Tag Archives: Engaged Encounter

2024: Making Moves

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It was a questionable start. On January 1, I attended mass at St. Paschal Catholic Church. As Fr. Kevin Oiland chanted the Eucharistic prayer, a point in the mass that requires the faithful to be dialed in and reverent, I couldn’t take it anymore. Asking God for his forgiveness, I did the unthinkable and dashed out of the service.

I was sick.

The rest of my New Year’s Day was spent in bed or at the toilet throwing up. It was quite the miserable way to begin 2024 and I couldn’t shake what it might mean for the remaining 365 days (leap year) to follow. I wondered aloud to Sidney: Hopefully this isn’t an omen for the rest of the year…

Thankfully, it wasn’t.

2024 has been a blessed year for our family.

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I always say that even-numbered years bring about more change and surprises for my family than odd-numbered years. In 2024, this observation held true once again, at least from a professional standpoint. Duties, habits, commutes, and school drop-off routines were dramatically altered when I accepted the director of marketing position with Eastern Washington University.

But aside from that somewhat major development, the rest of our year was pretty low key. How low key? Consider that our family, at least up through yesterday, didn’t get on an airplane once nor did we visit any other state besides neighboring Idaho. Despite the lack of travel, we still managed to stay busy…

In January, Sloan figured a new way to generate revenue when she lost her first tooth. Speaking of my first-born, the next month Sloan asked me for the third-straight year to be her date at the St. Mary daddy-daughter dance. Also in February, Beau celebrated his fourth birthday with a Bluey-themed party and a few weeks later, Sid and I would present at our first Engaged Encounter retreat. Spring arrived and Beau played t-ball while Sloan hit the soccer field again. A Taylor Swift-themed birthday party for a certain 7-year-old was epically pulled off by Sidney. A new niece arrived in May when my brother and sister-in-law welcomed their first child, Olivia.

In January, Sloan lost her first tooth!

As is typically the case, things sped up during the second half of the year. A trip to Walla Walla to celebrate my aunt’s 60th birthday in June unofficially kicked off our summer. Wedding season also commenced this month as multiple couples Sid and I mentored entered into the sacrament of holy matrimony. Our family made memories volunteering at Hoopfest. In July, Sid’s parents visited from South Carolina and had their stay happily extended due to the CrowdStrike snafu. When the month ended, so did my employment with Washington State University. I would begin at EWU on August 1. After working my first week, we took a family vacation to Leavenworth. The fall was filled with festivals, galas, and birthday parties. Thanksgiving and Christmas were both celebrated with my family but the year is ending in South Carolina as the kids were given a surprise trip to visit “Gami and Dada” in South Carolina.

Sid’s parents visited us in July.

So that is the quick two-paragraph rundown of the events of 2024 but what about the themes? I am glad you asked. I can pinpoint two…

The first theme is emergence. Sid and I “put ourselves out there” by leading retreats and honing our public speaking skills. From a work perspective, taking a higher level job and overseeing more people also took a leap of faith. Sloan’s bravery increased as she became more comfortable in the water and fearless when it came to thrill rides. Beau shook off nerves and competed on his first sports team.

Sidney presenting at the March 1-3 Engaged Encounter weekend while Fr. Pat Kerst and Joe Schroeder look on.

We also faced disruption in 2024. As I mentioned earlier, our solid routines were turned upside down when I changed jobs. Sidney and I pretty much flip-flopped the household/kid duties we championed for the past couple years. It was tough at times but we managed and are now relatively comfortable with our roles. While we faced our own personal disruption, the nation was simultaneously facing its own. The presidential election was bitter and it polarized Americans. I followed the race extremely closely and was shocked when President-Elect Trump cruised to an 86-point Electoral College landslide victory over Kamala Harris.

Taking a job at Eastern Washington University caused some major adjustments to our daily routines and how we care for the kids.

