01/10/2026
My husband + I have a promise with each other that we are going to hike Highlands Bowl (hard spot to get to + double black diamond terrain on the way down - at easiest) every year on our anniversary for the rest of our lives with each other + the people that support us now + plan to continue to support us throughout the rest of our lifespan as friends in each other's lives.
This is very important to us symbolically because we know in every relationship, it not only takes two but it also it takes teamwork to make the dream work.
We consider our friends to be part of our wonderful family and family is the most important thing in life.
My husband + I have known each other since 2005 and he is obviously the most important person other than myself in this entire universe.
I accepted my hubby's proposal on the last night of our two week ski/ride trip to Japan in 2019 - on the very last night when I figured it was not going to happen on that trip.…
My husband is the yin to my yang and I can't imagine a life without him. I know that I would get by, but it wouldn't be as wonderful of a life without him.
Yesterday was our six year wedding anniversary + it was a very hard day for me emotionally because I made the decision to have an elective surgery on my right hand.
My greatest love in life other than myself + my husband = snowboarding. Hands down (no pun intended).
I work in the golf industry and I love my job as regional manager!
I've been working with Dixon Golf since the summer of 2014 and I have been one of the regional managers since the fall or winter of 2015.
One of the many things I love about working at Dixon Golf is that our company is truly a family + everybody that I work with there I consider to be part of my wonderful family.
Because of what my position entails, this fall/winter was the only time of year that I was able to take time to scale my work responsibilities + still feel confident that I could do my job and not get behind.
Because I have set myself up for success over the years was in my position. Have a wonderful team to support me while I cannot do my job at the normal capacity.
Not only were my husband and I not able to hike the bowl yesterday, but the reason that we chose to not join my coworkers on Dixon Golf's annual cruise was that it only came back to port yesterday.
As much as I love my family, my husband comes first other than myself + I wasn't going to miss the hike up Highlands Bowl with my husband + our family for anything in life including my job - or at least so I thought.
Our family, weather related by blood or not, helps us to really make the dream work by filling our cups, especially we need it the most..
I made a promise to my husband + he made the same promise to me that we will be here for each other in sickness + in health through the good times and the bad for the rest of our lives on this planet so long as we both shall live.
Whether you are part of our blood family, our non-blood family, or whether by proxy you fit into one and/or both of these two categories, there is not a single member of our family that takes priority over anybody else in our family and you both love very hard.
It is so important to us to take care of our family as family always comes first in both of our eyes.
I have spent a lot of time in bed without much to do and I have been trying not to go stir crazy because I can't leave the bed easily right now we'll still being uncomfortable, much less the house.
There have been very few few times over the last month that I have made it past the mailbox on my own for anything other than therapy or a doctors appointment - this includes while both of our families were visiting Colorado from Atlanta for the holidays.
I had my husband help me get dressed so that I could go for a walk and it took me a very long time to get out the door… I made it almost to the mailbox of the house next-door before I had to come home and lie down.
We we're lucky enough that we got to see my husband's parents a few times here in the Roaring Fork Valley before the end of the year, but for only a few hours each time as I was in so much pain by the end of dinner that I needed to return to bed as soon as humanly possible.
We got to see my parents, my sister Kristen, and her fiancé Brian last month while they were on vacation in Beaver Creek for a Christmas ski trip, but unfortunately we didn't get to see them for long at all as we found out on December 30th during an appointment at the Steadman clinic in Frisco that resulted in an MRI and I found out mid late afternoon that I was going to need an emergency surgery on December 31st - first thing in the morning at 7.45am (6am check in).
It makes me very sad that not only were we not able to be up at 12,392' yesterday on Highlands Bowl but that we also barely got to spend time with our immediate family this Christmas - nor did we get to go home to Atlanta this year as we'd originally planned.
We decided at some point over the last few years that we were going to start making winter holiday memories in Colorado in addition to Atlanta on a regular basis.
I figured we would be able to easily complete this symbolic act of commitment every year on our anniversary until we were both at very least 60 or 70 years old.
12,392' above sea level @ 39°10'52" N, 106°51'23" W is such a special place to both of us because it is the location we were at physically when we professed our love to each other in front of our family + front of the entire universe each other six years ago on 1.9.2020.
Even though we couldn't be physically up there at 12,392' together with our family, we were lucky enough to be in bed together + watch the wedding video together and that was very special too... and I can't wait to make more memories outside of bed with my husband and with our family.
I grew up as a Girl Scout for a number of years + there is a Girl Scout song I have fond memories of that sings "...make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver, the other's gold."
After doing some quick research on Google and the help of artificial intelligence I just found out that those lyrics suggest "new bonds are precious (silver) but old, tested friendships are even more valuable (gold) and enduring, like a circle with no end" which is a concept rooted in a poem by Joseph Parry.
After doing a little bit more quick research on Google (also with the help of AI) I found out that "while the exact original authorship is sometimes debated, [those lyrics are] widely attributed to Joseph Parry, who is believed to have written the lyrics around 1877."
I believe that AI, just like any thing else in our lives, can be a tool that we can positively and at other times it can be detrimental to our society.
I've shared the YouTube link here in case anybody is interested in seeing what it looks like up at the top of Highlands Bowl + what it was like to be there with us and our family while we made that promise to each other in front of our family and the entire universe.
This video gives you a small glimpse into the wonderful energy that surrounded us on that day of pure bliss.
Our wedding in 2020 was not a starting point by any means, but it was a celebration with family where we were able to renew our promise to each other to take care of ourselves first + each other second at all times as our highest priority in life above anything else in the world.
We have designed our life so that we are currently already set up for success and we have the flexibility to travel when is is not busy season.
This flexibility allows us to explore new adventures + to see family that does not live close to us.
Don't forget to always follow your heart + to follow your heart's compass to your true North at all times!
We got married at the top of Aspen Highlands Bowl on January 9, 2020. We had about 40 friends (including 2 family members) at the top to celebrate with us an...
