I love how you love Andy AND he you….

xoxo, Mom

Great pic of the kids!

Loved reading about your husband’s passion…I think we all have something like that we work with- and yes, after kids it gets a bit stickier trying to keep everyone happy. I love getting to know your family more and more…you guys are super.

Beautiful, Nici.

Nici. Can totally relate to this. But for me and my man, it is/ was climbing. But the difference, is he felt he couldn’t climb at the level he was born to climb at, and work fulltime, and be a dad, and husband… etc. etc. etc. A sad choice he made. And one I think he regrets everyday. It has been major major in our life. And I can never give him enough support or say the right thing, or totally understand. But am still trying…

So all I can say is…. support your husband like no other, cause this is his soul. And if he can keep his soul and give to you and the kids like he does, support the hell out of that too. Because that is amazing, and the reality of life with little ones.

And… if it helps, you always have a place to stay if you and the fam make it to SLC. We are about 10-15 minutes from the mouth of Big and 20 minutes from Little Cottonwood (i.e snowbird)

xo
Sage

Yep. Every marriage has its somethin’. I so get the snow thing, but for me, priorities change when you have two little people counting on you to be there. At our house it is little British cars… husband would spend every free moment wrenching if he could. But he also works two jobs to get us through right now so it is hard to begrudge his passion. Ah, that elusive bitch called BALANCE! Navigating it together & keeping a close eye on the big picture… so far that is working for us.
Beautifully written Nici!
I can imagine what he must look like on the slopes because my brother-in-law is just that kind of skier as well. Watching him float down the mountain like liquid flowing over rocks is a beautiful thing to see.
Hope you have an amazing ski date with your man.
xo
Kate

Yep. I get it. Boating for us – but at least he can take us with when he does that (not that I want to go nearly as often as he does). I too find the more I let him pursue his passion the more passionate he is about us. Sometimes for him it’s just knowing I *would* let him go and then he’s not as angsty about getting to go. I think he sometimes needs to know he’s still his own man – even if he has a wife and kid now too. Ah, men and the women who love them…

BTW: where did you get Ruby’s snow suit? It looks perfect – lightweight and roomy! We’re looking for a good one for Minnesota – figure whatever works in you climate should work in ours…

Yes. 100 times yes.

“But, really, when we are in the thick of dark, cold winter and all of his friends are texting from mountain tops in Utah and he is all forlorn I about jump out of my skin and/or strangle him.”

That could so easily have been me typing that sentence. Because as much as I love to ride, it’s not nearly as much as my Andy does. Like yours, it’s part of his genetics. Snow runs in his veins. Well, if it were possible, it would.

And it kills me when it’s winter and we’re doing something *other* than skiing and he’s all bent out of shape about it. As though any other activity just isn’t good enough – he’d rather be skiing.

I’ll be honest – it bugs the crap out of me.

I try to honor his snowfilled dreams and I try to enjoy riding in my own way while he loses his mind in the snow, but I haven’t come to terms with the disparity yet, and I may not ever.

I just hope he understands when I ditch him for Hawaii so I can honor the seawater in my own veins for a while.

Hunting here, and year round deer and elk chasing. I’ve made my peace with it even though at times I’m like, really? You’ll miss this party and that weekend morning with the kids and this and that and more to get up at 5:00 am and scout for animals?

But it’s wonderful to be passionate about what you’re passionate about. At least it’s cheap and healthy to climb mountains and stalk elk.

And holy sponsors girl! congrats on that!

I was JUST talking to a co-worker yesterday about Andy and his talent! I basically echoed you telling this co-worker, “You should see,’him float down a mountain like I had never seen a person do before.”. You are so right….. “Anyone who knows him and is reading this is nodding in agreement.” I also added, “When I watch him I have to stop and watch with amazement, he gives me chills”.

I know it is a worry too, I remember when you were barely 3 and Trav just one when your dad HAD to climb Mount Rainier…I could see the looming mountain from our house, you and I talked about him being up there everyday he was gone. He was gone for days, no communication, he got hurt BUT he can say he did it. I understood and yet I didn’t.

Great article Burb….xoxo

Ah, yes. ‘Tis ice climbing season as well. The ice is forming, I hear.

For my husband it is rock climbing and mountaineering. Soon he leaves for 10 days in Ecuador while I stay home with our 3 month old first born girl. Every word you said rings true here. I love his love and I want to smash it, too…hard. Thank you for letting me know I’m not the only wife who feels these ways.

,,,nici, love that we always get our “nuggets” from your heart,,, in our home it’s “golf”,,,we no longer live in scottsdale az where golf can be played everyday (smile) we now live in washington dc where the window for golf is substantially smaller and seeking a white ball in white snow is a challenge,,,(smile)

I read this and then stopped by facebook…. I kid you not, the top item in my newsfeed… my friend’s status:
“snowboarding in utah powder up to my hips yesterday at snowbird”.

🙂 haha

Loving your blog as usual 🙂

I SO love this Nicci…love, love, love it! you hit the nail on the head, I think every marriage has issues like this whether it’s skiing or something else, truth put into words…good work dig!!!

Awesome family pic!!! We have the same sled, its great, we LOVE IT! Craigslist baby, love it.