The Symbolism of this Journey

Unfortunately as it happens, actually living life consumed a lot of my time these last few months- so I apologize for lack of blog posts.  I realize I never actually finished my account of my first hike- and I'm still in the process of finishing that entry as I've slowly been compiling it.  To all my readers- I hope you had a safe and happy New Year!  We were fortunate enough to have spent ours with a group of friends- including Jared and Kasie who took that first trip with us... and we spent a lot of time reminiscing about our adventure.  They went over their set of pictures with us and showed us a few of their prints- looking at those photos made me long to go back more than ever since we've been home.

A lot of our time was devoted to our wedding in October- and although I don't want to go into too much detail about this in particular, it was a very important step in our journey- and it would be a disservice to not include it.  This hiking goal of mine isn't just about me- it's about us.  It's about sharing time together.  It's about meeting people.  It's about moving through the pain of a tumble, or slipping on the streams.  Our marriage is merely the official symbol of everything, just like the peak of the mountains. And at the risk of sounding cliche- what it means to me is so much more.

Sitting on those peaks is an absolutely breathtaking, jaw-dropping, heart-stopping experience... and they're something I'll hold onto forever.  But those moments are fleeting- and you realize you don't spend the majority of your time actually on top of the mountain.  If you only ever enjoy the peaks- you'll spend more of your time miserable than happy.  What makes getting married so worth it are all those little moments that lead us to where we are.  Sure, those big moments are something to treasure and celebrate, but you should never forget all the steps that led you there- just as you should realize and embrace the journey past these points as well.  There will always be another peak to climb- and I hope you all stand beside me on that trail at some point in time.  Sometimes I will be behind you, other times I'll be in front- and more often than not we might be on entirely different mountains altogether.

What I'm getting at is that no matter what our relationship is, no matter where we are in life- whether it's emotional, or physical- or even psychological (you all know I'm crazy), just know that I will be there beside you, always, but especially when you ask me to be.  Because climbing those mountains are so much better when you don't climb them alone <3

Our wedding cake topper