The first weekend of August brought with it our 1st wedding anniversary. Yes, 365 (now 367) days ago we celebrated our nearing 9 years of love, commitment, and friendship surrounded by family and friends who made the adventure to Colorado and braved the rain. It is really hard to believe August 5, 2016 is already filed into memories dating back an entire year! I sound like my parents when I say “it feels like it was just yesterday” but truly it does. Last year brought buckets of rain while this year brought fields of sunflowers and infinite rays of sunshine, whatever the weather we’re in it together.

We took the whole weekend off from work and ventured outside of our 9×9 town to visit the even smaller one horse Rocky Mountain town of Paonia. The appeal: vineyards, organic farms, and warmer temperatures. We were thrilled to taste foods grown right from the soil we were standing on and without the use of unnecessary and often harmful herbicides and pesticides.  Alex (my husband) and I, are largely into natural farming using indigenous micro-organisms, composting and amending soil, and living as close to natures way as we possibly can. So you can imagine how giddy we were to explore the farms where the majority of our food is grown.

After tasting fruit fermented ciders and swaying like kids on a rope swing across the lush meadows, we took the scenic route home so we could appreciate this massive field of sunflowers said to be planted by an 11-year-old kid! Although many of the flowers were passed their zenith it certainly did not take away from the magnitude or the wow factor. Truly an impressive work of nature and an 11 year old person.

As luck would have it we took a drive on a road that led us right to the moon! No spaceship required. What a sensational experience that was, haha. The full moon or almost full moon appears very large in the Western Colorado sky.  It is surreal and often feels like you could reach out and grab it, it looks that near. As if sunflowers, sunrays’, fruit tasting, cider sipping, and a full weekend with my husband wasn’t enough, the moonrise was the cherry on top of a perfect day well spent.

We even watched the sun set over amber fields of foliage and the moon rise over the Blue Mesa Reservoir. Both the light of the day and the light of the night met in the sky  readying themselves for the coming eclipse. If you read my last post you know how sought after time off was for my husband and I.  This weekend was just what we needed and this life, well, it’s just so damn good!

That’s it from me today friends. If we’re connected on Instagram you’ve probably already seen a sneak peek of our anniversary weekend and maybe you caught a few of our wedding photos in my insta story. If not and you’re curious to see a few snaps from our unique DIY wedding ceremony click here.  

In the coming weeks victorialise.com will be undergoing some exciting updates and changes. Condensing, organizing, and a fresh new feel to foster growth and expansion. I would love your much appreciated feedback once it’s underway but until then tell me what I should know before switching themes? In true beginners terms if you will because WPbeginner is like trying to understand a foreign language for this technologically unsavvy lady. (Though I must give myself credit for all that I have learned through trial and error.) I welcome any and all advice from you savvy, sassy souls. 

As always, thank you for joining me here♥

And until next time, Happy Trails to you…