10-19-2002

6 years ago, I married my guy.
He was 23, I was 22.
I still remember so much about that day.

Here is the invitation. Nice smudge marks.


Ladd and I at our Rehearsal dinner. After the dinner, my mom instructed my sister-in-law Rachel to take me straight home and make sure I go to bed! (she knows how grumpy I get when I don't get enough sleep) But alas, there was no way I was going to be able to fall asleep yet. Instead, Rachel and I stayed up and watched Moulin Rouge and I believe I painted my toe-nails. Good times. Thanks for being such a friend and support to me during that time. You are THE BEST sister (in-law)! Love you.


The Groom's cake. The phish logo. Its at their concert two years prior that we decided we were "officially" together.


And the honeymoon. What an awesome honeymoon! We went to Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We dreamed of drinking Pina Coladas on the beach, and we had one of the cocktail waiters take our picture so we had proof of one of accomplishing one of our many goals. We plan to go back to Mexico soon. We had so much fun there.


Somedays, it feels so surreal to think of all we have been through and all we have accomplished in these past 6 years of marriage. I am so curious what the next 6 years will bring.

I'll keep you posted, as time unravels the truth. :O)

Epp summer gathering 2008

Okay, so this happened about 6 weeks ago, so I'm not going to go into too much detail about it. But I'll give you a little idea of the event.

We gathered at Grand Lake, CO. Ladd's parents rented a nice house for us all to stay at. Thanks again, Bonnie and Weldon.

There were good times and not so good times. This happens when you put 4 families together who are used to functioning the way they like or need to function. Its probably not good or bad. It just is.

For example, Somebody drank hydrogen peroxide (sipped, I guess), someone ate peanut butter sandwiches only to find out that it was tainted with dog saliva because it was the dog's peanut butter, dogs got out, a child played in toilet water, and all this happened because we failed to communicate.

Its simple, really. In our own minds, how we each do things makes sense, so why would we need to change it or communicate to others what we do and why we do it.

Well, apparently we do need to be more vocal about what we do and why we do it. At least when sharing confined spaces with lots of people over a long period. :)

Lesson learned.

But don't get the wrong impression here. Most of the time, everything worked out. My mind is flooded with good memories.

And when I see or talk to you next, if you want to hear a good story about a moose, let me know. Its too long of a story to write about. Just know Ladd, Bailey and I had a very brief but very close encounter with a very. big. moose.

Bailey LOVED this trip. She got to meet her dog cousin Sally for the very first time.


Baby moose near the Rocky Mountain National Forest


A sign along the hike Ladd and I did one day


Adult moose near our home. Probably the same one that scared the S.H.I.T. out of me one early morning. :)



The house.


My niece Naomi picked wildflowers the first night we were together and put them in these beer bottles as we finished drinking. Beautiful. As you can see, our beer preferences are as different and colorful as our personalities.


The Neufeld Epp neices and nephew.


Nature can be very phallic. Good eye, Kristin. I love how your brain works sometimes. :)


Sweet Eliza Irene. Super funny little person.


The not-so-newest addition to the family. The Hildreth Epp addition. Caden.


You can see more photos, including a much better close up of the giant moose, if you go to my sister-in-law's version of the trip on her blog.

pictures of our telluride adventure

Here is a few pics I'll share with you from our trip to Telluride. I highly suggest it as a destination for a vacation. We've only been there in the summer, but if you're into winter sports, I'm sure it would be equally awesome, if not better.

It seems as though there is always something going on there.

This time around there was a mushroom festival going on.
Yes.
A mushroom festival. And yes, it attracted people of all kinds. :)

And maybe you'll get to see Tom and Katie Cruise!! :) ...yeah, I don't care either.

On the way to Telluride


After a difficult (for me at least) steep and rocky hike for 40 minutes, we finally got to this. It was beautiful, loud, cold, and AWESOME. I could have sat up there by the water for hours just thinking and napping.











