Happy 3 Years!

Sunday, June 8^th was our “official” (and un-official) 3 year anniversary.  I say both, because over the past 3 years, we’ve had many conversations about what actually constituted our first date, and what was really the anniversary date.  It’s changed a couple of times, but we’ve actually settled on June 8^th, which was when he messaged me out of the blue and took me to a Brett Dennen concert in Denver.

A shot from our seats on our first date :-) 

A few weeks earlier, in 2011, Zach had taken me up on an offer to go to a Rockies game for free, but had to back out the day before, due to his summer work schedule.  So, he invited me to the concert as a way to “pay me back” for bailing on the baseball game, and his friend who was going originally had to back out of the concert, so he didn’t want to go alone.  We’ve gone back and forth on if this was a date or not, for various reasons, but eventually he agreed with me – he offered, he drove, he bought drinks and we got to spend our first time together outside of a work-related event.  And, he was the one who texted a few weeks later and asked me out for drinks.  So, if I hadn’t gone with him to the concert, would there have been a “second” date?  Hmmm… who knows?

Either way, we aren’t big on celebrating big dates, which sounds bad, but it really doesn’t bother either of us.  For example, I told him for our first Valentine’s Day together that I really didn’t care to celebrate it, and didn’t need/want to make a big deal out of it.  I could tell that he wasn’t really sure if I meant that – (sometimes women say “don’t get me anything” and then rip into the poor guy when he doesn’t) – so it took a little convincing.  I think when we passed February 14^th and he didn’t take me out or even get me a card and I didn’t get mad, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

So, we both knew that the 8^th would’ve been 3 years since our first date, so we talked about it a little bit.  I was going to be coming back in town from a camping trip with my family, and he’d be working that morning.  Based on past history for anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, and other holidays, I wasn’t really expecting much.  I wasn’t even going to get anything for him, but I found a card in my running “stash” of emergency cards, and thought it worked well for us, so I decided to give it to him.  It was something along the lines of me picking up a tomato in a grocery store and laughing about something he had said/done earlier, and other shoppers not getting why I was laughing.  Inside, it just said “You’re good for me” – which is something we tell each other a lot.  See?  Perfect!

I ended up getting into town about an hour and a half past when I had predicted, and to my surprise, he texted me to see what I wanted for dinner.  Now, not only is this a rare occurrence because I’m the one who cooks primarily, but he also doesn’t really plan for dinner like that – it’s not uncommon for us to spend an hour or so deciding what we want for dinner before the process begins.  And then a follow-up shock – I threw out a suggestion, “something with chicken”, and then he came back with bratwursts and potatoes!  It was a pretty rainy day, so it sounded perfect.  I didn’t have to come up with ANY ideas, or even go out and get the ingredients – or cook even!!

When I got home, he was just finishing up dinner.  We hugged, and then to my surprise – AGAIN – he reached over and handed me not one, but TWO cards with a “Happy 3 Years”!  He’s not a card guy.  I know exactly how many times he’s gotten me cards in the last 3 years (only for birthdays, and 2 – one funny, and one serious/normal). And he’s told me before he doesn’t quite understand what do you do with them once you’ve read them?  Keep them forever?  Throw them out right away?  Keep them for 2-3 days, then toss?   I can kind of see his point, but I’ll still keep getting him cards!!

Another interesting fact about us – he has never given me flowers.  Not once.  Not even on this occasion.  (Apparently, one day he gathered some wildflowers on his golf course and was going to bring them to me, but had left them in the back of the cart, and they were ruined, so alas – no flowers for me).  I wasn’t surprised or disappointed that he didn’t get me a “thing” for our anniversary.  But what he did do actually did make me tear up.

He went grocery shopping.  But not only for dinner.  No, he went ahead and bought groceries for the entire week.  1 week of me not having to scroll through hundreds of recipes to find the right one that sounds good, that we’d both enjoy, that sounded good, that fit the budget/I didn’t have to pay for, etc.  That alone would’ve been perfect.  But – he started to show me the “extra” things he got.  He actually bought some cookie dough for dessert, and he knows the oven is just awful and they’ll get burnt anyway.  He even bought some veggies for me – carrots and bell peppers.  And he HATES carrots, with a passion. 

That’s when I started to tear up.  He didn’t have to get me a “thing” to show he thought of me and listens to me and loves me.  He went and did something for me that he knew I would appreciate, and all because it made him happy to see me happy.  I’m sure part of it was that he was getting tired of going back and forth on dinner ideas each night, and one or both of us going to the store each night too, but I could tell he was excited to tell me what he did and show me what he got, because he knew I would love it!

And I did. Best anniversary gift I couldn’t have even thought to ask for. 

