and then there was the end!

1,000 Sheraton employees
5,680 cups of coffee and tea
320 attendees at international dance
825 attendees at the World Forum

All-of this=an amazing experience!

We went to our closing luncheon. Food was on a huge lazy susan-it was a variety of foods. We enjoyed a great lunch and sat with author Diane Trister-Dodge at our table. We talked with her a bit about our global leaders project and she seemed genuinely interested in the work we are doing with NAFCC.

Sara and I headed out for our "Mai Tai" Catamaran cruise in the evening with 25 other world forum delegates. Claire Worden who is another author of some amazing books on nature-she was also on the cruise. There was never a shortage of friendly people to meet at the World Forum, that is for sure! Sara and I chatted with a very funny women named Sophie from Bombay. She is a real kick in the pants. We drank many mai tais and enjoyed the incredible scenery. We also met a group that were out celebrating a friends last weekend before he leaves to Afghanistan. They were in the Navy and were certainly having a great time. Sara and I departed from the boat and said good-bye to our new found friends in search of Kim and her friend Stacy who had flown in from California, after a search around our hotel. We decided to head to the international market and then stopped in at Margaritaville for.....yes...margaritas. As we are sitting there we spot Stacy and Kim on the other side of the bar and big surprise Jeff and his Navy buds were also there. We danced and sang. Made our way back to the hotel and bid farewell to Jeff. Somehow Kim and Sara got separated from Stacy and I. Good think Jeff got us back-we walked in the rain and Kim and Sara ran back.

We all reunited by the pool the next morning in hopes of soaking up a bit more sun....yeah-we just got rain and no sun! Loved learning more about Kim and Stacy and talk about our families with them. After hours of rain we headed back to the international market and ended up separated...sadly sara and I had to leave to catch our shuttle to the airport. So happy to have had the time with them though and am already trying to think of all the awesome things we can do when they come to visit!

Sara and I headed to the airport and started our long trip back to the mainland!

It has been a great trip and I look forward to sharing more about this journey as it continues in so many positive ways. I am starting school in 2 weeks and could not be more excited to start that journey with Laura!