Tag Archives: Personal Growth

Day 2909 – How You Can Plan A Personal Retreat For Roughly $200

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I’m writing this two days before it will actually post….because I’m ON my retreat right now! Woo hoo!

I’ve briefly mentioned a retreat over the past few days, but I didn’t go into too much depth. My life is great, I love my work, my writing, my marriage. But for the last 3 years, I haven’t had a “Jen project.” I’ve heard of people taking personal retreats, locking themselves away in a hotel to write, and I’ve always wanted to do that. We had a little bit of money left over to celebrate, and I received some money for my birthday. All told, I figured I had a budget of $227.38. I went back and forth on if I should include Bret or not. Ultimately, we decided it would make the most sense if he came along.

Oh friends, I spent SO much time looking for a place. I scoured Groupon and Living Social. I searched my hotel chains. What gave me a breakthrough was looking for places near a Dunkin Donuts. Yes, you read that right. It’s funny, sure, but one piece of advice I gleaned while researching creating a personal retreat was – how do you want your retreat to feel? I spent time thinking about this, and thinking about things that were important. I wanted to have access to Dunkin, because it makes me happy. I wanted to have access to showers and bathrooms. I didn’t want to travel too far, because I wanted most of the time spent at the location of the retreat.

When I was about to book my hotel, I happened to see reviews of the hotel….um, hello, look at the reviews first guys. Oy. Bed bugs, a smoke smelling room…..in a non-smoking room. All kinds of “not quite what I’m looking for” in my retreat. So, back to the drawing board.

Then I thought about a cabin again. I had looked at a ton of airbnb’s across MD, VA, WV, PA….but nothing really stuck. Ok, well, the State Parks have cabins…I did a statewide search for cabins with electricity. And that my friends, is when the magic happened. I found the perfect cabin in Martinak State Park! With some more searching, I realized that NO one was staying in the whole loop we booked our cabin, the whole time. There are folks checking out the morning we arrived (yesterday), and there are folks arriving tomorrow (after we leave). AND there is a Dunkin 1.4 miles away.

So far, we have spent $107.23 on lodging. We’re estimating $20-30 for gas, $20-30 for firewood, and the rest for food. I’ll do a follow up post with how things went and how much we actually spent.

To plan out the retreat, I spent several hours rereading some of my journals. I took notes on things that spoke me. I realize there are a few things I need to meditate on – specifically how my life has changed over the last few years, I want to spend time just thinking about things. I thought about questions I want to ask myself. And I want to work on my memoir about my alcoholism.

What I’ve learned so far about myself while rereading my journals, is that I really need to journal more! I loved looking at life through my 19 year old eyes, and other various ages. It is so so so important to journal!

After I finished reviewing my journals, I typed up my notes, and organized everything into categories. I’m still fleshing out the “schedule” at the writing of this post. But the best “how to” advice I can give you – craft something that YOU enjoy, not what you think you should do. What will speak to your soul the most? Where are you most at peace so you can really focus on what needs attention?

Have you ever taken a personal retreat? What did you learn? What mistakes did you make? Let me know in the comments below!

(This photo is from our local State Park, stay tuned for photos from this new place!)

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Day 2835 – repost – “Can You Go Into Bars?” “Can You Hang Out With People Drinking?” And Other Common Questions About My Sobriety

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I’ve shared my story about struggling with alcoholism before. It’s common knowledge that I don’t drink. I want to say at the start that everyone has a different experience with sobriety, alcoholism, etc. This is just MY experience and what it’s like for me. Don’t take this post as a “oh my friend doesn’t drink, so this will apply to them!”

I, thankfully, experience almost zero temptation and struggle with drinking. The only reason for this is God’s work in my life. This is not a will power thing. It’s all God.

Ok, let’s jump right in!

“Can you go into bars?”
Yes! I love hanging out with my friends and bars are a great place to do it. Happy hour specials can be fantastic! It’s a cheaper bill for me either way! 🙂 I will say, there are some times, especially when I went to Padonia Station/Ale House a few weeks ago, that I think about memories (ha ha, or non-memories) of my drinking experiences. I joked with one of my friends there, oh yea, I remember throwing up in that bathroom and that one. Fun fact, I was driving home from Padonia Station the night I was arrested for a DUI. So, I will say, there are SOME times that I think about these things. But it doesn’t make me sad or make me want to not go to a bar. It makes me SO thankful that God did not leave me where I was. Thankful that God had mercy on me during those times and kept me safe.

