Halloween

We don't really celebrate Halloween (except maybe dressing up our dog this year) but one thing we do love is carving pumpkins (especially eating the roasted seeds afterward). This year we had our friends Ben & Sara over to carve with us. They lead our small group and they just moved closer to our neighborhood into a great new house! We had fun hanging out with them and making our pumpkin masterpieces. Here are some pictures of our finished creations:
Us with our pumpkins.
Of course, Tinkerbell did not want to be left out either so she posed with the pumpkins.

Long Week

This week was a pretty long one. We had a great time in Portland last week visiting with friends and family. But then it was back to the real world.

To make matters worse, I have had a cold for almost 2 weeks now. It started out as just a headache and sore throat, then after three days progressed into a full blown cold. Chris also had some sinus issues going on making him tired as well. Happy Monday!

Then Wednesday as I pulled into the driveway at work my car started acting strange. It wouldn't slow down but started revving up really high and accelerating. It thought maybe the gas pedal was stuck but unfortunately it wasn't as simple as that. Once I got it parked and shut off each time I turned it on it would still rev up really high.

So on Friday we had it towed to a shop where they will look at this this upcoming Monday to figure out what's wrong. Can I just say that I hate car problems! You feel so useless not knowing what is wrong. We're praying for a quick and reasonable fix.

After all the stress of the week being sick and having car problems we had a GREAT Friday night. We headed over to a friends house for a mass game of Settlers of Cataan. we had 3 games going at once during one part of the night. It was a great time and I won my first game! Woot Woot!

Today we took it easy and are headed to church in a couple hours - after missing it the last two weeks. We'll look forward to great worship (as we run the power point) and time with friends that will make this week not seem so bad.

Happy Halloween!

Yes we did.....

...actually buy a Halloween costume for our dog. We got sucked into all the options and since we ourselves don't usually dress up for Halloween and we don't have a child to dress up who better then our dog.

Retreating

This past weekend was our first woman's retreat for our church. It was awesome! We had great fellowship, yummy food, wonderful speakers, and a beautiful setting where it all took place. Last Friday we all headed up to Ross Point Camp in Post Falls, Idaho for a wonderful weekend.

There were about 42 women there! Pretty amazing turnout for our first ever retreat. It was great hangout with friends I've already made through church and also get to meet new people too. Since we have two campuses (one Saturday night & one Sunday morning) it is sometimes hard to keep up with new people because you don't see them very often depending on what service you all go too. Chris and I tend to jump around because of our schedules so we end up seeing a lot of new people.

Our speakers were awesome. We learned about inner beauty, friendship & hospitality, forgiveness as well as the armor of God. And the best part was that all the speakers except one go to our church. So it's great that we can still learn from them down the road. I thought they all did a great job of teaching us, sharing their own lives, and being vulnerable.

My friend Jessica and I put together a small prayer journey for the women to participate in as well. We thought it turned out so well. We really just starting thinking of ideas off of the theme of retreat: What's Your Story? God really took it from there and starting giving us so much inspiration. A prayer journey is similar to a prayer walk but more interactive. We had six different stations with 'activities' to do at each station - verses to read, questions to answer, and things like that. We heard form a lot of women how they really enjoyed it. Both Jessica and I had been through a couple before so we had a basic idea but like I said God really gave us the inspiration and I think it was the perfect fit to our weekend.

The camp was beautiful! It was right along the Spokane River and it was so peaceful and quiet in the mornings. I love being in the tall trees also. Most of us stayed in cabins but they also had rooms where you had maid service each day and you could be by yourself or with one roommate. I thought it was great there was so much flexibility.



I think one of my favorite parts of retreat was the drive up & back!! So funny but I go to ride with a good friend as well as a new friend. Someone I knew of but hadn't formally met. It was great to get to know both of them better and share our lives together during the 3 hour drive. A good bonding time.

Even though it's just been a week since we got home I'm already excited to help plan next year's retreat!

Fall

Lately I have been obsessed with vibrant colors. Bight blues, reds, oranges and many in between. Thankfully fall provides such colors.

Hanford Reach National Monument Tour

Saturday we went with my parents on a self-guided tour of the Hanford Reach. It's the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River and this was the tenth anniversary of it becoming a National Monument. The drive is about 35 miles north of where we live and the National Monument surrounds the restricted Hanford Area where they are cleaning up the production of uranium and plutonium that happened during World War II. It was so interesting getting to see more of our local history up close.

We got to drive to the top of the Saddle Mountains and what a view! I only wish it would have been a little more clear. It was cloudy and sprinkled rain most of our trip.

My favorite stop was our last. It was called the White Bluffs overlook probably about 400 feet above the Columbia River. Looking across the river you could see several of the older cocooned reactors. I didn't realize that they used to be double the size they are now. The only part left is the core. The rest was torn down. You could even see some of the current area where they are building the vitrification plant. It employs a lot of people in our community and many of our friends.

Next spring we hope to go on a Hanford tour before Chris gets super busy with his job. And I hope we can drive up Saddle Mountain again when the weather is much clearer and we can see Rattlesnake Mountain.

Here are a few pictures from our day:

Dear Friends

A couple weeks ago we had a taco/game night at our place with some dear friends. I'm so glad we decided to take these pictures. Fun & so good to have these memories together.

Busyness

We have been attending a great small group/bible study on Tuesday nights through our church. The fellowship is great and a couple weeks ago we started a new study about busyness and how it affects all areas of our life.

I realize that as I type this we are not at small group but not because we are busy. Because we are both feeling a little under the weather. I'm trying to avoid getting a cold and Chris is fighting a headache. UGH! So what better time to think about not being busy then when you need to stay home.

Busyness is not always bad. There is always something fun to be involved in and if you wanted to you could have an activity every night of the week.

But as we learned last week busyness affects our relationships: with our friends, with our spouse, and with God. When we're busy we don't have time to invest in people the way we should.

Isn't it fun to go to a coffee ship, sit down with a friend and not have a schedule. You just talk and catch up, encourage each other, build each other up, laugh, cry, and just have fun.

Remember being a kid. Besides school you didn't really have a schedule until middle school or high school when extra curricular activities took up more time. But I remember coming home from school, having a snack and the only decision I had to make was what game I was going to play with my friends. I cherished that time.

I realize that now work puts us on a schedule as well as appointments, church, kids, and many other things. But I learned last week that I want & need to take the time to just relax and invest in myself and my relationships. Take some time without a schedule.

I've learned this before I've just had a hard time implementing it. So here's to relaxation! Take a morning, an afternoon, or a whole day this week and just devote it to relationships. It's so refreshing!

Just Playing Around....

Pictures! Lots and lots of pictures.

Here are my pictures from last weekend - the Great Prosser Balloon Rally, my 10 year class reunion and family time. There's a lot but please enjoy!