Who says you can't take your dog on a Harley ride with you?? This was awesome. That dog was willing and ready for that ride. :)

musing in telluride

Last weekend, Ladd and I went to Telluride for a long weekend get away before school started. I needed a break from work and this town. I knew that once school started, I wouldn't get a break until Thanksgiving (except for labor day which doesn't really count when you've only been back to school for one week) and I wouldn't be going anywhere except work, home, school, or the library until then. So, we took a much needed break.

We love Telluride. We've only been there twice, but we plan to go back while we are here in Colorado. That's one of the things I looked forward to when we decided to move out here. Telluride would be only 4 hours away, as opposed to 14 when we lived in Lawrence.

Long weekend get-aways are something Ladd and I like to do together. Its like a really long date. When we lived in Lawrence, we would take long weekends and go to St. Louis. We loved St. Louis. This is a nice change of pace though. The glorious mountains, wildlife, smell of the air, and lets face it, driving around the Gunnison National Forest is WAY better than driving on I-70 across Missouri.

Did you know that it is legal for passengers of vehicles to drink alcohol in Missouri? I'm pretty sure its because, well, they have to drive in Missouri. :) .....But I digress...

When Ladd and I get quality alone time such as this occasion, we tend to discuss our future and our goals and aspirations. This weekend was no exception. I realized something new about myself. I found that not only does it not bother me that I have no idea where we will be in 2 years, but that I feel excited about it.

I used to never be that way. Years ago, I was already craving a plan. I am someone who needs stability and moving around the country did not go into that equation, even though it sounded so romantic and adventurous, courageous and so very liberating.

I felt buying a home, having a steady job (whether you loved it or not) was the beginning of a stable plan. Practical. Safe. The way my life was suppose to be, I guess. Not dreamy or exciting. But I never grew up being encouraged to do whatever I wanted to do and go anywhere I wanted to go. I grew up with practicality being instilled as a way of life.

Then I began to change. Things began to change. I realized that if I didn't go and try to do what I really wanted to do with my life, I would grow to be one of the saddest women that existed. Full of regret. Hopeless. Angry. Resentful.

No only did I know having those intense feelings would not be compatible with life, but I would be a poor wife, mother, and friend.

I went back to school. I had a teacher that I will never forget. It was as if she was speaking to me personally the day she told the class to go for it. Make your dreams come true. You. Can. Do. This.

So, I began to do it. Two years later, I got accepted into the college I wanted to go to so I could get the degree and training that I craved for years. We sold our house, Ladd quit an excellent University job, and we left everything we knew and moved 10 hours away to another state.

I think that unleashed a part of our souls. A part of us that craved adventure and experiencing the world. A part of us that otherwise might have never been set free and just festered inside of us as we grew older. Who knows what emptiness we might have grown to feel had we not made this leap of faith. This scary and exciting leap. I am glad I will never know the end of that version of our life story.

So here we are. Fourteen months after that giant leap. I have less than 2 years until I graduate with my veterinary technology degree and (hopefully) associates of arts degree. Yes, two degrees. Who would have thought? If you asked me 5 years ago, I probably would have said "No, way. There is just no way.".

But here we are.

Way!

There are a few things that we are pretty sure of happening after school, though:

1.) Backpacking through Europe. (Now that we FINALLY saved enough money, we don't have time right now. Go figure.)

2.) Offspring. No, not the crappy band from the nineties, actual living offspring.

3.) And, more likely than not - but I know not to commit to this yet - we won't be in Glenwood Springs. Its beautiful here, but we've both learned that though we grew up as farm kids, we are definitely more city kids than we thought!

So, if you were ever considering checking out Aspen/Vail/Glenwood Springs, etc., and you want a free couch to sleep on, time is ticking!

If you want to know one of the destinations we are considering as a home after school, at least for awhile, is Vancouver, Canada. Surprised?

We figure, no kids, we're young, so why not?? Even if its for 6 months, at least its something we tried. If I get pregnant during that time, it will be fine. Kids are portable. :)

What do you think of that, eh? :)

After all that intense thought, I will leave you with the most beautiful sunset. This picture does not do justice to the energy of it. People were stopped all over town. Standing in the middle of the street in awe. I feel so privileged I got to see and capture this.

TELLURIDE SUNSET 8/23/2008.