“Can you hang out with people drinking?”
Yep! If anything, I may be a bad influence to those who are drinking….I get drinks when they need them…this is especially true if I’m driving. Again, not everyone has the same experience with drinking. Some people can actually control themselves and not make a mess of things. I am not one of those people! So, I’ll just drive the ones that can! 🙂

“Are you tempted to drink?”
I would say, there might be a little temptation here and there. Bret has a box of wine in the fridge right now and I’ve had the passing thought – “I’m an adult, I can decide to drink a glass, I’d be fine.” But since I’m sober when I’m thinking this, I realized, um, no, I’d not be fine. My biggest weakness was after that first glass, I’d HAVE to have as much as possible. So, any time I feel a slight temptation, God very graciously reminds me of what I gave up.

“Will you ever drink again?”
No. I have no intention of drinking again. There is absolutely no reason for me to do so. I can celebrate with friends with a can of coke just as much as a shot or glass of wine. I can go to Ireland and tour the Guinness factory and not have a drink (one day soon, I’ll share about my first brewery tour – which was actually the brewer of the last beer I drank). It was making this decision that finally sealed my sobriety. Every time I would “quit” before, I would find an excuse to drink down the road. So, no, no more alcohol for me.

Are there any questions I didn’t answer, let me know in the comments and I’ll do another post!

And for lack of a photo that really fits, here’s a “shine” that I do drink. 🙂 (oh my, I crack myself up)

image

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 2519 – I’m Done My Book! (Ok, Maybe Just The First Written Draft, But Still!)

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I am SO pumped right now! I just finished the last hand written chapter of my book! I’ve been taking a different approach to the first draft – hand writing it….with a quill. It’s been a really fun experience. I originally had about 80+ verses that I would talk about, but as I worked through them, I cut a few out. I am now at 40, which seems like a really great number. Now I need to type up some of the chapters (about 20 of them) and then I’ll begin the work of editing. AH! I finished a step! 🙂

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Day 2470 – “Can You Go Into Bars?” “Can You Hang Out With People Drinking?” And Other Common Questions About My Sobriety

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve shared my story about struggling with alcoholism before. It’s common knowledge that I don’t drink. I want to say at the start that everyone has a different experience with sobriety, alcoholism, etc. This is just MY experience and what it’s like for me. Don’t take this post as a “oh my friend doesn’t drink, so this will apply to them!”

I, thankfully, experience almost zero temptation and struggle with drinking. The only reason for this is God’s work in my life. This is not a will power thing. It’s all God.

Ok, let’s jump right in!

“Can you go into bars?”
Yes! I love hanging out with my friends and bars are a great place to do it. Happy hour specials can be fantastic! It’s a cheaper bill for me either way! 🙂 I will say, there are some times, especially when I went to Padonia Station/Ale House a few weeks ago, that I think about memories (ha ha, or non-memories) of my drinking experiences. I joked with one of my friends there, oh yea, I remember throwing up in that bathroom and that one. Fun fact, I was driving home from Padonia Station the night I was arrested for a DUI. So, I will say, there are SOME times that I think about these things. But it doesn’t make me sad or make me want to not go to a bar. It makes me SO thankful that God did not leave me where I was. Thankful that God had mercy on me during those times and kept me safe.

“Can you hang out with people drinking?”
Yep! If anything, I may be a bad influence to those who are drinking….I get drinks when they need them…this is especially true if I’m driving. Again, not everyone has the same experience with drinking. Some people can actually control themselves and not make a mess of things. I am not one of those people! So, I’ll just drive the ones that can! 🙂

“Are you tempted to drink?”
I would say, there might be a little temptation here and there. Bret has a box of wine in the fridge right now and I’ve had the passing thought – “I’m an adult, I can decide to drink a glass, I’d be fine.” But since I’m sober when I’m thinking this, I realized, um, no, I’d not be fine. My biggest weakness was after that first glass, I’d HAVE to have as much as possible. So, any time I feel a slight temptation, God very graciously reminds me of what I gave up.

“Will you ever drink again?”
No. I have no intention of drinking again. There is absolutely no reason for me to do so. I can celebrate with friends with a can of coke just as much as a shot or glass of wine. I can go to Ireland and tour the Guinness factory and not have a drink (one day soon, I’ll share about my first brewery tour – which was actually the brewer of the last beer I drank). It was making this decision that finally sealed my sobriety. Every time I would “quit” before, I would find an excuse to drink down the road. So, no, no more alcohol for me.

Are there any questions I didn’t answer, let me know in the comments and I’ll do another post!

And for lack of a photo that really fits, here’s a “shine” that I do drink. 🙂 (oh my, I crack myself up)

image