In addition to those two unique themes of 2024, the same three values I highlight every year continued to be key for the Resers…

It all starts with family. With the four of us pretty much staying put this year, we had lots of time to spend together. Our house was a refuge as we spent lots of time reading, baking, and praying inside it. We cheered each other on at sporting events, volunteered together, and explored our Spokane community. A couple road trips resulted in precious bonding and our vacation to Leavenworth provided us with memories we will always hold dear. The Summer Olympics captivated our household and gave us hours of entertainment in which we learned about competition, the world, and pride for our country. Holidays, family dinners, and watch parties for my extended family became a tad more crowded this year. My niece, Olivia, was born in May but don’t worry—my parents had no issue finding extra room to accommodate the Reser family’s newest addition 😂. Sidney’s family also added a new face with nephew Patrick! I couldn’t be happier that Sid and the kids are spending time with him and everyone else in Myrtle Beach as this year comes to a close.

Sloan and Beau meet Olivia for the first time.

When it comes to our faith, it was another solid year. There might not be a greater blessing than sending our kids to the school that is connected to our parish. I’ll tell you what, Jesus was spot on when he lauded the purity of a child’s faith. It seems like each day that Sloan and Beau attend St. Mary School, they come home and teach me something about the bible or saints. Speaking of saints, Sloan was named a Future Saint of the Week in 2024. She also served as a lector, attended Catholic Summer Camp, and spoke of her faith development in the St. Mary promotional video. As a family we made a pilgrimage to the St. Francis of Assisi crèche in Spokane, attended every St. Mary Family Faith Night we could, and served as greeters at mass. Sid and I continued to grow with our Young Adult Catholic group, mentored more engaged couples for marriage, and presented at Engaged Encounter retreats. We celebrated the 13th ordination of Fr. Jeff Lewis, said goodbye to Fr. Kevin Oiland, and collaborated with Fr. Pat Kerst. Although I still continue to ask God every night to increase my faith, I feel I am making progress thanks in large part because of those I have around me.

My brother and I receive a blessing from Fr. David Gaines right outside of Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral during Bloomsday 2024.

Because of my supportive family and a strong faith, it allows Sid and me to pursue our careers with zeal. I couldn’t be prouder of the year my wife had with Traveler’s Insurance. She led multiple teams of international customer service employees, helped launch brand new software, participated in the company’s 24-hour Innovation Jam, and added so much to the daily workplace culture. I split my year between two great public Washington higher ed institutions. At WSU, my strategy to revamp our YouTube presence and the effort I led to recognize our system’s top graduating seniors earned award recognition from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). I was also proud of the #CougCounties social media campaign I introduced that spanned the state of Washington. At EWU I played a role in our brand evolution, assisted with the launch of our comprehensive fundraising campaign, and produced our holiday video. Over the past 12 months, the accomplishments at both universities were made possible by empowering bosses and talented team members.

Just like at WSU, when I started at EWU, I was connected with some awesome colleagues. This photo is of our film crew for the holiday video (L-R: Luke Kenneally, Sean Nelms, Me, Ginny Baxter).

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Wow, have I gone on long enough? I think so. But what do you expect? Like I said in my first blog post of the year, 2024 was an “every four years type of year.” As we lived our busy lives, a slate of 12 months highlighted by an extra day, the Summer Olympics, and a Presidential Election transpired in the background. It was a lot.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this year a great one for my family.

As 2024 comes to a close, I am thankful for the many fruits yielded over the past 365 days (with the 366th day coming tomorrow). I am also mindful of the sorrows. Sidney lost her Uncle Tony and although he was mostly out of my family’s picture for the past 23 years, my Uncle Cliff passed away earlier this month. With 2025 almost here, let’s pray for health and peace. Thank you to my readers for an awesome year and I will see you all on the other side of the ball dropping. Don’t Blink.

My Top 10 Blog Posts of 2024

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It is hard to believe that I am about to do this for the 11th time 😱. An idea I hatched in 2014 to highlight some of my favorite entries from the past 12 months eventually became an annual tradition I coin “The Big Blog Post.” At the end of December, I recognize 10 blog posts from the past year that I feel stand out.

But what “stands out”?

Good question! The posts I choose for inclusion in this prestigious list are entries that stand out to me. A spot on the countdown is not earned from analytics, reader comments, or social media reaction. Rather, I curate this list based on posts that exerted special effort in their production and/or ones that I wouldn’t mind reading again 10 years from now.

