Awards Night at Inspire.Create.Share 2014 Convention

Gracious! What a crazy week. I have had internet issues and am just now able to sit down and share all about Stampin' Up's Convention 2014. I'm still collecting photos from friends, but wanted to show you some of the fun. I know you're wanting to see more papercrafting samples, but indulge me, because for me convention isn't just about the stamping–it's about hanging out with 4,000 of my closest friends!

Amongst the dearest of the dear friends is the 2013-2014 Advisory Board. It was pretty tearful when we parted last night, not gonna lie. It's been an incredible year of growth, and I will always count myself blessed to have been in a position to develop deep friendships with Dawn, Jenny, Jennifer, LeeAnn, and Genevieve. We were given a gorgeous bouqet of roses and a parting gift from Tiffany's at Awards Night to mark the end of our term.

For the fourth year in a row (how can that possibly be???) the Lord graciously allowed me to be in the Top 100 Demonstrators of the Year for 2014. I am just so blessed and honored to get to hang with these incredibly inspiring women. We were given a beautiful purse, and we are all really looking forward to the annual Founder's Circle Retreat in St. George, Utah, this September. Somebody pinch me!

Here's a picture of my team group this year, all gussied up for Awards Night. Aren't we cute??? We had sucha  good time. (L-R) Makalah Wagner, Julie Rusch, Jamie Van Haren, Lyssa Zwolanek, Penni Litwiller, Kristin Chowanec and Lynn Dunn.

Here's my annual selfie for ya'll… I hate selfies!! My arms just aren't long enough, I guess. I either manage to get a picture of my forehead or a great shot of innocent strangers passing behind me. So I enlisted the hotel room mirror for this one. Notice I did NOT post a picture of the back of my new haircut. Oi Vey!! It's very…different. Note to self: don't go to hairdresser when in drastic mood.

There's my name, up in lights! To my delight, my fourth-level-up-upline also made it to Founder's Circle, so I texted her right away when I saw her name on the screen, since she didn't come to Convention this year. She was sooo sure it was another Jessica Taylor! But the next day she got the official call. So we will get to go on the retreat together. Fun!

I also earned free stamp sets (yay!) and recognition pins for recruiting, sales, promotions, and earning the Grand Vacation. Oh, GET THIS–guess where the next Grand Vacation is??? It's a Mediterranean Cruise!!! I KNOW!!! Holy cow, right??? I'm sooo excited and very motivated to work my tail off this year and get that trip for Mike. The Getaway Weekend trip we can also earn is to Newport Beach, California. Which would be nice, but I'm working for the trip with ports of call in Spain, France and Italy!