Happy New Year, my friends!
Welcome to the sixth installment of my favorite posts to write this year! My list of Top 10 2019!
It’s been an action-packed, adventure-filled year here at Texas Over Fifty. We’ve had a great time being intentionally adventurous around the great state of Texas, seeing lots of new places and faces.
But … what you’ll find in my list of Top 10 2019 is not so much what I saw as what I saw in someone. It was these experiences that will go down in the annals of time as the true memory-makers of the past 365 days. I sure have enjoyed sharing them with you.
Number 10 on the list was a story of what I saw in myself when starting over at Job #14 (or 15). While that experience was pretty monumental, Number 9 gave me even more to think about. The story of relaxing at a birthday sleepover iwth the granddaughter was Number 8, as I remembered many sleeping-bag occasions of my own. Number 7 had me marveling at an old boyfriend from the past (how’s that for a teaser?). Number 6 is where you can read about my crushing a big fat reading goal, and the reasons why I thought it deserved a spot in the Top 10 2019.
However, Number 5 was really special, because it involved three of my favorite things: mountains, musings and my man.
Here’s #5 of Top 10 2019.
Mountains, Musings and My Man
Here’s a very important question for you. It’s one of those questions that everyone should ask on the first date and at every job interview. The answer to this one question might just be all you ever need to know about a person.
Are you ready for it?
Here it is.
Mountains or Beach?
Honestly, I wonder if a marriage can make it if the husband and the wife don’t answer that question the very same way. How would they decide where to spend vacations? Could they ever hope to agree on paint colors and baby names if one prefers the mountains and the other likes sand between his toes?
Well, I don’t really know.
And thank the Lord I haven’t had to find out.
I’m not a psychologist or licensed counselor or anything with much of any clout whatsoever, but I’m pretty sure a good, long marital life can be lived when two people can’t get enough New Mexico mountain views and vibes.
That’s our story anyway.
Anniversaries Deserve a Celebration
When our 38th anniversary rolled around, we talked about how to celebrate. This wasn’t a special year, although aren’t they all pretty special?
But, you know, it’s past 35 and not yet 40.
Not worthy of a bucket list trip, but surely worth a weekend away.
It Hasn’t Always Been that Way
I don’t really know exactly how I got it so crossed up in my mind. Probably because celebrations could be a little expensive, and might require a lot of work.
Whatever it was in my upbringing that initiated that kind of thinking carried over into my grown up existence, and getting me away for an anniversary weekend was sometimes like the proverbial pulling of teeth.
Having three kids to leave with my Mom and Mamaw didn’t help matters any, either. I always felt guilty for leaving and anxious about the kids getting to their activities.
So, I’ve noticed that empty nester life has yet another marital perk.
Getting away is so much easier than it used to be.
A Chuckwagon Dinner and an Outdoor Concert
What self-respecting Texan doesn’t love a good chuckwagon dinner?
Brisket, beans and Dutch oven peach cobbler. That’s what you gotta have, and if you can get it as part of a two-fer with Michael Martin Murphey, all.the.better.
Nostalgic Lodging and Clouds in the Distance
If you need to get your fix of hanging flower pots, wooden mountain men and dark blue afternoon skies, I know right where to send ya.
There was a big, cozy fireplace in our room and doors that opened onto a small patio just a few steps from the mountain stream.
The Big Takeaway from #5 of Top 10 2019
You can muse to your heart’s content after a delicious stuffed sopapilla, smothered with green chile, in the heart of the New Mexico mountains.
We sure had a good time, but what was the big takeaway? Why did I choose this experience as #5 of Top 10 2019?
I guess it all boils down to this.
Mike and I have enjoyed a lot of weekends in the mountains, but not nearly enough, and certainly way less than too many.
Marriage is So Worth It
A weekend in a small mountain town may take some sacrifice to get there, but marriage is worth whatever trouble you have to go through to nourish it.
Even after 38 years.
Yep, a view of the mountains, some time to muse together about life, and being with my man.
I’ll take that kind of celebration any day, now.
Encouraging a life filled with everyday intentional adventuure, and rethinking life’s important celebrations,
