Best Year of Your Life

 2025, all in all, it was a good year. We have had better, and we definitely have had worse. Our travel map for the year looked like this.

We were in Kentucky when the ball dropped last year. This year we, well at least me and the dogs were at home. I was in bed by 9:00 I think. It got me to thinking, what was the best year of my life? So many years to choose from.... Most of them good years in one way or another with memorable highlights, but which one was the best? 1985 changed my life forever, as it was the year I met Barb and Jessica. 1986 is a strong contender as it was the year Barb and I got married. I guess if I had to choose a year, I would choose 1987. Barb and I were still in our honeymoon phase. Forrest was born that February and we had bought some acreage in Wisconsin and were clearing it in preparation for our very first house!  Everything was new and our lives were full of opportunities and possibilities.

The ironic thing about that year is that it was probably our roughest year financially and we were living in an apartment in New Richmond, Wisconsin. Some people think that money is the key to happiness, it helps for sure, it is not the end all for true happiness. If I were to prioritize money, it would come in third behind health and happiness. We all probably know someone who has plenty of money but is either not happy, not healthy or both. I would rather be happy then healthy, I think. I have never had long term unhappiness or been unhealthy long term, so I have no real basis for that opinion other than I have seen unhealthy people who are happy and it gives me hope. 

If all goes as planned, 2026 should prove to be another adventurous year, starting in a couple weeks with our trip to the deserts of Arizona. We will be home for a couple of weeks then I head to the farm for spring planting. Once that is done, it will be a couple weeks at home then we head north to Alaska! This will be our third Alaskan adventure in the past 10 years, and we are very excited! Then it will be back home for a week, maybe two, before heading to the farm for harvest. I have a feeling this year will go very, very quickly. God willing, it will all go as planned. But you know what they say, "Man plans, God laughs. We shall see how it all pans out. 

Enough rambling, I have another tale to tell. Long story short, Barb never made it to Puerto Rico. After spending a few days with the grandkids in Pennsylvania, Barb and Jess were packed and ready for their Puerto Rican adventure! With a 6am flight last Saturday, they were up at 3am, got ready and started their 90-minute drive to the Baltimore airport. As they were waiting to board, their flight was cancelled. They quickly rebooked on the next flight and 30 minutes later, that one was cancelled. Then came the word that all flights to that region were grounded due to the Venezuelan situation. 

So, they got back in their vehicle and started heading back home, but they never made it home. They stopped at a restaurant along the way and started looking at other destinations. They left the restaurant two hours later with tickets to Costa Rica! Talk about changing at a moment's notice! I am super proud of both of them for having the fortitude to keep moving forward and not accepting defeat and heading home. You don't understand what a big deal this is for them. You see these two are two peas in a pod, they over research and over plan everything they do, so for them to change destinations like this at a moment's notice is a very big deal.  They spent the night at a hotel near the airport and were on a flight the next morning!

She called me as they while in Atlanta for a layover saying that they had resumed flights to Puerto Rico, but half of the passengers were military, and she had heard reports that there is a backlog of people trying to get home from there. They are happy with their decision to pivot and go to Costa Rica. Surfing the news channels, I see celebrations on Fox and protests on CNN. The truth is somewhere in the middle, but it frustrates me that you cannot trust most of what you see on the news. Can we please just go back to honest news reporting?

A few hours later I received a text saying that they just landed in Costa Rica along with this picture. 

After picking up their rental car, they headed to their Airbnb, the roads were... interesting to put it in her words...

After unpacking, they unpacked and hit the bar for a mojito! Life is good, let the adventures begin!

Over the course of the next few days, I would get one or three pictures from her. So far, they have been snorkeling, beach sitting and gone on one waterfall tour. 

She calls or texts every day asking how the dogs are doing, no concern about me or my well-being, just the girls. Sometimes I will just get a text with those three letters: POL. What is POL you ask? Proof of Life, she needs a picture of her babies to show her they are all right. Here are a few that I sent her throughout the week. 

This is their current situation as I write this early in the morning, sitting under a blanket on the couch. 

And, I even had time to make a dog video this week! These clips show you Dakota when she is her happiest, eating and going outside, her two joys in life. We have trained the girls to run right into the dog enclosure when they go outside, this way, should there be an unseen turkey, deer, or bunny, at least Zoey is somewhat enclosed, and we can control her. As you can see, Dakota followed the rules, Zoey stopped to see if there were any critters before going into the enclosure. 

One thing I have realized this week is how much work it is to run this house by myself. We lead a pretty simple life, but I am barely keeping up with everything that needs to be done; dishes, laundry, feed the dogs, walk the dogs, keeping the wood box full, taking out the trash, keeping the house clean. All things I take for granted and just happen. Don't tell Barb, but the bed has not been made nor have I vacuumed since she left. Did you know that she vacuums every day?!?!?  20 minutes a day, 7 days a week, over two hours a week she spends vacuuming.  That is not even counting the meals. As anyone who has eaten here knows, she is a great cook, often spending 2 hours preparing a meal. She prepares meals with love and with a passion for cooking. I prepare meals to survive to the next day. I have been overwhelmed just trying to live my days up to her standards, and this does not even count the personal work goals I set for the day. 

Last night, I was woken up with a start to the sound of Zoey making horking noises. You dog owners know the sound; I was not quick enough so I can add laundering the blankets to my list of chores. Maybe I should not have given her those table scraps last night? Should I launder those blankets right away or can it wait a couple of days? I just need to hang in there 4 more days. I pick her up at the Rapid City airport on Sunday. Saturday will be spent cleaning. Yes, that includes vacuuming and making the bed!