MS 150-2013

I finished my sixth year of riding in the MS 150, and it was by far my easiest, best year! My hard training really paid off this year (I've ridden 680 miles so far to date), and I rode like I've never ridden before. I felt great, which just makes the entire weekend so much fun and worth the cause (there have been a few years when I was terribly out of shape and just wanted to give up). 

Thank you to some very generous donations, I hit my goal if raising over $1,000. Overall, Team Saddle Soar raised over $9,000, which is incredible. Here are a few pictures from that weekend. 

 Team Captains, Kari and me

 My little bro, kicking my butt all 150 miles!

 Team Saddle Soar 2013

Kari, Shiloh, Adam, Collin, Dean

Michelle, Sarah, Sonya

(from left to right, back row to front row)

 Our sweet team jersey we had made a few years ago.

 This is our team right before we started climbing Horsetooth Reservoir near Fort Collins. It's the hardest part of the entire ride. 

 It was raining at the start of day two, but the rain quickly stopped. 

 Isn't he cute?

 My parents, who provide so much support throughout the weekend. I ride for my father, who was diagnosed with MS 8 years ago. 

 Six years of making it to the finish line!

 We all rode in together! It was so neat. 

 Shannon, interested in joining us next year? :)

Rounding Up The Crew

Once Josh and I had a date and location, it was time for me to make some calls to my closest friends. I had bridesmaids to round up.

Even before Josh proposed, I knew who I was going to ask to stand beside me on this special day. I have a lot of friends, yes, but they aren't just friends. I have a group of very special ladies in my life who are like sisters, there through the good and bad, there when I make mistakes, there to laugh with me when times are good, there to hold my hand when I cry.

Several people have laughed at me for the number of bridesmaids I have, which is fine. I don't think they quite understand how special these ladies are to me, so I didn't let it bother me. This day wouldn't be the same without my best friends by my side.

I had 10 phone calls to make, 9 of whom are bridesmaids and one who will be my personal attendant. These 10 ladies have seen me through thick and thin:

Shannon (Matron of Honor)
April (Matron of Honor)
Michelle
Katie C.
Irish
Kate N.
Abby
Liz
Britt
Kari (Personal Attendant)

Their reactions were all very much the same: Squealing. Laughter. A few tears. "I'd be honored. Thank you so much for asking. Of course I will be a bridesmaid."

The conversations lasted 10 minutes at the least and up to 30 minutes for others.

"Tell me all your plans..." started the conversations, and I filled each girl in on Josh and my thoughts for our wedding day.
__________________________________

Josh called his four groomsmen, all of which took about 2 minutes. It went something like this:

"Hey, will you be a groomsman?"

"Sure."

"Cool, I'll be in touch. I'll call you later."
__________________________________

Though very different conversations, Josh and I are honored to have our closest friends stand beside us.

June 7

Josh and I have a date and a location!

I'm not gonna lie, I am rethinking my occupation as a teacher and am considering getting into the wedding business. Holy moly.

Want to have a wedding? You need at least $3,000.

Want to have a summer wedding. Add at least $2,000 more.

Want to have an outside wedding in the mountains during the summer? Add another $2,000.

Want to have food? Add $2,000.

Want alcohol? Add $1,000.

Want music? Add $500.

Do you really need a pastor? That will be $250.

Want to have the ceremony on the same grounds as the reception? $500, please.

Want decorations? Cake? Lighting? Flowers? Servers? Photographer? Well, you're going to need a small loan, and don't plan on a honeymoon after all is said done. Also, don't plan on buying a house in the near future.

Like I said, holy moly!!!

I have a new appreciation for attending weddings. Seriously, I had NO. IDEA. how much a wedding costs, and I will never attend a wedding again without giving gratitude to the bride and groom.

Josh and I booked a lodge near Estes Park for our wedding next summer, and we decided it was worth the cost. We will be able to house our entire wedding party, as well as our grandparents and parents. We get the lodge for three days, and it will basically be a mini vacation for everyone.

