Corn Beef Hash, Large Snow Flakes, Good Coffee - life is GOOD!

I hope this finds you all well and enjoying 2011 so far!

Once again, I have slacked over the past couple weeks on keeping up on our blog. Nothing too major to report and to be honest we have been spending so much of our time just running around keeping up on the camper and making sure everything stays going smoothly. In fact, it has seemed like we are insanely hectic now that I think about. For the first time in our relationship we have had to force find time for our weekly date which after a few months we realized we had been missing! So this week we started up again on remembering that taking care of “us” is as much of a priority as staying alive in the camper. Of course, staying alive is nice too so as things have transpired out here we are beginning to come up with a system that gives us more spare time.

Cold temperatures are always a little more of a challenge. Inside stays cozy enough if you wear enough layers.  We do go through an extra lot of propane (around what I had budgeted for our coldest month) so it’s nothing too shocking. If the temperatures are above zero we always are below budget. We have had quite a few cold snaps over the past couple of months and usually the bath tub faucet doesn’t work for a day. Again, nothing major. Just little things that make you go “hmm”.

For any camper/rv  savvy people out there we do have a refrigerator issue this week. I’ve googled it and apparently it is very common – there were many posts but so many contrasting opinions and we still haven’t quite figured it out even after hours in the manual and tweaking it. The fridge has gone on strike! However, when it is on A/C (when the generator is running) it works fine. The propane is the issue – the pilot does light. It is a combo of a blue/orange flame but it only stays lit for about 10 seconds then it shuts off. We conclude that this must obviously be the problem but again this is foreign material to us! So if ANY of you have any ideas or advice it would be much appreciated! Until it is repaired we have some holes dug in the snow outside where coolers are set it. It works very well (thanks to my sweetie for making sure I had a place to store cold food). We don’t have any animal problems with them. The bears are hibernating, if it was warm out they would be having a smorgasbord!

I am sitting near the window at the dining room table as I write this. There is a snow so thick and heavy falling outside that it literally is forming a blanket around me in this camper. It reminds me of my younger years, back on the farm. Sitting in the kitchen looking out towards the horses as this heavy, thick snow coated the earth.  Or maybe it’s the smell of the corn beef hash. One of dads specialties. Something I’ve acquired a taste for over the years and recently on our many camping escapades it is something we've grown very fond of.  Either way, it is a beautiful morning.

As far as what we’ve been up to besides just “living”  as mentioned earlier,  date days/nights  are once again a priority and boy have we enjoyed this so far!! Even if its just a hike through the woods or a drive/photo tour in the jeep. This week we kind of splurged and went to our favorite restaurant which is located right in town called, “The Silver Mill”. Lets just say we ate so much that we couldn’t shove an ounce of food down our throats for two days! I think our waitresses eyes bulged out of her head everytime she came to remove a new stack of empty plates! AND dessert to die for – this candy’ish coated whipped frozen raspberry trifle thing. We never did figure out what it was but it was the first time Brandon has EVER devoured my dessert then when he ordered his own the favor was returned, it was SO good!!  And we had such a wonderful time, sooo many laughs that our stomachs hurt for hours.  I’ve never experienced a relationship that literally gets better and better as time goes on. Not just a little better but every day we grow closer and stronger in leaps and bounds. We are so blessed. We both agree that whatever this is that we’ve found in one another is beyond anything we’ve ever imaged even being possible.

We had so much fun that we couldn’t stop there so the next day we headed up to Discovery ski mountain to strap our snowboards on for the first time this year (finally!!!)! Another spectacular day and now that our snowboard fever has kicked in we are especially excited about our upcoming snowboard trip in a few weeks to Colorado. This will be the first time we actually winterize the camper before we go so any input on that is also appreciated!

 This trip is also my 30^th birthday present,  planned by Mr. Romantic himself and I am just so excited to see his face as we ride a lift to 12,500 feet above sea level just to ride our boards back down. Montana has some GREAT snowboarding but I am still convinced that Colorado is the best if you want to experience above timberline and great powder. We will also be staying a night at the notorious Stanley Hotel (where The Shining) was filmed and Brandon insists we stay in their most haunted room -  I think its 412? I am willing to place money on us not sleeping a wink, but it should be quite the experience!

We are also planning another event. One we are more excited about then anyother. Last week Brandon eagerly hiked me up the hill to a boulder where we had spent many summer afternoons and near where we found out the property was ours. I looked around thinking about trees that needed to be cleaned up and where the house was going to be when I realized my sweetest of sweets was on one knee in 3 feet of snow, ring in hand, and with wide eyes he asked me to be his wife. I do not know how to explain what we have or how special & unique it is. In fact, I never knew something like this could exist. It is beyond love, beyond compatibility. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced or even witnessed. A love full of nothing but complete and utter adoration, loyalty, respect, and so much more even.

We are excited to announce that we will officially be husband and wife! Plans are still up in the air but we are really stuck on the idea of having a very informal ceremony on the island of Kauai, Hawaii and possibly this June. We are so very excited about what the future holds for us as we reflect back upon the past couple of years as being the best of our lives. Everyone is invited of course and if you can’t make it, we understand  but if you can it would mean the world to us!

So that is about it! I have a lot to do today. Trying to get my new web page up and going, working on home building plans & loans, and this afternoon a little Kauai leg work! Also, our little big dog has officially been diagnosed with an auto immune disease. The vet thinks he will gradually get to be in very rough shape over the next 5 years. We refuse to believe this is the fate of our loved furry man so we are going to try to get a university of veterinary medicine to look at him. Perhaps it’s snow nose or something else. Or perhaps there is something they can do to help him. At any rate, the power of positive thinking has proved to be one of the most valuable assets we can have.

                                            Until next time, take care & happy camping!