A Road Trip and a Candied Me!

Every year in October, Utah has a few days where they give teachers (and students) time off for Fall break.  We were married the week before this break so that Robyn (being a teacher) would have the time off for us to take a honeymoon.  So, it works out for us to take a trip every year the week after our anniversary.  This year, I surprised Robyn with a trip to Lake Tahoe.

First, I should tell you there were things she knew about the surprise.  She knew I was taking her on a road trip.  She knew it was 8ish hours away.  She knew we were going to visit a temple.  She knew we would be doing some hiking.  (It's clear that I'm not that good at keeping secrets.  Those are all the things that I had leaked in the preceding months.)

We began our road trip on Wednesday night.  I worked a full day on Wednesday, and we were going to make the first half of our road trip that night.  As we were driving, I told her I wanted to hear guesses about our destination.  Before she would say anything, she waited a few minutes to see which direction we were going.  As we started going north on I-15 she said her guesses were Montana and Lake Tahoe.

She really wanted it to be Lake Tahoe, but she was trying to not make me feel bad if it was Montana.  I told her we were on our way to Lake Tahoe.  She was very happy.

We had gotten off pretty close to on time.  Unfortunately, after driving about 20 minutes I realized I had forgotten her present.  So we had to turn around.

On the second try, we were 40 minutes later than planned.  But I had her present in tow.

Our stop off was in Elko, Nevada.  There's not much there, which is why I had brought her a present.  I figured that could make an unexciting evening a little exciting.

Her present was a bunch of M&Ms with our faces on them.  I've always wanted my face on an M&M, so it was just as much a present for me.  But it was a fun surprise for her as well.

Robyn showing off her new present.

The four types of deliciousness.

A bowl full of us.

Robyn is happy about her surprise.

The next morning, I had found a fun place online to go to breakfast.  The deliciousness was overwhelming.  Normally I would just say that there was bacon involved, and that would be enough said.  But the pumpkin pancakes were amazing, and the hot chocolate overwhelmed me with joy.

This is what Robyn looked like, drinking my hot chocolate.

After an amazing breakfast, we continued our road trip.  That afternoon we made it to King's Beach, California.  We were staying in a super cute little cabin with a beautiful view of Lake Tahoe from the back porch.

Here are some views of the place.

This was our first view, what it looked like when we got out of the car.

A few feet closer.

Boulderdash: that's what the kids are calling the cabin we stayed at.

The front porch.  Totem pole included at no extra charge.

The back porch with the hot tub.

The view from the back porch/hot tub.

After getting settled, we went grocery shopping and had dinner at the cabin.  Then we did a short hike down to the lake.

Robyn is always cute.  Her time at Lake Tahoe is no exception.

Robyn enjoying the view.

The sun beginning to set over the lake.

Some silhouette views of the sunset.

Once the road trip part of the trip was over, the adventure was able to begin the next morning.  But, I'm tired, so I'll tell you more about that later.

Five Years and Happily Ever After!

I like movies.  I enjoy a good action adventure.  I enjoy being transported to strange places.  I enjoy intricate plots, silly comedies, or pure fantasies.  I even enjoy (though I seldom admit it) chick flicks.

My strategy for watching chick flicks is that I play on my computer while my wife watches them.  This allows me to remain aloof in a manly sort of way.  But, there's nothing manly about the way I excitedly proclaim, "I knew they would fall in love!  I'm so happy!".

I didn't like chick flicks before I was married.  I thought they were boring.  I guess once I got to begin living my own love story, I found love stories to be more interesting: The excitement you feel when you meet that special person.  The thrill of the chase as boy pursues girl. The awkward feeling when you're not sure if the person likes you back.  The heartbreak when the person doesn't like you back.  The elation when they do like you back.  More heartbreak when you realize they don't like you as much as you thought.  More elation when they finally reciprocate your feelings. (Repeat those last 2 as needed.)

All of those crazy things were part of my story.  It was awkward and messy and fun and beautiful and totally mine.  My story also had a proposal, and a wedding.  But that's where the movies usually end.  I think that's unfortunate.  Because the dating story is a good one.  But it's just a prequel to the real story.

In the real world, this is the beginning of the story.

Five years ago today, the above picture was taken.  The super awkward part of the story was over.  The real story had finally begun.

In the movies, they always simply live "happily ever after".  That's exactly what I've been doing for the past 5 years.  But that simple phrase doesn't really give it justice.

