Dear Friends and Family,

We are delighted to write a holiday letter together this year! 2013 has been full of finishing up life apart and beginning life together. In the winter and spring, Rachel completed her work as the Healthcare Supervisor at Exploring New Horizons (ENH) in California. Ben spent 6 weeks at ENH with Rachel enjoying the redwood forest and good company. He then returned east to teach in the spring at BU’s Center for Digital and Imaging Arts (CDIA). In June, Ben moved into a lovely apartment in Teele Square in Somerville, made all the lovelier by Rachel joining him there just eight days later. While Ben was in charge of finding the place, Rachel has been in charge of making it a home for both of us. We’ve settled in well.

Rachel started work in late June as the Parish Administrator at the Church of the Redeemer, an Episcopal Church in Newton. Her responsibilities include running the office and managing all external communication for the large, well-to-do parish. Ben has continued to teach PHP, SQL, and jQuery at CDIA throughout the summer and fall. We both attended the annual sessions of New England Yearly Meeting in August, where Ben was approved as the new treasurer of the yearly meeting! Just two weeks later, we were off on our annual trip out to west to participate in Burning Man, a 70,000 member creative arts festival in the Nevada desert, where we work with 70 people to staff a healing tent that services 700 clients in the 7 days of the event.

The fall has been busy indeed. Rachel was appointed the chair of Christian Peacemaker Teams in October after a year serving as vice-chair. Between the two of us, we attend many many many committee meetings and write quite a few reports. Still, we found time to join Ben’s parents in a  visit to Ben’s grandfather in Florida in October. We also spent time with Rachel’s parents in Baltimore for Thanksgiving. And in the midst of it all, Ben organized and produced the fantastic Quaker parody of a YouTube movie, “What Does George Fox Say?” You can see it at: bit.ly/georgefoxsay

Early this December, we got engaged! (Yeah!!) Next year will be full of wedding planning, more committee meetings, and a few new adventures. Ben will start a certificate program in finance in January while continuing to teach at CDIA and also looking for part-time development work. Rachel will work at the Church of the Redeemer while discerning her next steps professionally.

While it may sound like our plate is too full, we love visitors! Please come see us in the new year!

Much love,

Ben and Rachel