Rockin' Robin by Bobby Day

Robin was my very first friend in Turlock and became my best friend, off and on for the next several years.  You know how girls can be - the best friend contender can change from one day to the next!  We met in 4th grade when I moved to Turlock and we were thankfully in the same 5th grade class.We continued to spend lunch and recess together into junior high and high school.

Robin and I always had a lot of fun together. I would go over to her house after school or on the weekends.  They had a great hot tub and pool and we would spend hours in the sun. We traded our Teen Beat posters and carefully discussed at length the placement of every Kirk Cameron and MacKenzie Astin on our bedroom doors. We giggled at her brother who liked to talk to his best friend on the phone... while going to the bathroom.... so his friend would hear the flush. Boys. OK, fine, boys were the theme of many (many) conversations over the years!

We were also in 4-H together for many years, including serving together on the Board and being part of the same groups.  There were memorable trips to Clovis Lakes to enjoy the waterslides and a fun trip to the State Capital for the annual 4-H Leadership Conference.  So many of my memories from Turlock include Robin. I still remember her nickname from the 6th grade:  Robin Lizzette Pizza Pears.  I know "Pears" is a plan on her last name, but I cannot recall why Pizza.  Maybe she loved it?  I also seem to remember singing Rockin Robin while we all danced around her.... in the girls bathroom at school.  I seem to remember us hanging out in the bathroom during recess quite a bit.  I hope that was a thing.  If it wasn't, I don't really care because I was hanging out in the bathroom during recess with my rockin' friend Robin!  Tweet tweet tweet!

In the Ayer by Flo Rida

Much like what happens in Vegas, much of the story of the party bus unfortunately stays on the party bus. It was that kind of night.  I can safely share some of it without consequence.  At least I hope I can.  We are going back a couple years in time now from the Karaoke annual summit.  I find it hard to believe that I now have 4 summits under my belt and with any luck, many many more!  The 2017 summit was a bit smaller, but no less fun. As always, there were new teammates to meet in person and dear friends to see.  I flew in on the heels of a storm.  Literally.  I had been in Tahoe for 4 days, which culminated in an 11 hour journey home, followed by a very early flight to Dallas the next morning. Let the fun begin!
We were staying in the decidedly less hip Hyatt House, which meant no cool hotel bar, which meant all the fun was basically deferred to the night of the .... dun dun dun.... party bus.  I had spent a few days cultivating my dear friend Karen's 40th birthday party playlists.  With a few minor tweaks, it was perfect for the party bus.  Or so i thought.... at some point in the evening folks were taking over my playlist.  The good news about that is that Leann asked me to play In the Ayer and then hopped up to the front of the bus to shake and shimmy and it was such a delight to see!  It is no wonder her daughter is a champion cheerleader - she gets it all from her mother.  Her gorgeous, sweet, fun, mother with some serious moves! 
Other fun memories from the evening included a couple hilarious snapchat videos with Mychael, hijacking Mychael's snapchat with LaShanta, LaShanta bowling everyone's turn because she thought we may as well get our money's worth, deep conversations with Igor, and minibar bottles with Anne while solving all of the problems, of course.  I know these were only snippets, and the allowable snippets at that, but na-na-na-na, my team is the bestest team. 

Billionaire by Travie McCoy

As Heather put it:  "my heart is full".  It's the perfect description for how I feel following the annual team summit.  It's weeks like these that make me long for the days when I worked in the office....but then I remember all the perks of working from home.  The annual summit is the opportunity, once a year, for all of us to come together for a week of learning and team building.  This year was the biggest summit yet and dare I say, the best?  It was so well organized, interesting and entertaining content, and the entertainment! Best of all though, I think we would all agree, was the bonding.

So many delightful conversations with so many wonderful people.  The laughter was contagious and plentiful.  It's unbelievable really that I truly like and respect everyone on my team and even more unbelievable that we all seem to feel this way about each other!  This year, instead of staying in the (oh so hip) Aloft, we stayed in the suites.  First of all, these places are gorgeous.  Second of all, we had suite mates and instead of having to meet in the hotel bar, we could invite people over to our suite.  Fun! My roomie and I have a common affliction, namely FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out.  We are always the last to leave a party, the last to admit defeat.  This meant we stayed up way too late talking each night.  It was wonderful.

This year's event was a showstopper.  I didn't think we could top the party bus....I loved the Escape Room, but Karaoke and a custom version of Friends in Low Places really takes the cake.  There were quite a few highlights, but there is one in particular that stands out in my mind and will forever transport me to the good feelings of the summit.  It was Heather's rendition of Billionaire.  She was standing up there singing in her sweet voice...she absolutely nailed the Travie McCoy verses....and the audience ate it up.  We were seeing a whole new side of Heather and we were loving it.  Best night.