2013 Retreat: A Superheroine's Recap

2013 Retreat Attendees

Well, it's 2013 and another wonderful BirthMom Buds retreat has passed.  This bloggers first actually!  The theme this year: Super Birthmoms Unite!  It was a chilly one this weekend, however full of warmth and love!

The weekend kicked off Friday with lunch and some sightseeing.  I arrived a bit late, but from what I hear there was some awesome exercising going on by some of our ladies.  I'm fairly certain we gave some of the residents of Charlotte some smiles and good laughs.  Then we all sat down and had a wonderful lunch, getting to know one another.  We then split up for awhile, some of us shopping, some of us sightseeing and getting to know Charlotte!

Friday night was the Super Hero mixer, which was a lot of fun!  Sandwiches provided for us for dinner by Jimmy Johns of Charlotte, which were pretty delicious!  We also had some yummy cupcakes provided by Gigi's Cupcakes. After dinner and desert, we launched into some icebreakers to get to know one another, which were fun.  I personally liked the forced choice game, in which we were asked questions and had to go to a side of the room (one for agree, one disagree, indifferent in the middle) where we really learned a lot about personal choice, and how everyone's view is different but we can all coexist with those beliefs.  We dressed up in our Superhero gear for this, and afterwards a few of us went to Buffalo Wild Wings (some of us still IN our gear) which was a blast!

Tablescape

On Saturday, we started our day off with another icebreaker, which was a sunshine picture where each person at our table wrote a positive affirmation about us.  Very sweet!  Then we headed into the breakout sessions.  We have two time slots and offer two different sessions during each time slot and attendees choose which sessions they’d like to attend. This year’s breakout sessions were:  There's a Hero in All of Us with Leilani W., Letting Go of a Broken Adoption with Melanie M, Tools for Grief with Britney P, and How to Share Your Story with Others with Michelle T.

Balloon Release

Next came Craft Time with Coley, where we made little picture/note holders, which were adorable!  Afterwards, as any Super Hero knows, we needed to refuel.  So we had a delicious gyro meal complete with an amazing cake fit for Super Moms made by the Charlotte Cake Man. And then we had the balloon release, in which we wrote notes or wishes to our children, or whomever and released them on balloons.  Very touching!


After we ate, it was time for the speakers.  First up was Dr. Carmen Teague, an adoptive mother.  Next came adoptee Annie Lewis, and last but certainly not least, birthmom, author, and fellow BMB blogger Terri Gake.  I personally thought Terri's story was amazing.  Can that woman be more inspirational and sweet?  

Candlelight Ceremony

Lastly, we had our slideshow

followed by our candlelight ceremony.  As each woman lit the candle next to her, we each said something for our children, or for each other.  I don't think there was a dry eye in the room.  Our love for our children, and each other, was very evident.

Saturday night we went to a wonderful restaurant in Charlotte called BlackFinn.  We sat back, ate, and talked the night away!  It was a lot of fun!

I had to leave early on Sunday, but the women who didn't all had breakfast together before saying see you next year!  And this blogger WILL be seeing them next year!

Looking forward to 2014!