It’s been two years since we said ‘I do’ in front of Uncle Rico, our friends and family…and the past year has been a whirlwind!

To start, we had a wonderful day celebrating our 2 year anniversary….a pretty chill, very Colorado celebration. I took a half a day of work and we headed to Boulder, where Mike whipped me up Bear Peak -a pretty aggressive up hill climb (2,700+ vertical feet in 3 miles!).

Ski season is fast approaching and this was a great kick start to the preparation I need to do to get my legs into peak shape. Last ski season was a recovery year for sure (since I had been less than a year out of ACL surgery from my backcountry ski accident), but I am ready to put the excuses aside this year and get after it.

After the awesome climb, we headed to Four Noses Brewing, one of our favorite local breweries. They have a ton of amazing beers on tap – including several IPAs (Mike got the Whimsy) and a Palisade Peaches Sour, that I drank up happily! We carried a bottle of sour and a six pack home with us, where we enjoyed our beautiful backyard (we just got a waterfall & landscaping, so it’s pretty dang cool!)

When relaxing in the oasis that is our home, that we’ve spent the last 5 years creating, I asked Mike what he’s learned in the past 2 years of marriage. To paraphrase, he said that happiness has been his biggest lesson. The simple pursuit of happy is really the foundation of our relationship. Through the difficult times we’ve encountered over this past 2nd year of marriage, when I have stopped to think about the goal we’re aiming for, this principle has helped me put things in perspective. We are both extraordinarily hard workers when the real work needs to be done – we join forces, roll up our sleeves, and put our backs into the jobs we excel in.

For example, this year, we have been working on an investment that was supposed to be a quick fix and flip (will definitely need to dedicate a whole post to this!) and it has turned out to be a huge, adding over 1,000 square foot, year plus time-frame, savings borrowing project. And guess what? The outcome wouldn’t be any different if we had been miserable with all of the downfall we encountered. Actually, scratch that, it would have. We would have been miserable.

Instead, we took the ups and downs in stride, discussed them calmly, trusted in each other, invested in the decision we made and moved forward. All the while, remaining positive, happy in our choice, and that has fueled the success. This truly is the way we have tackled challenges this year….and it’s worked beautifully. The things that come up that are getting in the way of our happiness – whether that’s together or personally, as individuals – I’ve had candid conversations with him and myself about.

Year two in marriage has tested us for sure – financially, emotionally, fundamentally – and I believe we are stronger for it.

Cheers to many more years of happy!