Refreshed

When you have kids your life changes in so many ways. Of course, the obvious - you have kids. But your life changes in other ways too. For example, personal hygiene takes a serious dive. Every time I get my eyebrows waxed (I am a big wuss about plucking), they break out a chainsaw, okay maybe not chainsaw, but it feels like they rip out a forest of hair.

Sweats become something you live in, not just wear on Saturdays. These sweats may or may not have been washed in weeks. The house becomes something that is "managed" not so much cleaned. As in we "managed" to find an open spot on the kitchen counter which means we won't have to clean until next week.

These things are really no big deal. No one gets to the end of their life and laments their bushy eyebrows or sticky counters. But, sometimes the things we shove on the back burner do matter. For those of us who are married, it's easy to put our partner on the back burner.

It's easy to do, after all, they are adults and understand that when kids are little, life is all about the kids. I am guilty of this. I think one day soon the kids will be demanding we bugger out of their business, so enjoy it while we can. And yes, that is true, but if I don't invest in my marriage, there will be nothing to enjoy when the kids actually do fly the nest, in fact, the marriage may not even last until the kids leave.

I think Matthew and I realized we needed to make our relationship a bigger priority about two years ago. It is easy to recognize, harder to actually make the time. We finally got away last week, just the two of us. It was wonderful, did amazing things for our relationship and helped cement the actual foundation of our little family.

I joked that the money we spent on vacation probably helped our marriage more than spending it on any sort of marital counseling. Matthew agreed. We are back now and recommitted to making each other more of a priority. The trip helped us remember it can be fun to make a marriage a priority and not just another item on a to-do list.

Here is to the past 8 years with my best friend and a future with decades more.

Matthew at Hanging Lake

It was beautiful up there, the hike was crazy, but the view? totally worth it

Mineral Belt Trail (we biked up it, but there were actually people running the 12 mile trail - going UP the mountains)

LOVE Colorado

Paragliding (you run off a mountain top - it is AMAZING), I am in the red and green sail.

Me with my driver - I love adrenaline....

Ziplining over some gorges. Yep, a little more adrenaline