work retreat. an oxymoron?

I don't talk too much about my job on here, but thought I would share the past couple of days from my "work" world. Mind you this is certainly not a normal day at the office, but this is one of the reasons I enjoy and appreciate my job.

I work with some great people.

Trust me, to work in the world of higher education at the community college level is not glamorous by any means. The pay kind of sucks and sometimes the bureaucracy, politics & funding (or lack thereof) can be discouraging, but working with local people who want to better themselves through the educational programs & degrees that a community college offers and seeing the "life-change" in their lives makes it worthwhile.

Although I work in the marketing/PR/advertising part of the college, I have also taught a freshman orientation type course called College Success Orientation. The class has gone through several changes and there has been some confusion as far as curriculum, etc. A retreat was planned by those in charge so we could have some in depth training/best practices sharing, and team-building.

Enter the past two days of my life.

The retreat at Gastons on the White River.

Our group shot on the back deck overlooking the river.

Dinner cooking.

That salad was quite tasty with fresh lettuce from Nancy's garden. (thanks Nancy!)
Yes, I ate the whole thing!

View from the back deck - The river is so beautiful and calming and after meeting all day inside the meeting room, this view was our reward.

This little guy was our guest. Some kind of caterpillar we presumed.

He was a little weird looking with his red head and mohawk style 'do. Walked down to the bank behind the cabin to get a closer view of the water.

No worries or stress when you look at these views!

We were impressed with this rock work along the riverbank.View of the River Villa from the river.
see those shrubs along the back?

some slithering creatures like to inhabit those we discovered!
I rose early yesterday morning before our breakfast meeting to enjoy some of the nature trail.

What a beautiful way to begin a day.

Cleared my mind, had a little talk with God, snapped several pictures, watched some birds and jumped a doe still napping. (don't know who jumped higher, me or her!)

Loved this sign!
They were everywhere, along with informative signs about the local creatures; and benches strategically placed to sit and watch the river go by.

We had our lunch & breakfast meetings at the Gaston's restaurant.
Loved all the decor: collections of antiques everywhere.
One part of the restaurant had bicyles and tricycles hanging from the ceiling.
Another part had old boat motors hanging.

Good food and spectacular views.Believe it or not, there was a lot of work done during this two day excursion. I truly think that working in a beautiful & calming place like this is very conducive to productivity. No distractions by what is going on in offices and computers and a five minute break to walk outside and breath the fresh air along the river is a much better break than going to check your voicemail and emails!

Much was accomplished, relationships were built and laughs were had.

So thankful to have a job like this - and to be able to work with such good people.