Where is all began

We have one month to go before the big day when we get to meet our boys. So far, January has been a very low key month. It gets light late and dark early.  Sometimes our days are rather dull. However,  I tell John we should cherish these final weeks together, the three of us cozy in our little home because life is never going to be the same 30 days from now. 

I’ve been getting really reflective lately. John and I have known each other 10 years this past summer and we’ll celebrate our 9 year wedding anniversary this April. I was recently packing up our wedding albums and started to look through some old photos of when we met, our wedding and the all the crazy years we had together before Evie, and then our two years with her as a family of three. It’s been quite the adventure. 

This blog entry is going to be a little bit different because I thought I’d share the story of how it all began…

It all started on a sunny Colorado day 10 years ago, when we locked eyes from across the room and John said to himself, “Baby, someday we are going to make triplets together.” .......

Well, part of that’s true…the part about being in Colorado…

It was 2003, I was a junior in college, seeking adventure in the mountains for the summer before my senior year. Being from the midwest and going to a midwest school, the mountains were a region I had never explored. They enchanted me though, and after talking to a recruiter at a college summer work fair, I signed a three month contract to work at Rocky Mountain YMCA Lodge in the national park in Colorado.

 I was excited for the adventure of it all. Perhaps I’d hike and meet some interesting people. 
Maybe I’d even see a moose.


I arrived at the end of May to a beautiful little lodge nestled in the stunning Colorado rocky mountains. There is so much I could write about this summer, but I will stay focused on the budding relationship with my “one and only.”
 I got assigned to the kitchen, which was fine with me because I worked as a server for years throughout high school and college. A lot of international students worked there too, so even the eight hour shifts were fun and interesting, and I soon made a lot of new friends. 

Seeking adventure

Young me at 21

About the second or third week of my summer adventure, I went to a campfire where I met 30 other students from my college who also decided to spend the summer in the mountains. Some of the people I knew…some I didn’t…but there was one guy who I definitely recognized his name, John Patton. He was a year older than me and we never really crossed paths, but he was in a band at my college, so I remembered hearing about him. 

When I  try to think about that moment of meeting a decade ago, I can’t quite remember the conversation. It was short and I don’t think he really made eye contact, but it was dark and the only light was the fire pit. 

To be honest, I’m not quite certain after that initial meeting we didn't hang out that much. We saw each other occasionally in passing and chatted, so we became friends…and then there was Buckets. 

Apart from the lodge, there wasn’t much going on in the neighboring town... BUT there was a bar/laudromat called “Buckets”. Yes, that’s right. You could put in a load of laundry, grab a beer and shoot some pool. It’s actually  a brillant idea. It was fourth of July and he asked me to go into town to Buckets before the fireworks show that we were going to with all our other friends. I agreed…but I wouldn’t share a dryer with his clothes. I was adamant about that. Separate laundry machines. :)

We remained friends and at the end of July he asked me to go moose watching (but just as friends) We took his truck to the national park at sunset and he knew exactly the ledge where we could climb to look out over the valley and see the moose come out at dusk. He just happened to have a blanket, strawberries, champagne…and a stuffed animal moose to remember the night by. We did end up seeing a moose, but the cops also came too. I don’t remember why they came exactly…all I remember is throwing the alcohol off the rock ledge quickly. 

The rest of the summer he continued to surprise me. He’d pick wildflowers in the meadow and visit me at work…We’d spend nights looking up at the stars (oh, so many stars!) and literally talk until sunrise the next day. We took night hikes, and he promised me he’d protect me from the dreadful bobcats in the area. One morning at the crack of dawn he picked me up at my dorm and we had a sunrise picnic and watched the mountain goats. As August came, he took me out to dinner off site and we walked around the lake eating coconut ice-cream. 

I thought he was charming and fun. He listened and affirmed my dreams, he held doors (which he still does today) and he really seemed to genuinely care about me.  Being the musician he is, he even wrote a song for me on the piano. 

At the end of summer, my parents and brother drove out to visit me. They met my friend John, and we did a rafting trip together. 

When September came, it was time to go our separate ways. I had to go back to Michigan to finish up my education. John, who graduated the year before, was headed back West to Oregon.
 A fun summer fling had to end…well, obviously it become much more than that…. (To BE CONTINUED…)

Not a care in the world

Becoming close friends