Life Last Week 2015-20

After Vic's return and all the fun during our weekend in Leavenworth, I had some catching up to do around the house.  An almost two-month underway period means lots of laundry.  Although Vic does make an effort to keep up with it while he's gone, most of it just doesn't smell as good as it does when I do it at home! The only appointment on the calendar last week was my last trip to the dentist for the next six months - yippee!

The Ladies of Leisure gathered on Wednesday for coffee, conversation, shopping, and lunch.  We welcomed two new members to our group which was awesome and had a lovely time getting to know one another and thinking ahead to some fun outings now that the weather is getting nicer.

Vic came home early on Friday and we headed out to our Marriage Enrichment Retreat weekend.  This is a benefit through the Navy Chaplains Religious Enrichment Development Operation (CREDO) - there are a number of retreats and workshops available to strengthen Navy couples and families, and they are free, all-inclusive events.  We started off by checking into our hotel and then since Friday's dinner was on our own, we headed into the Historic Waterfront area of Gig Harbor to stroll around, explore, and then we headed to dinner at Gateway to India, an Indian eatery that had received rave reviews and they were spot on.  Dinner was delicious.

Gig Harbor; the Fisherman's Memorial; Sophia would have loved this store; Vic gazing out at the marina

Back to the hotel to freshen up and head downstairs to the event registration and the evening session. There were fourteen couples with five from Vic's command and a great mix of ages.

Our room was huge

Lovely fireplace in the lobby

Up early on Saturday and downstairs for the breakfast buffet.  We had a morning session, then a buffet lunch, and then an afternoon session until 3:00pm.  From 3:00pm to 6:30pm was free time and there were a lot of activities in the local area for those who opted to explore.  Vic and I headed off to the cinema although we were unsuccessful as there was only one seat left for the feature we planned to see.  So, it was off to Ben & Jerry's and then back to the hotel to relax before the candlelight dinner that evening.

A quick selfie as we were getting ready - excuse Vic's sleeve as I had forgotten to pack his cuff links and he ended up sliding his shirt sleeves up so they stayed covered by his jacket sleeves

The candlelight dinner was lovely and we ended with a knee-to-knee session where we were given a set of questions to discuss - one of those "Look into my eyes and spill your soul" type exercises.

Up early again for Sunday's breakfast buffet and then a brief Christian service for those who wanted to attend.  It was lovely; the scripture passage really stirred some strong emotions after the previous day's discussions. Then we had the first of two short morning sessions, divided by a break to check-out, and then after a buffet lunch, we gathered for a group photo and said our goodbyes.

It was a great weekend - lots of discussion on communication, conflict, fun and friendship, intimacy, and spirituality.  I loved that one of the couples was 18 (wife) and 19 (husband), had only been married briefly, and were taking this chance to make their marriage stronger at the beginning.  When they told their friends that they were heading to a marriage retreat, the most common response was "I didn't know your marriage was in trouble". A completely wrong assumption.

Have any of you ever been on a marriage retreat?