Our wedding anniversary will be June 7, and I keep running that date through my head with a smile. My anniversary will be June 7, just two days shy of celebrating with my parents. My anniversary will be June 7, only on summer break for one week. I will be married on June 7, 2014.

There's a lot to do before now and then, but June 7 cannot come soon enough! Even if I don't get everything done, even if something isn't quite right for my OCD personality, even if I don't get to have everything I have ever wanted, I will be a wife in less than one year, and that is perfect enough!

The Last People to Know

After Josh and I got back from camping, I had told everyone but three friends: Abby, Kari, and Nikki. I had plans to see them on Saturday night, so I decided to wait and tell them the news of my engagement in person. 

I was fearful the news would spread on FB and the girls would see it before I could tell them, but everyone did a great job keeping it quiet until it was official on the internet. 

Nikki had to cancel (because she had a baby a few days prior), and I arrived at Kari's about 20 minutes before Abby got there. I carefully hid my ring from Kari's view, and as we waited, I got more and more nervous to tell the girls. I was so excited, I could barely contain myself, but I wanted to tell them at the same time. 

Abby arrived with cupcakes! Kari's birthday was a few days away, and Abby brought dessert for us to celebrate. We each got one of each flavor: Birthday Surprise, Wedding Cake (my favorite), White Chocolate, and Chocolate. (Even though you can't tell from the picture, the cupcakes are mini cupcakes, so we didn't EACH eat four giant cupcakes).

As soon as we were seated on Kari's patio, I put my hand on the table and said I had something to tell them. They looked, they saw, they shrieked! They jumped, they hugged, they may have even shed a tear!

(My hands were shaking by this point). 

I was so, so happy to share the news in person, and they were equally happy to hear the news. Their excitement brightened my night!

(Kari, Abby, and I met about eight years ago when I first moved to Denver and Abby had just moved to Denver from Kansas. Kari is a native, and the three of us started attending the same church around the same time, and we became instant friends (along with Nikki). Since that time, Nikki has gotten married and just had her first child on July 4. Also, Abby got married, moved to Kansas, and had Lawrence three years ago. Even though Abby lives afar, we have all remained best friends). 

It was a great night catching up with two of my favorite people. I only get to see Abby about once a year, so these three hours together were very special and made even most special that I got to share my wonderful news face-to-face. 

Abby is going to a bridesmaid, and Kari is going to be my personal attendant. I can't wait to spend my special day with these two beautiful ladies!

4th of July

What was so special about Josh asking me to marry him when he did was I got to share the news face-to-face with so many family members that I only get to see once a year.

The following day, July 4, the Nichols/Anderson crew headed to Aspen to join up with my mom's cousins (they have always been my "aunts" to me). I was so excited to share the news with them.

We arrived at our yearly picnic site, called the Grottos (halfway up Independence Pass) before the rest of the family, so Josh and I took Case exploring.

 You'll notice that Case has this thing with his tongue and pictures. As in, he likes to stick his tongue out when a camera is nearby. He was so excited to go exploring!

 Case had to take a picture of Aunt Dido (and please excuse some of these pictures for being blurry---I don't have the best camera in the world, and it gets blurry with the slightest motion).

 Case hanging with (soon-to-be) Uncle Josh. 

 After Josh, Case, and I were done exploring, we went and grabbed Shannon, Jeff, and Siahna to join us on a little hike. 

 The Anderson crew climbed down into the ice cave, so this is me looking down at them. Then Jeff had a slight slip on the ice and injured himself (scrapes and bruises). 

 Love this sweet girl!

 Climbing up out of the ice cave. 

 Case, the strong man, Anderson. 

 All of us crossed the river, and words can't even describe how cold it was. It took your breath away. Josh and I crossed once holding Case's hand, and halfway to the other side, Case started crying and said, "I never want to cross this river again. It's too cold." It sure was, buddy. 

Josh and I then took a mile long hike through the forest (no, there wasn't a trail). I didn't complain once!

At the end of our hike (and destination), we met up with my mom's cousins and my mom. 

 My mom, "Aunt" Connie, and me

 "Aunt" Caralee, my mom, "Aunt" Connie, and me

And they are so thrilled with my ring! (I totally love this picture).

