um.... we got a car. :)

a 2003 honda accord. silver.

God is good!

oh, and jody sold the motorcycle (*sigh*), and he got a macbook for work/school. big changes in our lives!

and.... we celebrated 3 years of marriage yesterday! God is indeed good! i'll post more later.

-ruthie

mt. massive

about a month ago jody and i decided we desperately needed to get away. the year has been unrelenting, with one thing after another hitting us, and so we decided we needed to get up in the mountains. we decided a backpacking trip was in order. thankfully, i was able to get the time off from work, and jody was able to get away from church responsibilities. we gleefully went from REI to the Army/Navy surplus right next to our house... and back to REI... and back to the surplus, like little children, picking up the things we needed for our trip. it was so much fun getting everything together. as we saw one more thing that we desperately 'needed' for the trip, we would look at each other, nod our heads and say, 'this is the ONE thing we will spend our money on....,' thus excusing almost any expense. haha!

then, we needed to decide on our destination: we went back and forth about where we wanted to go. part of me wanted to find a totally new spot. there are so many wonderful places to hike and camp in colorado. it's the biggest perk (in my opinion) of living here: the beautiful, majestic mountains. they never grow old. but in the end, jody and i decided to return to the same area that we hike last year: mt. massive. it truly is exactly what it names says: massive. with an elevation of 14,421 feet, it is the 3rd highest peak in the united states. it is so massive because it has five summits - all over 14,000 feet (hence the title of being called a fourteener), and on top of it all, it's just beyond beautiful. the only way i can describe it is 'heavenly'. when i'm in the mountains, i feel like i'm in heaven.

so, we packed our bags, got up extremely early and drove through vail and leadville to get to the trailhead. i won't lie: there was a moment of dread when i pulled my pack on. it was heavy. for the fleetest moment, i had the thought that just maybe i couldn't do it. haha! but in the end, we made it... and loved every single moment of it! here are some pictures of our trip. enjoy!