Peter and I are celebrating our first wedding anniversary today. That old adage about time flying and fun is truly appropriate here. It feels a long time ago that we were waking up on our wedding day but really it was only a year ago. Maybe it feels like a long time ago because this year has been jam packed full of adventures. It has been an amazing year.
This weekend we went backpacking in the Wallowa Mountains of Eastern Oregon to celebrate our first year together as a married couple. It was challenging, beautiful, peaceful, fun, overwhelming and hot - all at the same time. Kind of like our first year together. As we were hiking, I spent a lot of time thinking - the two activities fit nicely on backpacking trips!
We were off and running following our perfect ceremony last August 18th. First to Baja in Blanca the White VW Bus. Then the string of countries, cultures, and languages fanned out before us - Bali, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru and Costa Rica. At times, I find myself feeling like it was someone else who traveled and explored - appreciated and questioned. Alas, it was us - together - on an adventure of ups and downs that will serve as a primary building block for our shared memory and growing relationship.
Along the way of our epic journey last year - both physically and emotionally - there were many times when we were pleased, humbled and overjoyed by an experience, an encounter or a view. It would be silly to try to enumerate them here. Suffice to say, we encountered endless joy and extreme gratefulness daily as we navigated our way through the world. We shared our thoughts on these experiences and marveled at the beauty of our vista. At the same time, there were times of despair, frustration, and stress that put us through our paces as individuals and as a couple. One more memorable example comes to mind as we were trying to get the hell out of Peru without the requisite Yellow Fever Shot. Maybe I can remember the bad because they were so few and far between and the great is just the baseline of our life. At the risk of sounding cliche, despite the downs, the ups were more memorable, meaningful and frequent. Often, folks comment that we must really be a strong entity because we were able to travel together for so long and so far. In reality, we just really enjoy each others company and we could be pretty much anywhere and be happy - even crying for mercy from the Bali Belly demons on the sticky tile of our hotel floor - as long as we're together.
As we look ahead to another year, I'm sure the adventures won't take us as far from home, but our journey will continue with challenge, love and support uncovered and practiced in this first year.
Many thanks to all of you reading that were with us in person or in spirit on our wedding day last year. You, too, were a large part of our first year - and will be present in all the ones to come.
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