In 2024 I wrote 187 entries, an output that trumps my previous year’s yield for the fifth consecutive time (2019: 165 posts, 2020: 172 posts, 2021: 173 posts, 2022: 180 posts, 2023: 185 posts). With more blog posts to choose from since 2018, it was a challenging task to signal out just 10.

With that said, I still managed to do it. Here we go…

10. Back In The Office…Literally (October 2) – When you switch jobs, a lot of things change. What an understatement when it came to my most recent career move! Just transitioning from a strategist to a director position was a handful, but there was something else that really took adjusting. You see, I went from a primarily work from home arrangement to an in-person assignment. This blog post was a thoughtful look at what changed with the transition. From the commute to packing lunches to attending meetings, I had to re-acquaint myself with the face-to-face professional world. This post was fun because it resonated with other professionals who were going through the same transition as me and it also highlighted what didn’t change.

I returned to the office on a permanent basis in 2024.

9. Annoying My Front Seat Passenger (April 24) – Sidney and I have different approaches when it comes to operating a motor vehicle. When we are driving solo, to each their own! But when one of us is relegated to the passenger seat? Well, the one not behind the wheel can sometimes get a little annoyed. In this brief blog post, I mention a handful of things I do while driving that irks my #1 front seat passenger. From using the horn to blowing hot air at face level to turning all the appliances off upon reaching our destination, things can get a little tense between the two of us. This post made the countdown because I genuinely enjoyed writing it and mostly because I think other couples can relate. Speaking of driving, toward the end 2023 I received a speeding ticket. In 2024 I took a driver safety course to get the infraction removed from my driving record. During that class, I learned a lot. Buckle up everyone!

Sidney isn’t always smiling when she is driving with me. I explained why in one of my top posts from 2024.

8. Our Leavenworth Summer Vacation (August 11) – How can you deny a blog post filled with so much happiness a spot on this countdown? Well, you can’t. In August, my family traveled to Leavenworth for the first time to enjoy several sunny days in the Bavarian-themed town. The post covered 10 themes from the trip that ranged from big picture to mundane. But it is perhaps those “mundane” themes (i.e. family time in hotel room) I pinpoint that brought the most joy to a fabulous vacation.

We had an amazing time in Leavenworth.

7. Managing A Hall of Famer (September 23) – Earlier this year, Monte from the University of Montana was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame. This accomplishment was noteworthy to me because I managed the popular grizzly bear during my first job in higher education. More than 10 years after I left the UM Athletics Department, I was able to reflect on my time as Monte’s boss and share some of the behind-the-scenes triumphs and struggles from overseeing a highly touted mascot program. This post connected me with past Monte performers (both before and after my time at UM) who appreciated my perspective.

I wrote about what it entailed to manage a hall of fame mascot in one of my top posts of 2024.

6. Hoopfest 2024: All About Family (July 1) – How special is Hoopfest? My post related to the event in 2023 took the top spot in that year’s countdown and my 2022 post—surprise—ranked sixth…just like this one. There is just something special about the camaraderie that develops over a Hoopfest weekend and it was definitely evident again at this year’s tournament. For the first time since 2015, I was a court monitor. Just like that tourney nine years ago, Sidney was once again at my side to keep score. But I had some additional “helpers” this year. Sloan joined us for the whole weekend and Beau tagged along on Sunday. This post captured how special it was to have my entire family volunteering for an event that is dear to my heart. I sure was happy to document the relationships we made with the teams assigned to my court and the fun we had when I wasn’t monitoring the action.

Hoopfest 2024 was such an awesome weekend! My family and I volunteered together to make the event better.

5. Presenting With My Wife At Engaged Encounter (March 4) – In 2024, my wife and I completed a couples goal. After preparing for eight months, we worked together to deliver numerous presentations over the course of a weekend. We did this through Engaged Encounter, a Catholic ministry program for engaged couples that culminates in weekend retreats. As a “presenting couple,” Sid and I offered six presentations dealing with marital cornerstones to 13 engaged couples. This blog post addresses the preparation, teamwork, community, and faith that characterized our blessed experience. In fact, after reading this entry, it will probably come as no surprise that we ended up presenting at the May Engaged Encounter retreat as well.

