Mt. Bierstadt

Josh and I are so totally different. I think it is one of the reasons that we have stayed married for almost fourteen years now. We just bring a new light to each others worlds in every aspect. For instance, when I am shopping, I shop strictly off the clearance rack. I have tunnel vision and head directly to the big red signs. If I can't find what I want on the sale rack then I don't buy from that store. Josh, on the other hand, shops off the manikin. He wants the latest and greatest at all costs! When I decide to do something it is because I have analyzed it and reanalyzed it until I have sucked the "newness" right out of it. Josh, decides to do something at noon and by 12:01 he is doing it and has everything necessary to do it with greatness. I laugh out loud with every part of my being until people around me are embarrassed for me. Josh barely ever laughs out loud (unless someone is totally humiliating themselves) it is almost uncomfortable how serious his facial expressions are sometimes (don't get me wrong, he thinks things are hilarious he just doesn't laugh...strange, strange quirk I have yet to figure out). Still, we are both serious about adventure. We may attack it differently but we are very much striving to live a full life full of great moments.

Our goal is to climb all 54 fourteeners in Colorado at some point (I say some point because again we have different goals in mind I say "let's do it in our lifetime" Josh says "let's do it next week!"). When we decided to climb the fourteener, Mt. Bierstadt this weekend you can imagine I had a totally different movie playing in my mind than Josh had playing in his. My thought was a nice leisurely stroll up the mountain. Stopping for lunch. Smelling the flowers and resting when we may become semi-winded. Now Josh thought we'd tackle the mountain in 2.4 seconds, eat lunch driving to the next fourteener and then race the clock to get it done before the afternoon rain showers hit. I was just a tad worried at how our visions could intertwine until our great friends decided to join us on our adventure.

In the end we had a blast hiking and camping out at clear lake this weekend. I laugh more with Pam than I do with anyone else, she is hysterical and we can talk for hours. Good thing too because we were on the mountain for 7 1/2 of them. Yes, we had the "front group" and the "back group"(aka "fast and slow group"). The three little girls and Tait hiked with Pam and I. Emma and Kendall fell somewhere in the middle. Josh, my dad, Shawn, Gunnar, Kaidon, and Mikael were the first to make it up to the top. We really ended just short of an hour behind them but stopped a good half hour to feed and change Tait (not fun changing a blow out at about 13,000 ft when it is smeared all over your jacket and the babybjorn...that's a different post altogether though). When we met the first group I handed Tait over to Josh so Pam and I could reach the top. With it full of big boulders and pretty tough terrain (I sound like and expert huh?) it was best if I wasn't maneuvering around a baby. Here's the timeline of my emotions:

• 8 a.m. excited for our adventure to begin
• 9 a.m. aware mostly of what great photo ops we had
• 10 a.m. not caring if we make it 14 feet or 14,000 feet
• 11 a.m. wishing I hadn't sent the lunch in Josh's pack
• 12 p.m. wishing I would've sent Tait with Josh
• 1 p.m. determined to go all the way
• 2 p.m. proud that we made it
• 3 p.m. angry at myself for thinking I needed to make it
• 4 p.m. relief that this hell..ur..or...adventure was over