the cabin : before the storm

we've been spending many weekends up at the cabin...thus, the cabin-photo-overload.
don't worry. there's more to come.

anyway, these photos are from a couple of weeks ago before the big snowstorm hit us.
we did lots of walking around the mountain, and we made sure to visit the small
little spot in an aspen forest where ceej proposed to me nine years ago...here's the story:

halloween night i dressed up as an elf (lord of the rings style) and ceej was a hobbit (samwise).
i think we made the best couple for the entire night...
after going to a party down in the city we made the slow drive through a snowstorm up to
the next party that was going on in the woods up at the cabin. i can't really remember who was
there as many of the surrounding details are quite foggy in my head. i had no idea ceej would
be proposing that weekend.

everyone fell asleep and we all awoke the next morning to more snowfall.
ceej suggested we go for a walk so we could talk...which i, for some reason, interpreted as an excuse to break up withme away from the crowd, you know, giving me some space to cry with no one else watching.

we walked for some time, and finally ceej stopped me, grabbed my shoulders and looked straight into my eyes. i knew it. this was what he was trying to get the courage up to do...to gently break my heart...

but then he got down on his knees in the snow, surrounded by aspens, and boy was i confused...
what was he doing down there?!
i started crying and got down on my knees too....

so there we were, in the forest on our knees, snow falling gently.
and lucky for me he didn't break up with me, but asked me to marry him!
he pulled out two conk shell rings from his pocket that he had bought years ago in the carribean
for the woman he would someday marry. holy smokes. was this guy for real?

i cried. i said yes. he kissed me. and i kept crying. for joy. in the snow.
the engagement was short, and less than two months later we were married...on a cold snowy day.


and today is cj's birthday...so we are celebrating with little things all day:
a little gift here and there, meals together, notes, and phone calls.

lucky, lucky me.