Sidney presenting at the March 1-3 Engaged Encounter weekend while Fr. Pat Kerst and Joe Schroeder look on.

4. 2024 EWU Holiday Video: Leveraging the Brand (December 9) – At one point earlier this month, I mentioned to someone that I had served as marketing director at Eastern Washington University for 4.5 months. They responded by saying it must feel like 4.5 years! Indeed, I became an Eagle at a very busy time. Among other things, I helped with our brand evolution launch and the kickoff of the public phase of our fundraising campaign. But perhaps nothing was as fun (and taxing) as embracing producer responsibilities for our 2024 holiday video. In this post I detailed the pressure of creating a higher ed holiday video but also the joy of working with my team members on something that proved to be very popular. In the end, our strategy to use our holiday video to leverage our brand positioning turned out to be the perfect call.

A celebratory photo of our crew after filming wrapped on November 6 (L-R: Luke Kenneally, Sean Nelms, Me, Ginny Baxter).

3. Most Rewarding Video (January 2) – From a holiday video to a cherished personal video! In 2023, I set a goal to create a 1 Second Everyday video. After sitting on the sidelines for years and watching other people do it, I finally put in the effort myself and it was 100% worth it. In this blog post, I wrote about my inspiration for doing it. I was frank about the challenges and intricacies of undertaking such an ambitious project. I also addressed the beautiful result and how I shared it with my family and friends. At the same time, I also encouraged others to not take as long as I did to attempt #1SE. I truly believe this blog post is a great testament to the charm of #ISE and there is no doubt that my enthusiasm shines through. To watch my 2023 video, tap here.

Our Reser Family #1SE is a little over 6 minutes long and can be viewed on YouTube.

2. My Top 10 Favorite Moments Working For Washington State University (July 23) – When I left WSU in July of this year, I commemorated my time as a Coug extensively through this blog. I detailed the main theme during my employment at WSU (expect the unexpected) and I also gave a heartfelt thanks to all my colleagues who made my time on the Palouse such a pleasure. But my favorite “goodbye” piece was a list that counted down my top 10 WSU moments. Just like choosing my top 10 blog posts is difficult, identifying my top Coug moments was certainly a challenge. Even though I had done a similar exercise when I left the University of Montana and Coastal Carolina University, narrowing down those special moments never gets easier. With that said, once my list was finalized and published, I couldn’t have been more happy and proud of my time at WSU.

Working at WSU was a pleasure and the top 10 moments I enjoyed during my tenure as a Coug prove that.

1. Thirty Years of Fun (September 18) – Perhaps this wasn’t the #1 blog post you had on your bingo card, but like I mentioned, this list isn’t determined by most views. This particular post just meant a lot to me. In 1994, my family installed a basketball goal in our driveway and when the 30th anniversary rolled around this September, the hoop was still standing strong. By that time, a new generation had laid claim to the Reser family landmark— my kids and my sister’s kids. I can’t overstate the importance of the hoop to the street I grew up on nor can I even imagine how many baskets have went through the cylinder. This blog post traced the history, detailed the antics, and explained the competitive spirit that epitomized “Reser Court.” Throughout the entry, photos are featured that range from the hoop’s beginning to its heyday to its current peaceful existence as a refuge for young grand kids. In one photo, Beau is shown placing his hand in the hand print I made 30 years ago when the hoop was installed. I like to think the words and images collaborate to bring to life a blog post that will hold a special place not just in the hearts of my family but all people who know the magic that can happen on an ordinary driveway.

My family stands underneath the basketball hoop we installed in 1994. The entry I wrote to commemorate its 30th anniversary is my top post of 2024.

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That will do it for this year’s countdown. I humbly thank you for your interest in Don’t Blink and the results of this specific post. Although I make a big deal about the control I reserve over these rankings, I would still love feedback about whether your favorite post made the final cut. Once again, I appreciate your dedicated readership. Don’t Blink.

