The Frozen Land

This week we went on a hike to Bridal Veil Falls to see what it looked like when it was frozen.  Unfortunately that meant hiking when it was freezing.  I'm not sure it was a great idea but we went anyway.  I was slipping and sliding all over the place.  I had to hold on to Jeff the whole time to avoid crashing and burning every 5 seconds.  Miraculously Jeff was able to walk without slipping unless it was pure ice.  I'm not sure how he did it.  I do have to say it did look pretty cool once we got to the falls.  I'm not sure I would like to do it again, but it is one more thing I can say I have experienced.

The trail

Jeff in front of the waterfall

You could see the river running under the ice.  That was fascinating to see.

The falls

This is me being happy in the frozen land.

This is me being sad about being frozen.

Quilt Update!

I worked on my quilt again!  Look at me being crafty!  Here is a close look at my quilt blocks.  I think it is going to look great when I get it all done.

Side Note:  That last post that Jeff wrote makes me cry every time I read it.  I am one lucky lady to have such an amazing, kind and lovable husband and best friend.

Marriage isn't Hard

Thursday was Valentine's Day.  Valentine's Day is a day that we celebrate love and relationships.  As such, I thought I would share a few words about marriage, which happens to be the most important relationship you will have in your life.  It also happens to be really awesome.

We're cute when we're married.

I've seen a few different articles floating around Facebook lately that seem to emphasize how hard you need to work in order to have a healthy relationship.  I agree with almost everything those articles say, except for one thing.  Marriage isn't hard.

Before I was married, I heard from friends and family, things like:

"The first year is the hardest.  If you can survive that, you'll be okay."

"Marriage is a lot of work.  But it's worth it."

"Marriage is really hard, but if you're both willing to work hard you can have a good marriage."

I agree with the principles behind what they're saying.  We do need to love and serve our spouses.  We do need to make sure their needs are met.  But marriage isn't hard.

I know you're all crying out in one defiant voice, "But I do all sorts of things for my wife, I love her and serve her and (insert thing that's difficult for you here)"

I know you do a lot.  But I just want to talk about what it means when we say something is hard.  It usually refers to something we're not excited to do.  It's usually something we put off to the last second until we absolutely have to do it.  It's usually something that we wouldn't do if we didn't have to do it.

Marriage isn't any of those, to me.  Marriage isn't hard.

If you met a painter who truly loves to paint, and you see a magnificent painting they have created.  Do you think they will talk about how hard it was to paint?

Will a car enthusiast talk about how hard it was to restore that classic vehicle?

Will someone who loves photography talk about how hard it was to take that amazing picture?

I don't think so.  If you truly love something, you give it your all.  And you never think it was that hard, because you would have spent the time anyway.

I think what people mean when they say "marriage is hard" is that "marriage takes time."  That is a statement I will agree with.  You have to put time in your marriage if you want it to work.  You have to invest in it.

I just want to talk about some of the investments that I feel are necessary in my marriage.

I tell her I love her every day

When we first started dating, I was too afraid to tell her how I really felt.  The terror of telling her I wanted to date her exclusively almost drove me to sucking my thumb like a little baby.  What a blessing it is that I can share my feelings with her without fear of my feelings being hurt in the process.  I love to share my love for her.  It's not hard.

I hold her

Sometimes my wife just needs to be held.  It's a scary world out there and bad stuff happens.  Before we started dating, I would have given anything for the opportunity to hold her.  I love being close to her, and I cherish every moment we're together.  It's not hard.

I listen to her

In a given day, for every 1 word I say, Robyn says 10.  She has a lot more to say than I do and she feels happy when I hear and understand what she has to share.  I happen to think she's the most interesting person in the world.  I love to hear her voice.  I love to listen to the ideas that she has to share. It's not hard.

I communicate with her

In addition to listening, sometimes it's important to communicate my ideas.  All she wants is my happiness, so why would I not want to help her understand my needs and wants?  This seems simple to me but I meet so many people who struggle with saying what they mean and meaning what they say.  It's not hard.

I laugh with her

My wife is hilarious.  We have an ongoing debate about which one of us is funnier.  But hanging out with the second funniest person in the world is pretty awesome.  It's not hard.

I cry with her

We have faced some hard times since we've been married.  Unfortunately, things don't always go our way.  But when that happens, we can face it alone or we can face it together.  Facing it together is the easier option.  It's not hard.

I serve her

Sometimes she asks me to do things for her.  Other times I see a need that she hasn't asked me to fill.  In both situations, some of my greatest joy comes from seeing her happy.  The greatest payment in the world is when she gets excited about something I've done for her and throws her arms around me.  Why would I pass up those opportunities?  It's not hard.

You know what is hard?  Life is hard.  Mowing the lawn is hard.  Going to work on days when I'd rather sleep is hard.  Doing the dishes is hard.  Doing laundry is hard.  Shoveling snow is hard.  Paying bills is hard.

But even those things are easier in marriage.  When she walks outside and tells me the lawn looks amazing, I puff up my chest and strut around like the proudest peacock in the world.  If she says I did something well, I must be the coolest guy in the world.

