Where Have I Been?

 It's been over a week since I blogged.  I've been on a much needed retreat!  Every other year our church staff goes to Mission Ranch in Carmel.  We do a little Bible study & official stuff but most of it is catching up with each other, eating, having fun, and relaxing.

It's a beautiful place.  This is our main meeting place -- The Farmhouse.   It really was an old farm.  Clint Eastwood bought it, restored it, and turned it into a resort.  Our youth pastor even met Clint Eastwood while he was working out in the gym!  Sorry, no pictures of Clint...

 But I do have a picture of us on the beach.  Yep, this is a Northern California beach in May!  I think it's a little colder and rainier than usual.  It was really windy that day, too.  We walked the whole stretch of this beach one day and hiked in sand dunes the next day.  Even though I walk every day my legs were SORE from these walks!

This is the view from the front porch of the Farmhouse.  Even though you can't see them, the field on the right has sheep in it.

And below is the whole church staff before we went out to eat Monday night.

I was going to say, "now back to normal life" but Lauren will be here in a couple of weeks and Jo's finals are this week.  I've got to figure out what to do with everything in the "craft room" and turn it back into "Lauren's room."  lol...