Why?

"Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows." ~Pope Paul VI

I started trying to think about how to start this blog and really the biggest question on our minds and I know many of our friends and families minds is why?  We've got so much now, a nice little house, good jobs, new cars, we're living the "American Dream."  Why throw it all away?  I feel kinda like a jerk saying this but "because we can".  

Jess and I have been married for coming on three years now, so much of those three years has been full of wonderful and joyful experiences but as in every relationship we began to increasingly face some struggles. A few months ago things kinda came to a head and we finally got the courage to really open up and share our inner struggles with each other.  We realized that we felt resentment for feeling like we were trapped and were being kept from our dreams.  We had done it all right, went to school, got married, settled down, but it wasn't satisfying us.  What we realized was that we weren't ready to settle down.  We felt we had missed out on our twenties, we had both dreamed of traveling, spending some time out west, working seasonal jobs, getting to bike, hike, ski and enjoy this great country in so many different ways.  We had both had this dream hidden inside us but felt like somehow now that we were together we could never pursue it.  

So we took a step back and evaluated everything.  We looked at our finances, we looked at where we were in life and realized, what were we thinking?  Of course we can live our dreams, marriage shouldn't feel like a trap keeping you from your dreams, it should be a way to more fully pursue them.  We didn't want to separate in order to follow our dreams.  We wanted to walk down that road hand in hand as best friends and lovers and have the opportunity to share these magnificent experiences with each other.  

Now this isn't to say that we don't want a house, a good job, and children some day.  We both agree that we want that but we're just not ready for it yet.  The dreams we have now are to travel, be a little crazy, and really enjoy this time we have to explore before life get's too complicated to do so.  As in the quote I started this post with "Whatever you want to do, do it now!", that's precisely what we are doing.  Doing it now "because we can," before life get's away with us and we can only look back and say I wish I would have done that when I had the chance.  

I'm sure this road won't be all rainbows and butterflies (though hopefully we'll see lots of both) and I know there are some sacrifices we are making along the way but I am so excited for what life is going to bring as I pursue my dreams with my beautiful wife by my side.