I had to do those things before I was married, but there was no one there to cheer me on.  That was hard.

Ultimately, marriage really isn't hard.  Life is hard.  But life is easier when you're married.  Marriage does take a lot of time, if you want a good one.  But I can't think of a better use of your time.

Happy Valentines Day to my love!  Thanks for making my life easier.  Whatever turns life takes, I'm happier with you.  My life is better, more joyful, more fulfilling, more exciting and definitely not as hard.

The Funny Things Robyn Says

I recently wrote about how Robyn lost part of her finger.  I also mentioned that she became somewhat amusing when the doctor gave her Percocet for the pain.  I promised you I would share how amusing she was.  So I am totally going to share that.  But first I thought I'd give a quick update.

Her finger has been hurting, but it's definitely healing.  The doctor told us to redress the wound after 2-3 days.  So tonight we had my sister (who is basically a doctor as far as I'm concerned) help us unwrap it and put new bandages on it.  Robyn did really well, even though it was painful.

They make super painful wounds look precious.

So without further ado, here are all of the things that Robyn said while she was on Percocet.  Most of these were said during the drive home from the E.R.  It was just one continuous stream of consciousness that contained all of this goodness.  I wish I had caught it on video, but unfortunately, I was driving.  I tried to remember as much as  I could when I got home, I'm probably missing a few gems, but here is everything I remember:

"I don't want to go back to the ee eye ee eye are.  Wait.... what?"

"I said ee eye ee eye are.  It's like we're going to McDonalds or something."

"I feel wobbly."

"I feel sad."

"I felt like I was gonna pass out.  That's why I went 'whoah'."

"It's like my brain is swirling inside of itself."

"I just cleaned the house.  We can't let it get dirty!"

"I'm wierd.... I'm wierd on percocet."

Why I'm Grateful for Gut Wrenching Pain

On Wednesday I was deathly ill.  I had terrible stomach cramps, and other symptoms that were even less pleasant.  This story is not about my sickness, but I am very grateful I got sick.  Give me a few minutes to explain why.

First of all, last night I was planning on going to a Google conference.  There was going to be a speaker who would talk about the new Google Glass technology.  I was pretty excited about it.

But, even though I was feeling better yesterday, I wasn't feeling 100%.  I wasn't feeling quite up to driving to Salt Lake and being there several hours after a full day of work.

So, I decided not to go.  I just drove home after work.  The sickness is what got me home.

When I got home, Robyn was sitting on the couch, holding her hand on top of her head.  When I first saw her, I thought she was holding her head.  I thought she had a bad head ache or something.

I just asked, "What's happening right now?"

She answered with, "I cut my finger off."

I should make it clear, her finger is still on, at least the vast majority of it.  She was exaggerating, but I thought she was exaggerating a lot more than she really was.  I had no idea that she was hurt as bad as she was.  At first, I thought it was just a little cut.

What I thought was holding her head, was actually holding her hand above her heart and resting it on her head, to help stop the bleeding.  She had it wrapped in a paper towel, and kept pressure on it for a good 20 minutes.  But as soon as she took any pressure off it, the blood gushed forth.

Eventually, after it was concluded the blood would not stop on its own, she made the decision.  She let me take her to a doctor.


And that's when I became grateful that I had felt yucky.  Otherwise, I would have gone to my conference, and she would have sat at home on the couch.  She would have down played how bad she was hurt, she would have tried to not bother me, and she would have sat there alone bleeding for several hours until I came home.  I don't like to picture it.  I'm very grateful that I came home on my own.

In the Emergency Room, I learned a new word.  The new word is "avulsion".  It basically refers to an injury where a chunk of tissue has been cut off, and there's nothing to stitch back together.  (If I'd have known that that's what happened, I would not have waited for her to make the decision to go to the doctor.)

She's cute when she's cranky about cutting off a piece of her finger.

This is the killer object.  It's called a mandolin.  I thought a mandolin was a musical instrument.  Apparently, it's a deadly musical instrument.

The doctors gave her some percocet as a pain killer. (She became an amusing person in the process, I'll write about that another time.)  They also were able to put a magic potion on the wound to help the blood clot.  After all that, they dressed the wound.

The doctor also promised us her finger will fully heal, she didn't cut off so much that it can't grow back.  So, the only permanent casualty is the sliced cucumber that is no longer edible because there's a piece of finger on top of it.

Dinner with a Friend

Sorry the picture is a bit off center but we didn't want them to have to take too many  pictures.

Last night Jeff and I had the opportunity to have dinner with Jeff's LDS mission president. Jeff served in the South Dakota, Rapid City mission about 10 years ago. Some of the people he worked with decided that it would be fun to get together and catch up on everyone's lives. Jeff was very happy to be able to spend some time with President Mecham and his wife. They both helped Jeff learn and grow a lot during the two years they served together. It was also fun for me to hear some fun stories about his adventures as a young 20 year old. I hope we will have a chance to do it again soon.