Yesterday marked 98 months since our wedding day, and though we enjoyed a day filled with blissful blue sky and brilliant sun - much like our wedding day - the temps were a solid fifty degrees colder than our wedding day.
Work days make it challenging to have much free time for celebrating, but we determined we would carve out a little bit of time for some fun. For two days, Ryan had wanted to visit the sledding hill, but we never had a spare moment of daylight to sneak down there. What better time to go than as a monthiversary celebration, right?
We suited up in extra layers and picked our way through the snow to the bottom of the sledding hill. One side had already been stripped of the snow, partially from overuse, I'm sure, and partially from the sun. But the back of the hill was still covered in solid snow, and Ryan climbed straight to the top. He slid down over and over, trying different angles for the best run.
He asked if I was ready to try, and I'm sure he was ready to hear a "HA! No way." But the truth was...I really did want to try. And because there was not another soul in sight as far as the eye could see, I decided to be brave.
Oh yes, it's true. I've never gone sledding down a hill in my life. My dad pulled me around the yard on a sled when I was little, and there was that one time a few years ago when Ryan and I went sledding down our neighbor's (short) icy driveway. But I've never truly gone sledding.
The whole idea of hurtling down a hill without a brake is beyond my comfort zone. I'm not big on going quickly, and sledding seems a "quickly" sport. Plus I'm always fearful of colliding with others, but that fear didn't exist with an empty hill.
Maybe I could try.
I took the sled and climbed the lowest part of the hill. I mean I climbed partway up the lowest part of the hill. I sat and kept my feet firmly in front of the sled to keep control of the whole hurtling thing. If the adventure could be described in tortoise and hare analogies, I felt like the hare, but video footage confirmed I was indeed the tortoise. Maybe even a tortoise with four broken legs.
I skidded to a stop, climbed back up, and went a second time. I wasn't ready for the Olympics, but I did improve...slightly.
And I was
so excited. As crazy as it looked, it was a huge moment for the sledding scaredy-cat.
Ryan has a way of making it possible for me to try things that generally terrify me. You remember the ziplining, right? Every month, when we celebrate our monthiversary, I try to think of something specific and unique that I especially appreciate about him - and there are many things, of course. This month, though, I'm grateful for a husband who doesn't pick on me about the things that scare me and makes it possible for me to dare to try them when I'm ready.
Thanks for taking me sledding, Ryan! Let's go again...next time the hill is empty! ;) Love you!
5 comments:
Good for you! Sledding is a thrill!!
Sledding is so much fun!!! Although I agree it's better when there's lots of space. Next time you have to try going further up the hill :)
Jason pulled the kids and I around the yard behind his tractor. It was a blast and you didn't have to spend time and energy climbing up a hill to go down in 5 seconds. Growing up, we would sled down hills at my grandparents house in Northern Michigan. So many good memories. My grandmother would brush the snow off us with a broom before we were allowed back in the house.
Adam has the same effect on me. With him, I try adventures that I would have normally never done and he doesn't seem bothered when there are things that I'm not ready to try yet...love that about him! - Michele
Tamar - I knew you'd love it!
Natasha - I do promise to try!
Heather - I think I could get on board with the tractor ride!! That's a great story about your grandmother!
Michele - I can see that about Adam! And I'm so glad!
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