I think "happily ever after" means something different for everyone.  I imagine that, even for myself, as the "ever after" part gets longer and longer, I will have an ever evolving definition of the "happily" part.  So, while it is guaranteed to change, I thought I might share a little bit about what "happily ever after" has meant for me so far.  At least during its first five years.

Happily Ever After means getting to spend every day with your hero.

Some heroes wear towels instead of capes.

Happily Ever After means learning to communicate.  Even when it's hard.  It means learning to say what you mean and mean what you say.

Happily Ever After means you laugh together. A lot.

Happily Ever After means that you cry together.  

Happily Ever After means there is a hot kiss available when you need it.

Happily Ever After means there is someone to take care of you when you are not feeling well.

Happily Ever After means that you surprise each other.  Robyn is surprising me with something tonight.  I know it involves a dinner reservation that's fancy enough that I can't wear shorts. (Or maybe that's just her way of tricking me into wearing something nicer.)  Her surprise comes next week.  It involves taking off 2 days of work and traveling to an undisclosed location.

Happily Ever After means that sometimes you have to be apart.

But electronic devices allow you to stay connected.  And be as awkward as ever.

Did I mention awkward?

Happily Ever After means that you face really hard times.  But you face them together, and that makes it easier to get through those times.

Happily Ever After means making time to go to the temple.

Happily Ever After means that you make big life decisions together.  Sometimes it's really scary.

Happily Ever After means dancing in the kitchen.

Happily Ever After means you try to do things that seem impossible.  (Like starting a family for us).  But you have faith that the two of you plus the Lord can achieve even the impossible.

Happily Ever After means spending time with great friends.

Happily Ever After means taking selfies.

Be glad I only picked 3.  I had thousands to choose from.

Happily Ever After means having someone to cheer you on while you do something incredibly difficult like try to lost 100 pounds.

Happily Ever After means experiencing the world.

Happily Ever After means trying new things.

Sometimes those new things are bacon soda.  Sometimes it doesn't turn out well.

Happily Ever After means trying more new things.

Sometimes those new things are snorkeling in Hawaii.  That's guaranteed to turn out better.

Happily Ever After means you get to wake up in the middle of the night while your partner does incoherent things in their sleep.

Happily Ever After means spending time with family.

Happily Ever After means always having someone to talk to.

Happily Ever After means appreciating the majesty of God's creation.

There's true magic in a sunrise.

Happily Ever After means that, despite the best intentions, sometimes one of you will get cranky.

She's cute when she's cranky.

Happily Ever After means having someone to lean on while getting terrible news like diabetes or infertility.

Happily Ever After means taking picnics together in nature.

Picnics with selfies, of course.

Happily Ever After means there's always someone who has your back.

Happily Ever After means that you face the world together, hand in hand.

This is just a small piece of what Happily Ever After means to me.  All of these things are part of it.  But none of them truly capture its essence.  I am so happy to have the opportunity to be with my best friend, to enjoy her company, bask in her wisdom, lean on her for support, and laugh with her every single day.

Happy Anniversary my love!  Five years of Happily Ever After barely scratches the surface.  I look forward to many, many more.

Hiking!

Here is another hike we just went on.  Like I have said before, Jeff is the writer and I just like to take pictures.  So, here is our hike in pictures.

I am rocking out some LOVE!

We took the Big Springs Trail

I love Fall leaves!

We are so precious in our meadow!

Fat Toys and Snuggle Tummies

The world needs more honesty.  Luckily,  the world is filled with children.  Precious, honest children.

The other day Robyn's brother came over to visit.  He brought 3 of his children and we had fun visiting and playing.

My 4-year-old niece had just made some very important acquisitions.  She had acquired a set of toys based on the various characters from Disney's Tangled.  Of course, if you had just obtained a collection of such value, you would want to show it off, amiright?  She was doing just that, she was showing us all of the toys, one by one.  With each toy, she told us who it was and gave us background information so that we could truly understand the character.

As she went through, she was saying things like, "This is Maximus, he's a horsie."  "This is Rapunzel, she has long hair, like me."  "This is her mom, she's not nice."

She got through all of them, and then she came to this guy:

She held him proudly in the air.  She looked right at me with a giant grin and a sparkle in her eye and said, "He's fat like you, Jeff!"