(Just in time to end our day, a dog, a lady, and a man fell into the rushing river by accident. Josh saw them fall into the waterfall and we never saw them come back up. We all stared in shocked horror as the girl eventually came up and started screaming, "HELP! HELP!" All the boys (Josh, Jeff, and all my boy cousins) went running to help, jumping over rocks and climbing up the waterfall area on huge boulders to come to the rescue. After a horrible, terrifying ordeal, the guys were finally able to save the dog and the guy (we were all certain both were going to be dead). The dog and man were all okay. The woman, who was the first to be rescued, had a severe concussion among other issues. My mom, the nurse, was able to take care of her until they could get her to a car and her fiancé raced her to the ER (we didn't have cell coverage where we were, and attempts to call 911 were failed). It was a horrible scene to witness, but we praise God everyone was okay in the end. As we were packing up our cars to leave, the guy and gal came back (to look for some lost items). The gal was a little worse for wear, but she was eventually going to be okay. We were all shaken by the accident). 

There were no fireworks that night due to restrictions, but we went back to my aunt's house where we had pizza and sat in the hot tub. 

It was a great Fourth of July!

Sharing the News

My parents knew about the engagement within an hour of it happening, and they were thrilled. We told them the entire story, and my mom knew I couldn't keep it a secret from others for long. The problem, however, was we were camping in an area with no cell service. I couldn't call a single person to tell them my wonderful news.

However, Jeff and Shannon were on their way to the campsite and would be there around 6 (it was noon at this point). I was going to have to wait six hours to tell them.

After 4-wheeling, Josh and I spent the afternoon at my parents campsite. We got ice cream at a local store, we played games, we had snacks, we ate dinner together. The wait was killing me!

Finally, Shannon and Jeff pulled up right around 6. They had been driving most of the day to get there, and they were hungry. The kids were hungry. Shannon immediately started making dinner while Jeff got their camper set up and stuff unloaded for their stay.

I didn't want to get in their way of dinner and unloading, so I decided to wait until they had eaten and got settled. I hid my ring under my sweatshirt and let them do their thing.

One hour went by.

And then another. Geesh, it sure does take them a long time to get settled! They finally finished dinner, got their camper set up, got the kids into camping clothes, cleaned up from dinner, got their chairs out, and were ready to come sit by the campfire when Shannon started making dessert for everyone. I mean, it was delicious, don't get me wrong (an ice cream cone filled with peanut butter, chocolate, bananas, and marshmallows wrapped in foil and set on the grill on melt), but for goodness sakes, I have news to share!!!!!

Dessert took a while to make, and finally!!! they sat down at the campfire. By then, it was nearly dark, it had been a couple of hours since they arrived, and I was nervous!

I started with a story. "Josh and I went 4-wheeling today. We did a 17 mile loop, you may have done it before, and about halfway through is a waterfall and picnic area. Josh and I stopped for lunch, explored a little bit, and then Josh set up the camera to take a picture. As the picture snapped, Josh proposed! We're engaged!!!"

Boy were they shocked! They never saw it coming. Hugs were given, the ring was inspected, and questions started flowing. Shannon said, "It took you two hours to share the news?" And I said, "Well, it took you forever to get settled. We were waiting for you to sit down!"

They are excited for us, and it was great to share the news with them while sitting around a campfire.

My Engagement Story

I'm engaged! I have a fiancé! I'm going to be married in a year! Good grief, it's about time!

I have tried not to bug Josh about an engagement, but we have talked about a future together. Every once in a while I would get impatient and make a remark about putting a ring on my finger, but I tried really hard to let him move at his own pace.

And boy did he surprise me. I had no idea. None. He did a great job keeping a secret and working undercover for many months.

Here's how the whole thing went down:

(Behind my back, while I was riding in the MS bike ride on Sunday, Josh took my parents to lunch and asked permission to marry me. My parents were thrilled and said yes.

Also behind my back, Josh had been working for months on finding the perfect ring. He had had the ring in his possession, carefully hiding it from me for months).