Past Annual Top Blog Post Entries
My Top 10 Blog Posts of 2023
My Top 10 Blog Posts of 2022
My Top 10 Blog Posts of 2021
My Top 10 Blog Posts of 2020
My Top 10 Blog Posts of 2019
My Top 10 Blog Posts of 2018
My Top 10 Blog Posts of 2017
My Top 10 Blog Posts of 2016
My Top 10 Blog Posts of 2015
My Top 10 Blog Posts of 2014

Presenting With My Wife At Engaged Encounter

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This past weekend, Sidney and I strengthened our marital vocation in the most blessed way. We presented at our first Engaged Encounter retreat. 🙏

Many of you know that Sid and I prepare engaged couples within our parish for marriage on an individual basis. But in June 2022, we joined another marriage-based ministry—Engaged Encounter. This is an international Catholic organization that stages weekend-long retreats for engaged couples. Our pastor, Fr. Jeff Lewis, invited us to join the Spokane Diocese chapter.

After a year of attending our Engaged Encounter monthly meetings and serving in support roles at the retreats, we timidly told our chapter’s leadership that we wanted to present at one. In June of 2023, Ric and Cindy Gaunt came to our house and planted the seeds for doing so. They ran us through what was expected, highlighted the presentations we would be responsible for, and provided us the materials to start preparing. We circled the March 1-3 retreat on our calendar!

We told our Engaged Encounter leadership that we wanted to present.

The next eight months passed quickly, with the latter half of those months heavily devoted to Engaged Encounter retreat prep. Sidney and I had to write our presentations, build slide decks, and practice! By the time this past Friday rolled around, although nervous, we were chomping at the bit to present.

The retreat took place at the Immaculate Heart Retreat Center in south Spokane. Although the quarters were a little cramped, I sure enjoyed having the time away with Sid.

Engaged Encounter retreats are presented by two couples and a priest at the Immaculate Heart Retreat Center in south Spokane. There is a senior couple and a junior couple. We served as the junior couple and were paired with an incredible senior couple with 38 years of marriage under their belts—Joe and Natalie Schroeder.

Sidney and I at our Engaged Encounter weekend retreat. After months of preparing, we got to present!

Completing our weekend team was a priest who I had looked up to for a long time. Fr. Pat Kerst, who will celebrate his 34th anniversary of ordination in May, sacrificed a busy Lenten weekend at his home parish of St. Thomas More to serve at this retreat. As a boy, I would listen to him say mass at St. Francis of Assisi in Walla Walla while I sat in the pew with my grandparents (a decade later he would preside at my grandma’s funeral). During my last couple years in Myrtle Beach I would listen to a podcast he contributed to. By the time I moved back to Spokane, he was the pastor at my parents’ home parish. Known for his personal and impactful preaching style, Sidney and I knew we would have to bring our “A” games to keep up with him.

We had 13 couples attend our retreat weekend, a healthy number for the current state of the Engaged Encounter ministry in eastern Washington. It was a lot of fun to meet these 26 soon-to-be newlyweds and learn about when and what church they were going to get married in. But after the introductions and the well-wishes concluded, reality set in: We now had to actually provide these couples with something useful.

Sidney and I were responsible for six presentations throughout the weekend. Using specific examples from our own marriage, we delivered talks on understanding oneself, communication, decision-making, unity, conflict resolution, and betrothal. The Schroeders presented on a host of other equally important marital topics while Fr. Pat provided his invaluable insight during each presentation. As a person who can get nervous enough just doing one presentation, doing a half dozen seemed pretty daunting. But with Sidney on my team and God’s abundant grace, it was much more of a blessed experience as opposed to a scary one.

Sidney presenting at the March 1-3 Engaged Encounter weekend while Fr. Pat Kerst and Joe Schroeder look on.

But the weekend wasn’t just about presentations. We watched videos, shared meals, and did activities. Confession was offered and the chapel was always open for prayer. On Saturday night, Fr. Pat offered mass. It was an intimate and beautiful way for our group to come together and celebrate the source and summit of Christian life.

