6 years and counting!

Weddings for Dummies! I don't remember who gave this to us, but I'm sure they knew us well! What I've learned over the past 6 years is that the title of that book wasn't too far from the truth! In the past 6 years we have had many ups and downs. Tons of new discoveries. A daughter, dog, cat, and a fish. (We had some sea monkey along the way but they lived so long and were so boring that I flushed them because they were driving me insane! They just wouldn't die! Don't worry I did feel really bad...) Many adventures, have logged more miles than I can count. We have moved over 7 times, lived in 5 states. Owned 3 cars (2 of which we still have), 1 truck and 6 different kayaks. We have tested our skills in various outdoor activites and have a general love for everything outside. We have learned a ton about each other, life, and love. We have crossed many paths that we know we have made an impact on, as well as being impacted on. The list goes on... way on! So today as I try to think back 6 years, there are hours of photographs to look through, hundreds of stories to tell, and so many memories it is almost overwhelming! (What do you do at 50 years?) So for this blog I thought I'd share a little about the beginning. Most who read this didn't know us to well then and I thought it would be fun!

This is a pic of us while we were dating on one of the infamous Outing Center (Not Centre) trips! The Outing Center is where we met during a kayaking class I took, that John was teaching.

This is in the Boundary Waters in Minnesota. We spent 7+ days in the backcountry, armed only with a canoe, 2 paddles, supplies, and our arms and legs to do all of the work while portaging everything through the thousands of lakes there. It was amazing!

These are the "Squirrels nest" that our group camped in on the trip where it all began.... Awww!

And this is me... super intense while kayaking! One of the loves John and I share... One of the things that we love about each other!

From the beginning there are tons of pictures of us kayaking... It's what we did... all of the time... Seriously... ALL of the time. Our typical week in college. Thursday: Prep day to pack and load to go kayaking for the weekend, Friday: Stare at the clock through all of our classes aching to get on the road. Sometimes driving through the night in 2 hr shifts partnering with red bull, Sat/Sun: Getting as much river time as possible before having to head back to school. Monday: Cleaning up all of the gear from the weekend. Tuesday: Free Day Wednesday: Open Pool where we practiced kayaking and then the cycle would repeat itself!

This is the waterfall that we both went over for the first time together.

This is another Boundary Water picture... At the time we learned that we were definitely solo paddlers. I perfected the skill of "Lily Dipping" and John's canoe skills increased significantly! ;)

Nice purple helmet John!

This is why I fell in love with him! =)

No those aren't gloves! We paddled so much in the spring that the only things exposed were my hands on the paddles. Every time we went out regardless of the 75spf sunscreen I used on them, they only became tanner and tanner and tanner! I looked ridiculous but John was proud!

Yep we've even survived an accident together! I rear ended John in his truck while he was driving in front of me during a weekend kayaking in Wisconsin. It was John's fault, his Dad believes me, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! =)

I got to experience my first pit toilet while on a trip with John!

This is just one of my favorite pictures!

When John had hair! He lost it AFTER we got married! =)

Me!

And after all of that and much.. much.. more! We loved each other enough to do it for the rest of our lives! John proposed to me on a river (go figure!) and of course I said yes!

We had absolutely no idea what we were signing up for!

6 years ago digital photography was still not very popular so this is one of the only pics of our wedding that I have on the computer. We want to have all of them scanned, but until then you'll just have to trust me that I am really the bride standing there! =)

After 6 years our future is looking stronger and brighter than ever. We have recently ripped out the original foundation of our marriage to replace it with a rock solid one. Our marriage is becoming stronger on a daily basis and we have more unity now than ever! Our lives are continuing to take of the shape of what we are purposed to do and we couldn't be more excited! It's great to be in Love! In 44 years I can only imagine what my post will look like! Until then... we're gonna keep on diggin'!