What better way to connect with your spouse than by stripping away all your belongings and communing with nature for a weekend?  I must say things have been difficult lately what with dr.'s appointment's and stress levels being topped out.  Casey and I always joke that we have not one thing in common ... which normally is true, so you wonder what brought us together in the first place.  This weekend's camping trip reminded me why I love him so much and why we belong together.  Casey and I make a pretty damn good team.

Place us out in the woods with the bare essentials and we can make a pretty decent home out of nothing.  I guess this metaphorical realization over the weekend was a reminder to me that given nothing, together Casey and I can conquer the world.  We don't need a lot of stuff.  As a matter of fact, we get along a lot better without all of it.  Away from the stresses of keeping up with the Jones's, Casey and I make eachother laugh, we have eachother's back, and we take good care of eachother.... We had one of the best discussions in the history of our relationship while covered in sweat, spotted with antbites, and trekking through the woods. 

This weekend made me think about the broader spectrum of life.  About what is important.  About how having the 'comforts of home' really don't make a home.  I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that if the world as we know it ended right here and now, Casey and I would be stronger than ever picking up what was left and making a warm, loving, and successful home for ourselves, and our (future) family.  ... and have fun with it at the same time.  Our struggles with having a family, are simply obstacles ... the same as trying to set up a new tent in the dark .... Sure, it's uncharted territory and not being able to see what to do or where to go makes it difficult, but being positive, laughing along the way, and working together gets it done.  And in the end, you have a quaint, yet comfortable little home that you can be proud of.  You wake up in the morning in the little home you've made with a perfect view of the beautiful full moon, and lying next to you is the man who had your back the entire step of the way.  You feel safe because he's there and you know that anything is possible with him.  Together you step out into a new, dew dropped day filled with the morning music of the earth and you begin anew. 

A perfect way to enjoy the 4th anniversary of the day you vowed to stand beside him.  What more do you need?