#gratitudeNow: My adventure buddy

My wife Missy is pretty great. Among the many things she is to me, one of my favorite is that she’s my adventure buddy.

We go do and try new things all the time. For example, a few months ago we decided we wanted to get into hiking. So, we started to try.

First we went to parks near our house and went on some walks. Then we got a park membership to a nearby wilderness park. We got walking sticks.

After that things started to pick up speed. My girlfriend, MJ who is also a hiker, got us to get decent hiking boots, good socks, and more gear, including trek poles.

This has turned into a big thing for us.

After taking a break from it for a few weeks because of travel and general busy-ness, we got back to it. I really wanted us to go, and while at first she didn’t, we decided to do it. We went on this 2.5 mile hike, in the middle of which Missy took this picture.

Our little hammock campsite

Through Missy’s lens ball

Besides how pretty a pic this is, what really blows me away is how Missy takes this great thing we do and makes it even more great by adding her own special touch to it.

She really makes every part of my life even better.

#gratitudeNow: Enry Hiccups

I’ve got the enry, got it bad. ​

That is, I’ve got New Relationship Energy, going with my new girlfriend, MJ.​

​I could (oh heck I ​am​) gush to you about how she’s beautiful, smart, witty, and soooo sexual.  All true. But the thing I most appreciate about her is that we are firmly oriented toward one another.

I feel like she’s this fantastic book I can’t put down, and just need to stay up reading.  She’s told me repeatedly she feels the same way about me.  It’s this positive feedback loop of mutual admiration and exploration.  And, for the skeptical among you, it’s not all bubbles and sunshine. We explore our ouchy places, ways we’ve been hurt before, ways we have hurt others.  We are doing the deep dive. ​

​And each and every time growing closer and getting happier about it. What we’re doing feels like the loving opposite of the scene from ​How to Train Your Dragon​ where Hiccup’s dad asks him “Can you just stop doing... this?” To which Hiccup replies, “​YOU JUST POINTED TO ALL OF ME!​”

​We keep pointing to all of each other and saying how much we love it.