Well..... like 60% of the time.... the other 40% is a little "iffy", very questionable. And yes, that's pretty ballsy to say... be like us đ. Follow our lead... We know what we are doing...
The 40% that you shouldn't "follow" sometimes winds us up on a dirt road, in the dark, on rental bikes, being eaten by a pack of grouchy, undernourished dogs. Ya, that's the stuff you shouldn't look up to us for. đ (although that was a pretty damn good story I have to be honest).
Let's look at the facts:
We have been married for 25 years (this May)
We have helped 2 beautiful souls navigate this crazy ride (so proud of both of them)
We have solid, ride or die, friendships
We often are told that we are #relationshipgoals (young, hip terminology)
And I'm just gonna say it (#impostersydromebedamned ) we are pretty genuine, authentic and fun people to be around. After morning coffee of course.
Now wait a sec....
I didn't say we have been "100% happily" married for 25 years now did I? But what has taken us thus far is that we course correct every now and then (hence, the anniversary surprises). Sometimes we veer off course and get on our own flight paths and we lose the communication between cockpits. Ok, that is getting a little cheesy đ§... Let me get clear —
From the first year of our marriage we have made our anniversaries about US. We decided that we would celebrate each other and the work (and it is work đ°) that we both put into our relationship right from the get go. I have probably written about our yearly anniversary celebrations in previous blogs but oh well đ€·đ»ââïž here it is again. Because if the marriage ain't workin', nuttin' is gonna be workin'. Ya hearing me? And this isn't to say, stay in a toxic/abusive relationship... work it out, you can do it kinda thing. Sometimes the best thing we can do for ourselves and our children is to end the relationship. BUT that's not what this is about đ
Even at the very young and wide-eyed age of 26 we were not ready (well I know I wasn't) for the smack to the side of the head that would be "real life marriage" as opposed to "romantic movie marriage". But I did know that I wanted to be proactive and maybe foresee some things coming down the pipe at us and maybe be able to crawl on our hands and knees through them. That's when I decided that on our first anniversary I would make Ken wear a blindfold from Invermere to the Chateau Lake Louise while he sat in the passenger seat of our silver Honda Civic hatchback đ€đ». I got the same room that we had on our wedding weekend and I got the same table in the restaurant that we sat at. And we reconnected. We talked and we were refreshed and anew! And that's how it all started and how we still look forward to being in each others company for 5 weeks straight.
I think it was the next year that Ken gave a bottle of something to the helicopter pilot that he worked with fighting fires that summer. The pilot flew us up somewhere behind Panorama ski hill (I think, I'm not good at directions) and dropped us off for a picnic lunch in a cute little cabin in the middle of a glacier (once again, I think it was a glacier... it had lots of snow and no trees đ€) and then he came back to get us later, so fricken cool. I felt like a millionnaire!
In the beginning, we were very creative because we didn't have a lot of money to spend. But that is part of the fun. Because it makes you think of your spouse and makes you wonder what you could do that would bring them authentic, personal, real joy. Because doesn't it feel good when someone puts creative effort into bringing you some joy? I know I love it. And the flip side, doesn't it feel good when you see your partner's eyes light up with love and joy when they see what you have done for them?
I can't think of a single anniversary that I haven't loved. When we started to be able to afford going away for our anniversaries we started celebrating them early so that we could get the fack out of Grande Prairie in the minus bazillion cold weather temperatures. And people are always so fascinated by our "rules". One of them being that whoever is getting surprised that year cannot even get close to the check-in counters at the airports so that they can't overhear where the flight is heading. And it doesn't matter how many layovers we have. Each one is a surprise! One year đ Ken was taking me to Costa Rica. We got to the International waiting area and I was trying to figure out where we were going by the flights up on the board. I deduced that we were heading to Liberia. I thought Liberia the country. But no it was Liberia the city in Costa Rica! Not that country Liberia wouldn't have been cool but just funny how it all plays out. One year Ken was taking me to Bali. We had to go through Honk Kong. Which I thought was our final destination. But I've never mentioned wanting to go there and I knew from my own research into kitetrips for Ken that they didn't have great kiting. I thought, oh well, I know we will find fun there somewhere! As we were walking through the airport he said to sit and wait for a bit. Then I figured out we were flying to BALI!!!!!! It was one of the top picks on my bucket list. I was so excited!!!!
So over the years many people say "Can I steal this idea from you guys?" And my response is YES YES YES! Do it! If it will keep your relationship alive and that is what you want then DO IT! Because who doesn't get affected by two people sharing love and being a beacon of light in this world? I googled it. NOBODY.
So to sign off so that I can go sit by the pool and read and drink and people watch, I end this nugget of gold with this....
Are you having any fun?
(btw if you can't load the video, it's on my Instagram in my reels!)
Peace to you all and LOVE YOU ALL! đ€đ»đđ€đ»