Why yes, it IS all about WE

Monday marked the 26th anniversary of me and Splenda Daddy's wedding (is that correct grammer or should it be Splenda and I?  - I never know, but I bet Cheeseboy or Teaching Fourth will enlighten me!)

We spent Sunday evening in Park City enjoying the mountains that we both love so much.  Monday was spent purchasing Splenda a new bike and then cruising main street.  Dinner at our favorite haunt in town, browsing a few shops and then making ourselves come back to the valley and real life again.

TWENTY-SIX years.  That's like a whole lifetime in today's world.  I think of all the couples that we knew who also got married that year or soon thereafter and are no longer married.  Those that were in our circle of friends at the time anyway.  I guess, I can sort of understand why.  Marriage is certainly not all rainbows, kitten whiskers, and unicorns pooping butterflies.  It's hard sometimes.  Money, children, extended family, friends, work, church, hobbies - can all creep into your relationship in unhealthy ways. 

There are disagreements.  Sometimes out and out fights.  Differing views on everything from raising the children, to how to hang a picture.  But me and Splenda?  We've  faired pretty well I would say. We agree on most things.  At least the ones that we deem important.  We disagree on things that don't matter, thus we don't care.  We are committed to our relationship - there is no escape hatch or exit strategy.  We talk about, dream out, and envision growing old together.  We make plans for retirement and what we will do.  We play, we eat, we sleep, we talk, we discuss, we debate, we counsel, we worship, we lead, we laugh, we cry, we amuse, we, we, we.......it's all about we.  And it always has been.  From day one to day......whatever it is now.

I suppose if I were to take the WE out of our relationship, it would be a much different picture.  Maybe that is what is so hard about marriage.  Sometimes we forget the WE part.  Instead, the focus becomes ME or I.  When that happens, it's hard to keep the true vision of what a marriage relationship is all about.  Heaven knows there is many a soul out there in the world, who is doing their best to make a marriage work, but without the other half pulling their weight.  You can't do it all by yourself.  That's the cold brutal fact.  And for those, my heart aches.  I have found nothing to compare to the happiness in a successful, healthy relationship.

Lest anyone who stumbles on this and is reading with the thought that our marriage is the epitome of perfection, I say, push that thought out of your head NOW.  Perfect, no.  Near perfect?  Yep! 

I am one lucky, blessed girl to get the remarkable man I have.  Who knew that when I first met him and his mullet lo these many years ago, that I would love him more today, than I could ever have imagined possible.  That life could throw us so many curveballs, and yet we still find the fun in it all.  That even with unfulfilled expectations, plans averted, snags in our game plan, that we are still holding out strong and immovable.

I take it all back to that little two letter word...... WE

I am grateful for my Splenda who sees that vision too.  He treats me like a queen.  He loves me, he loves our children and our granddaughter.  He respects me.  Most importantly, he knows that WE has to exist or failure is a reality.

Happy 26 years Splenda!  It's been a fun ride, and I can't wait to see what the next 26 bring us!

Park City Anniversary Fun

After taking care of some business on the home front: a funeral, fixing the oven, getting packed, we finally loaded Pete the Pathfinder with our overnight crap and our bikes and pulled out of the driveway.

Splenda informs me that he needs to stop and get something for his bike. Some pedal something or other and we just need to make one quick stop. Wouldn't you know it? He had a surprise in store for me! Check out this beauty! A sterling silver and diamond pendant! I love it! I was so surprised and I absolutley adore it!! I think I looked at it in the mirror all the way to Park City!!

We stayed here. It's our favorite haunt in PC. Prolly cause it's cheap, has what we need and is close enough without dealing with main street's traffic.

We got settled in our room and headed out to find a theater. We have both been wanting to see the movie Up. It's a Pixar creation and since Pixar was founded by Splenda's cousin, we try to support all their creations. We found one theater, and crap - no Up. Now what to do? I really wanted Splenda to see my last leg I ran on the Ragnar Relay so we headed back out to the freeway and I led him there.

We stopped for a photo op at the exact spot I finished the brutual run.
While it was cloudy and chilly, the view over Jordanelle lake was beautiful

Going the opposite direction of my run, we ended up in Francis and then we drove over to Kamas. Splenda has never been to either of those little towns so it was kinda fun to just take a nice, casual drive. We headed back to Park City and came in the back way. Found a grocery store for some supplies and right there were more theaters! Unfortunately, no Up.

Instead we drove to main street and took a stroll. We ate hereand had thisand thisSeriously, the best food in town! My favorite!!

After dinner we waddled our stuffed selves back to the car and back to the hotel. watched 'Vantage Point' (good until the last 10 minutes) and then called it a night.

In the morning after sleeping in and having the standard hotel breakfast, we loaded up, saddled our bikes and took off. Splenda wanted to go to the Olympic park so that is where we headed.

It was UPHILL. And a steeeeeep grade. Here I was thinking a leisurely bike ride, but NOPE, we had to start it off with a hill climb. At least the view was fantastic!

We finally gasped our way into Olympic Park only to find that you had to pay to enter! We were already skating on thin ice with bike riding on the Sabbath, we weren't about to pay to enter the park so instead we got right up to the gate and watched the ski jumpers for a little bit.

Ski jumpers you say? In August? They use the ski jump and land in water to train. You can also pay to do it your self. There some very ordinary folks playing as well as someone who clearly was very good.

After admiring his skills, we headed back down the super steep hill. That part was FUN! I finally got going as fast as I ever have on my bike - 40.2mph. What a rush! We followed some trails and stumbled upon some cute little girls running a lemonade stand. They weren't asking for any money other than whatever you chose to donate. You could still have lemonade and a brownie if you wanted. They were trying to raise funds for PCCC (I think they meant PCMC) and Furburbia. I scrounged some loose change from my bike saddle bags, dumped it in their jar while Splenda drank the lemonade. We asked the adult woman with them about some more trails and she sent us in a great direction.

After thanking the girls again and smiling at their excitment, we headed off. We ended up making a small loop from the west end of the valley to the east and back again. The views were spectacular, and other than some strong wind, the weather was perfect! More great photo op's

A little over 2 hours and 13 miles later, we rolled back into the parking lot and to our car. Loaded the bikes, headed for home and back to reality. It was a fun, relaxing, and wonderful way to spend our 25th. Sure a cruise would have been nice, as was originally planned, but with a son still at home, we can wait and do that another time.

Thanks Splenda for the good times!