, we sat beside each other on the roller coaster, I mean the plane.
This is Vanna, I mean Tiffany Bauer showing off the Fabulous Decor Elements on the kitchen divider thing. It was sad to see it being scraped off the last day.
Then Tiffany and I headed back to the gathering place so they could cut our caramel apples for us, cause we had not eaten enough food…not!
Then I was antsy to unpack, after being carnies when Jeff and I were younger, I do not like to live outside of a suitcase, so I wanted to get everything hung up and put in drawers, plus I hate to iron and that is another reason.
I also wanted to change for our first group dinner, we had to find all our team mates, and we didn't get all together till dinner. Cause once we had all 8 people, we got a prize. It was a new stamp set, it is cute, and sorry I can't show you, but you will have to take my word on it. I will have to see if anyone took our picture with our set, I don't even know if we did that or not. I do know, that I love love love my Bad Girl camera, and did not even take my little red one out of its case.
This was our table, how cute is that, our team was called the Bitty Buttons, and our place mats were record album covers. Mine was Matt Bianco and I had never heard of them before. Too funny, Caroline LeBel's album was a musical that she watches every year so she was even singing some of the songs, we tried to pay her to stop, but she is Canadian and we didn't have the right kind of cash…ha!
Dinner was amazing, it started out with a wedge of lettuce that was so good, but I wish the plate was bigger cause I was afraid of cutting it and half of it being on the table. Then our main course was carrots, mashed potatoes,and beef wellington, and look at the initials on the pastry. SU…too fun!
So I could not even finish my first course and out comes dessert, it was fried with like a pudding inside, and I ate the raspberries and a few bites, but I was so full.
I was also excited to get to my room to see what our pillow gift would be. We did take our record album cover sleeve thing and that is what we would put our door record in to get it home safe.
So when I got to my room, look what was there. OMG! more food, are you kidding me?
I love the polka dotted tissue paper…what was inside? Well I'll show you, kind of tomorrow. I got my pajamas on and went to bed.
Oh and since it has been a long time since I have slept alone, cause usually I have at least Toby if Jeff goes on hunting trips, and at Convention, I got my BFF Tracy, I took my little flatsky bear to keep me company.
So that's my first day story.
Have a super Tuesday and thanks for stopping in.
Diana SU is super they really treat you girls in style and you all deserve it. After all you do tons of work all year long and bring in all that money! CONGRATULATIONS girlie you deserve it!
I'd be afraid to take that plane ride though. I probably would have opted for the bus! LOL
What a great story teller you are Di! Thanks for sharing some of your amazing ride since this is probably as close as I will ever get to FC. Can't wait to hear more about the trip.
Reading your blog is just like sitting next to you and listening to you talk! Can't wait to hear about each day and see all the pictures, but this one was so real, I think I gained 5 pounds just looking at the treats you got to eat. Stuffed! How did I get to be first to post a comment? Special, I yam.
It sounds like a full weeks worth of activities and that was only day one!!
Hey the first picture…you say here is cute little…but then you never say her name I don't think.
Luv ya
Jax
Oh what FUN!!! I am Lovin todays story and looking forward to the next…
Keep them comin!
Thanks for the great posts on your trip Diana! You make me feel like I was right there with you : )
Thanks for the photos Diana! Thanks for including Mandy (great good friend-love her to pieces!) in your photos!! Congrats again and see you next year!!
Enjoying your stories. Please continue, it is so nice to read these especially for us that don't get to go. I like the detail that you put into writing this.
~~Debbie~~
How fun this is to read your adventures and congratulations on this HUGE accomplishment.
What type of camera did you end up buying?
I'm so excited to hear all about it…..look forward to the next chapter……. 🙂
Looks like so much fun! Can't wait to see more and hear more. (You are doing great with your bad girl camera – so glad you like it so much!)
Love ya!
Mel
Love it!!! You really recapped the first day, felt like I was there again (and I wish I was!!!)!! It was awesome getting to know you and I love it that I can call you a great friend!!! Miss ya!
Diana,
You're so awesome! Thank you for sharing in such great detail. I can almost feel the afterglow of your trip in the words you write. I look forward to tomorrow's post!
Congratulations on being such a Stampin Up! Super Star!!
Deidra
Looking forward to hearing about the next days events. You certainly make for an interesting and fun read. TFS
You can always PayPal me to keep me from singing NEXT time I see you 🙂
Love ya, Bitty Button!
You are a great reporter and thank you so much for sharing this with us. You made me feel almost like I was there. Except for the part where I didn't get a new stamp set, or Beef Wellington. Oh well I'm glad you are sharing it with us.
Carey Rogers
aka Roscoe's mommy
I loved your post today! You made us all feel like we were right there with you. Thanks for keeping everyone up to date on all the activites. I think I enjoyed this as much as your first post on the cinnamon rolls!