Silent Retreat

November was a busy month.  First was the 10 year reunion, then the silent retreat, then Becca's 30th Birthday in Vegas, then Thanksgiving.  I think I had one free weekend in there, which was a blessing.   Not to mention, it was one of the busiest months at work.
With a busy schedule, I always welcome the silent retreat.  Even if I can't go every year, when I do go, I thank myself for making the time.  This year was fun because with my new hobby, running, I enjoyed the extra time for exercise and the location close to the beach (I didn't enjoy running on hills).

This year I went into the treat without an 'agenda'.  There wasn't a problem I was looking to solve or a particular topic that I wanted to reflect on.  It was nice to have more of a free spirit than usual and that allowed me to be guided by the spiritual directors' talks.  I must admit I did get a little bored this time, though.  It's ok, still a good time :)

The view from my room:

Taking a walk through the leaves:

A view from my morning beach run:

Some day, I need to get brave and go on a 5 day!

visitors and 10 year reunion

In early November, we welcomed the Kaufman's and Deanna for a visit to attend the SU class of 2003 reunion.  I am not a reunion type of person but as you probably have guessed, I definitely have connected with and appreciated all that SU has to offer.  So it was fun to celebrate and reconnect with a few friends.  Hoping that the reunions gain greater momentum in the future.

Here are a few photos of the evening:

The highlight of the weekend for Tyler was having a buddy to play the blues with.  Thanks, Joe!

Denny Creek Hike

We celebrated Fisch's return to the Pacific NW by enjoying the great outdoors and some vitamins, aka cider and beer.  Denny Creek was the hike destination, late October.  Clearly I am behind on blogging, sorry!

The sun was so lovely and refreshing!

Nothing beats the Elysian after a hike!  Cheers!

Very happy news!

Tyler and I are excited to announce our engagement!  Throughout the years, we have had so many fun adventures together and this promises to be the best yet.  Tyler did a good job of playing it cool and keeping the proposal a surprise, I thought for sure I would be able to guess ahead of time.
The proposal happened at our house on Christmas morning.  We settled into the living room to open our gifts.  I let Tyler open his big gift the night before and he had commented that the gift he bought me doesn't measure up to what I got him.  Nice act, Tyler!
So, I opened the gift that he had wrapped under the tree for me: a car gadget called an "automatic" which hooks up to an iPhone app.  How exciting, huh?  He excitedly told me all of the features--I can track my gas mileage, reset my check engine light, and do all sorts of wonderful things.  I couldn't stop laughing at how excited he was--I'm pretty sure I was crying I was laughing so hard.
Then, he reaches under the couch, pulls out a small box and says "Is this what you were looking for?!"  I got so excited, though I for some reason thought he was joking at first.  And, I'm sure you imagine, I said YES :)

He gave me a temporary ring which is simple and beautiful.  We went ring shopping the day after and found the perfect permanent ring which I can't wait to be finished.  We looked at so many rings and I kept coming back to this one.  Here it is!

I am sure this blog will be filled with lots of stories in the near future.