I've lost 55 pounds so far this year.  I've walked 260 miles.  I've burned 192,500 calories more than I've eaten.  I've worked my tail off.  Some might think the 4-year-old honesty in that moment would be discouraging.  But, if you could see the look in her eyes when she said it you would see how much love that statement contained.  There was no judgment or malice, merely an observation that her uncle whom she loves shares an attribute with her toy that she loves.

Besides, how could anything said by someone this cute be taken negatively?

The good news is that her equally honest siblings have acknowledged my weight loss.  So, it hasn't gone entirely unnoticed in the world of childdom.  Both of her older siblings have told me in recent months that they are very disappointed that my snuggle tummy is shrinking.  Several times in recent weeks they have asked to snuggle with my tummy before it disappears.

This is her older sister making proper use of the snuggle tummy about a year ago, before it started shrinking.

The snuggle tummy has been very important to all of them for a long time.  When their mom was pregnant, I was told, "My mom has a tummy like yours, but it's not for snuggling because there's a baby inside."

So here's what I've learned from talking to my nieces.

1.  I may have lost weight but I haven't completed my journey yet.
2.  Snuggling is really important.
3.  I will always be loved, regardless of what I look like.
4.  Little girls are really cute.

What have you learned from the wisdom and honesty of little children?

Labor Day

Labor Day is a fantastic day.  I mean think about it.  Normally, your weekend consists of a Friday Night (usually date night for us) then a Saturday (This is usually our get stuff done around the house day) then a Sunday (A good day to go to church and spend time with family)

Sunday nights are sad because they are followed by Monday.

But on Monday holidays such as Labor Day, there is no sadness Sunday night.  It's as if Monday got replaced with a bonus Saturday.  Bonus Saturday is even better than regular Saturday, because you already did the stuff around the house, so you get to play all day.  (Plus, bonus is just such a fun word to say.)

I told Robyn I wanted to go hiking to celebrate the "contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country."  (I stole that from Wikipedia.  Who knew that's what Labor day was about?  I thought it was about barbecue.)

Robyn told me the desired difficulty of our hike, and I found a suitable one that we had never before experienced in my local hiking guide.  We decided we were hiking to Lake Solitude.  It definitely didn't disappoint.

The trail head starts out at some marsh lands surrounding Silver Lake.  The trail consists of wooden planks going over the marshes.  If you don't look at the pre-built wooden trail or the gobs of labor day hikers, you can pretend that you are Frodo trudging through the marshes on the way to Mount Doom.  It's quite fun.

Eventually, the marshes give way to an actual lake.

Granted, it's still a marshy lake.

The trail wraps around Silver Lake with an offshoot headed to Lake Solitude.  The offshoot trail is a little bit more steep and takes you through some fun scenery.

You hike through some aspen forest

But most of the forest is filled with evergreens

And you get the occasional glimpse of a ski lift.

You may even see a chipmunk or two.

If you're luck you'll see this cute girl.  But I can't guarantee she'll be there when you go.

It's about a mile and half out to Lake Solitude, and it's a 500 foot climb.  So, it's not super hardcore but this would have been a very difficult hike for me a year ago.  I was very proud of myself as we zipped up the mountain passing loads of other hikers.

Eventually we reached Lake Solitude and were greeted by this view.

We hiked around the lake and found a good little spot to have a little picnic.

This was our view during the picnic.

On our way back we saw some berries.  I don't know what kind of berries they were, but if the Hunger Games are ever hosted near Lake Solitude and I am a contestant, I am feeding them to Fox Face.

They look harmless, right?

As we were walking back, we saw some children standing on a rock getting their picture taken.  Robyn explained that she has many childhood pictures of her standing on a rock. Apparently rocks are good for photo ops.

Naturally, I told Robyn to sit on a rock so I could take a picture.

She rolled her eyes at me, but she let me take this shot.

It was a successful hike, and thus a successful labor day.  But, don't go away.  There's one more thing I need to show you.  That evening, we had my brother and his wife over for dinner.  We had a fire in the backyard and roasted hot dogs.  They brought Twinkies.  We had to do something special to celebrate the return of Twinkies from oblivion.  So this happened.

That's right.  We roasted Twinkies over the fire.  I'm not gonna lie.  It was amazing.  They were crispy on the outside and ooey gooey melted goodness on the inside.

Aren't you glad Hostess has returned?

I hope your Labor Day was as good as mine.