Josh and I went camping last week with my parents, along with Shannon, Jeff, and kids. My parents took their 4-wheelers, and Josh suggested we take a 4-wheeling loop one morning (July 3). I packed a picnic lunch, we met my parents at their campsite, and we all drove to the 4-wheeling unloading area.

Away we went, just Josh and me. My parents were going to go on a bike ride and let us ride alone for a few hours.

Josh and I rode for about an hour and a half, stopping here and there to explore and look at our surroundings. About halfway through the 17 mile loop is a great picnic spot. Here, the river drops to create a waterfall, and there are giant rocks a person can sit on and watch the river and waterfall. Josh and I stopped for lunch. 

(When we opened up our cooler, we found an exploded banana and peach. They didn't like the rocky ride, I guess. We had to take a few minutes to clean up our lunch, since the banana and peach exploded on our sandwiches and chips. Good thing we were right by the river.)

We ate lunch, walked around on the rocks, and then I suggested we head on our way to finish the final 9 miles of our trip. Josh said, "Let's take a picture. How do you work the timer?" 

The ONLY thought I had that something was off was that Josh does not like taking pictures. He does not offer to take pictures. He only takes pictures when I force him to take pictures. So I did think it was odd that HE wanted to take a picture, but I'm always game to get a good picture for the blog, so I happily agreed.

This is how much he likes taking pictures!

I don't mind taking pictures!

Josh situated me on the rocks and went to work setting up the camera. He set it to take two pictures back-to-back, and I just stood there and waited for him to come running. Since I was partway in the river, I told him to be careful when he ran.

He hit the button, the camera started to flash, warning he had 10 seconds to get in place, and I just stood there and smiled.


The camera flashed faster, indicating it was about to snap. Josh still wasn't in place! His back was to the camera, so I started yelling, "Hurry up, you're going to miss it."

SNAP.


Sure enough, Josh wasn't in place yet. His back was to the camera, and I was trying to help him get situated because I knew the next picture was going to snap in three seconds.

"Hurry, you're going to miss the second picture. Hurry."

I smiled real big for the camera. I was ready for that second picture.

Josh was ready for the second picture, too, just not how I imagined him to be. I was smiling at the camera. He was down on one knee with a ring in his hand.

After the camera snapped, I turned to see what in the world Josh was doing down on the ground. Perhaps he had fallen? When I turned, I saw tears in Josh's eyes, a ring in his hands, and he was saying, "Shiloh, will you marry me?"

I didn't even know how to react. I was so shocked. "Are you being serious right now? Is this for real? Are you kidding me?" Those were the questions that I fired at him. I got tears in my eyes. "Yes!" That was all I could get out before Josh was putting the ring on my finger (a perfect fit) and kissing me.

And then I was full of questions. "How did you know my ring size? Do my parents know? How long have you had the ring? How long have you been planning this? Do your parents know? Where have you been keeping the ring? How did you know this was the ring I wanted?

Answers:
He had tried on one of my rings earlier in the summer and knew how it fit his hand, so he went off that to find the right size.

Yes, my parents knew (he told me how he had taken them out to lunch while I was riding).

He had had the ring for a few months, carefully hiding it from me. He had it hidden under one of my bedside tables, and he said he got nervous one day when I deep-cleaned my apartment. He was afraid I had found it (I had not found it).

He knew he was going to propose, but he didn't specifically plan for this day. He just felt like it was right, but he also had a few other ideas in mind in case he hadn't done it that day.

His parents knew he had a ring and was going to ask, but they didn't know he was going to do it that day.

Apparently, two years ago I sent him a picture of a ring I liked (and wanted). He had saved the email and had spent many months finding the exact duplicate (it was not an easy task).

So, I have the most perfect ring I could ever hope for, it fits perfectly, and I have the most perfect fiancé.

I didn't wear the ring the remainder of our ride in fear of it getting dirty, but I smiled the entire way back to the parking lot.

My parents pulled up to pick us up, and I waved to them with my left hand.

I'm engaged!

(Look back in a day or two for some more wedding details).