It's been a fun 3 years!!

Our first official "public appearance" together - our old bosses got married!

Some shots from our first road trip together - about 8 months in!

At a Rockies game - he dove over a few seats to catch a foul ball, which he gave to me (and I still have!!!)

Hiked my first 13-er ever (and our first climb together!)

I talked him into doing a "manly" fun-run; he spent most of the race
pushing me into the mud!  ;-)

He let me take him to an ugly sweater party, and create the sweater he's wearing!!

Camping in Estes Park

This past weekend, I was able to take a day off from work to go on a camping trip with my dad, my brother-in-law Byron, and his 3 kids.  My mom and sister were going to hang out and have a girl’s weekend in Berthoud, CO, and I wanted to tag along and go camping instead!  Originally it was going to be camping in tents, but my dad has always had a dream of camping in an RV, so he decided to just go ahead and rent one!

The camper we stayed in!

Thursday night, my parents and I carpooled up to my sister’s house and stayed overnight, to avoid having to drive really early on Friday.  Friday we all slept in and then snuck out to pick up the camper – the kids had NO idea that “Grandpa” had rented the camper!  When we finally arrived back at the house, we loaded up the camper and stopped for a quick lunch at the A&W in town, before hitting the road to Estes Park.

The girls loved climbing onto my "bed" for the weekend, over the 2 front seats.

My sister and mom joined us for the trip up there and helped us set up the camper.  We all enjoyed dinner outside and then Mom and Susan left, leaving the Byron, Dad and I with the kids!  Well, it wouldn’t be camping without a campfire and s’mores, so we broke into those pretty quickly!!  It wasn’t the traditional camping trip with tents and using the woods as our bathroom, but it was still nice to be out in a scenic area of the state, and just get some fresh air with no real agenda or things to get done!

Some things in life will never be as great to watch and smell than a real campfire!

Saturday morning we slept in until about 8 am (usually a feat unheard of while camping!) and enjoyed some bacon and egg burritos.  We took our time getting ready and headed a little bit into town to enjoy some fishing.  I’m not a huge fan of fishing, so Byron and Dad helped the kids set up their fishing poles and got started!  The kids each “caught” a fish of their own (Grandpa did actually catch 2 of them, letting the 2 younger kids reel them in, and the oldest, Emma, was able to catch and reel in a huge fish all by herself!)

Great shot of the geese in the lake swimming over to "check us out".

Emma with the fish she caught all by herself!

Owen was so excited - look at the size of that fish!

Sophia was pretty happy that she caught one too!

Towards the end of the fishing trip, the clouds started to move in and the weather didn’t look so great, so we packed up and enjoyed lunch in downtown Estes Park.  We walked around a little bit and enjoyed some of the shops before deciding to head over to the Rocky Mountain National Park and do some hiking!  We made our way to Bear Lake and took the trail leading up to Alberta Falls.  It was a beautiful, scenic hike with very little snow on the ground and a lot of tree cover, which made for great shade and amazing pictures. 

Great shot of the falls with the sign

 I don't carve on trees, but I found this one and thought it was very sweet!

I love shots of trails that wide around a corner; it's like nature saying "what's next"???

Selfie in font of a creek and some Aspens (my FAVORITE tree)!

The day didn’t end there!  As we were driving back into town, Byron remembered that I had mentioned to him that while I’ve driven past The Stanley (where most of the movie The Shining was filmed), I had never actually visited or been inside!  We were able to take a quick detour to the hotel so I could visit and get some pictures, and it was just a great time!!  A big fog moved in to town, so we headed back to the campsite to let the kids run around some more and enjoyed another campfire.

Wide shot in front of The Stanley - didn't see any ghosts this time!

Back shot of the main building from their interior outdoor patio

The lobby piano that sometimes plays by itself!

Iconic stairs in the front lobby

We were able to sleep in until 8 again on Sunday and rather than worry about cooking any breakfast or cleaning any dishes, we decided to go to the pancake breakfast being offered by the campgrounds – it was amazing!!!  After packing up the car and the camper, we headed into town with the goal to squeeze it at least one more hike before heading back home.

We drove back through the Rocky Mountain National Park again, but ended up driving to the top and parking at the visitor center.  It ended up being pretty cold up at the top, so we didn’t stay long, but we stopped inside the gift shop to get some souvenirs and gifts for Mom and Susan.

We were all a little surprised to see how much snow was still left!!!

It was beautiful up there!

Whew!!!  We finally made it home in one piece, and it was nice to finally sleep in my own bed again!  It was a great weekend that seemed to be such a LONG weekend, but then felt like it ended too soon!  I would definitely go camping with them again, and if not, then I would definitely love to go camping again for sure this summer alone or with Zach!