It was gratifying to see the 13 engaged couples respond so well to everything we threw at them. Sidney and I really enjoyed getting to know the couples better as the weekend went on. We admired the overall humility, appreciation, and faith that was displayed. It wasn’t lost on us that they were giving up an entire weekend to sit inside the walls of a 1950s retreat house when they could be doing so many other things. Thanks be to God for their prioritization.

We had an incredible group of committed couples who brought plenty of faith and willingness to learn to the retreat.

Besides becoming acquainted with the couples preparing to be married, it was a complete pleasure to bond with the other members of our team. Collaborating with the Schroeders was extremely rewarding. They supported us immensely through our first weekend and we learned so much from the presentations they gave. The marriage that Joe and Natalie live out is one that Sid and I aspire to emulate. To share the stage with Fr. Pat was a thrill. Like I said, I have spent my whole life watching him and listening to him. But those nearly 34 years in front of congregation after congregation has surely not inflated his ego—Fr. Pat is as humble as they come! It was so special to see that up close.

This was our March 1-3, 2024 Engaged Encounter weekend team. What a pleasure it was to present with the Shroeders and Fr. Pat Kearst.

As I write this after allowing the weekend’s adrenaline to wear off and the significance to sink in, I just feel blessed for the opportunity Sidney and I were given. Thanks to Fr. Jeff for inviting us into the Engaged Encounter community, Ric and Cindy Gaunt for giving us the opportunity to present, Joe and Natalie Schroeder for teaming up with us, Fr. Pat for leading our weekend team, and everyone else in our EE chapter who so warmly welcomed us. Special thanks to my wife for being the best presenting partner ever! And, of course, praise to God for the grace to undertake such an intensive but worthwhile ministry. We can’t wait to present again. Don’t Blink.

2022: Bittersweet

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Reflecting on 2022, I categorize it as a bittersweet year. And I think for the purposes of this blog post, I need to start with the bitter portion for a few different reasons. 1. Bitter comes first in the word. 2. It is good to get the bad out of the way first. 3. The “bitter” of 2022 came at the beginning of the year for us.

So, let me be candid. In January, our family battled COVID. Later that month, as we started to regain our health, we received the devastating and unexpected news that my Aunt Nancy died. Those two events, including their ripple effects and a few other unfortunate developments, kind of put the writing on the wall that 2022 probably wouldn’t be our year. However, we persevered and ended up salvaging what seemed like a doomed 52 weeks.

My Aunt Nancy’s death in January kind of got 2022 off to a rough start.

After we made it through February, things started to look up. We found ourselves in Lent and I think that period of reflection and fasting was just what we needed. A joyous Easter followed and then many good times ensued. Sloan and her cousin, Johnny, played an entertaining t-ball season that brought my family together a couple times per week in the spring. Summer then arrived and our kids were outside every day playing with the neighbor children in our cul-de-sac. Fall brought a lot of change as Sloan started kindergarten, Sid returned to work, and Beau got his first taste of daycare. Now, as we conclude 2022, winter made its appearance in a rather grand way with subzero temperatures and plenty of snow. But this arctic weather can’t freeze the love and thankfulness we have in our hearts.

Sloan enjoyed a successful t-ball season in 2022.

I think our theme of the year might be improvement. I took New Year’s resolutions seriously in 2022 and pledged to become a more competent cook and consistent reader. Sidney will tell you I improved dramatically in the kitchen. As for reading more, a subscription to our local newspaper and the completion of many novels covered that goal. Sloan made and followed through with Lenten intentions, an amazing and admirable task for a 5-year-old. Sid set a goal to return to work in late 2022 and ended up landing the perfect job.

It was fun to read a lot in 2022. I polished off numerous novels throughout the year.

Speaking of that job, it brings us to the second theme of the year—transition. After 2.5 years as a stay-at-home mom, Sid re-entered the workforce in a new career. She accepted a position with Traveler’s Insurance this past fall. Between the job offer and her first day of work, we spent time setting up the infrastructure needed for a dual-career family. This meant enrolling Beau in daycare, purchasing a second car, creating enough “office space” in our home, and synchronizing schedules. Yes, it was a little stressful, but now we are a well-oiled machine pursuing our respective professions while our kids are thriving at their own pursuits.

We enrolled Beau at St. Paschal’s EduCare in Spokane Valley and he loves it!

On the lighter side of things, the third unique theme of the year was recreation. With COVID no longer canceling races and preventing groups from gathering, we made up for lost time. As mentioned, Sloan was an MVP on the t-ball diamond. I participated in two Spokane signature events—Bloomsday and Hoopfest. Sid and I played on our Young Adult Catholic softball team and messed around and played some flag football. I braved an icy course to run a turkey trot 5K. And, of course, Sid and I maintained our daily workouts at Snap Fitness.

On May 1, 2022, I ran Bloomsday after more than 20 years elapsed since I last participated in the event.

Although the above three themes were new this year, the same three values I touch on every year were more relevant than ever…

It sure was a great year to belong to a strong, supportive family. My Aunt Nancy’s death brought the extended Reser family together under less-than-ideal circumstances, but the way we supported each other could not have made me prouder to be a Reser. Throughout the course of the year, we had so many fun times with my parents, siblings, and their families—cookouts, holidays, games, and special occasions never get old. Sidney’s parents visited us in April and her mom returned in November to help with the transition. Finally, our nuclear family stood strong this year. Our “Fab Four” battled sickness together, enjoyed many meals at Red Robin, read 500 bedtime books, bounced at Spokane’s best trampoline parks, and so much more. We visited Charlotte, Dallas, Walla Walla, and the North Pole. Sidney and I made additional trips to Hawaii and Montana. With Sloan growing emotionally and Beau developing conceptually, the overall love in our household grew.

We had many memorable family moments in 2022.

When things seem dicey, especially at the beginning of the year, there was no better way to catch some respite than by turning to God. In 2022, we continued to grow in our faith by doing tangible things to nurture it. Sidney and I joined two ministries together, both marriage-related. We became mentors to engaged couples on track to enter the sacrament of holy matrimony and we joined a somewhat similar ministry called Engaged Encounter. The latter is an organization at the diocesan level that holds weekend retreats for engaged couples. Additionally, Sidney taught Catholic Summer Camp and I joined the St. Mary’s men’s group. Our Young Catholic Adult group thrived as our numbers grew exponentially and we became busier than ever. Whether it was attending our bi-weekly meetings, hosting the bishop for dinner, or playing softball (among other things) it was a blessed year for our tight-knit group.

Our Young Adult Catholic group surrounds Bishop Thomas Daly (center, with hands in pockets). Also pictured is Fr. Jeff Lewis (back row, tallest person in photo), the leader of our Young Adult group and the man responsible for making our visit with the Bishop happen.

Career-wise, you already know about Sid’s successes. As for me? It was the year that a digital marketer like myself moved from behind the screen to in front of it. Our social media and digital triumphs landed me some speaking engagements. I presented to the WSU President’s Cabinet, I spoke at our internal marketers and communicators conference, and I traveled to the Washington D.C. area to present with a few of my colleagues at the American Marketing Association’s Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Ed. I had the opportunity to lead our social media strategy when it came to big-time collaborations with companies like Boeing and SEL. Our savvy EM marketing director allowed me to assist with new digital strategies as we aimed to reach prospective students. Our social media program earned a top 25 ranking out of 300+ schools. Other small victories came along that would not have been possible without the talented team I work for.

I had numerous speaking engagements in 2022, but none more important than my presentation with colleagues at the American Marketing Association’s Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Ed.

But you know what I count as the biggest “success” of my job? That at the end of the day, that is what it is—a job. My boss is adamant about a healthy work-life balance and if it wasn’t for that grace, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate as much on the family and faith components that are the utmost importance to me. So, as I close the door on 2022, I do so with gratitude. The year wasn’t smooth sailing, but at least I had the blessing and support to navigate through it while concentrating on the important things.

The years always turn out great because I share them with these three (photo courtesy of Nicole Lynn Photos).

Sidney, Sloan, and Beau…you three are the best! Let’s make 2023 great. Don’t Blink.