November 3, 2012: We're engaged!

On Saturday November 3, I dragged Katie up to the top of Storm Castle Peak. Despite being warm and sunny, we had the summit to ourselves. It was there that I asked her to marry me. She said, "yes", of course. Apologies for the crappy iPhone photo, we're at the summit I swear.

For the record (and because it was immediately flagged by my editor/manager/sous chef), Katie was not dragged to the summit. She was carried. Wait, that's not true either. The truth is she wouldn't have had it any other way and that's one of the many reasons I asked her to marry me.

We will be posting all wedding information to the "wedding info" page: http://stayuseless.blogspot.com/p/wedding-info.html
or by clicking the "Wedding Info" link at the of the page.

Cumulative Update: September

Some stuff actually happened in Septermber. Katie and I went to Chicago, stayed with her brother Justin and his girlfriend Natalie, attended Stacie's wedding and then relaxed on the shores of Lake Michigan. My parents showed up in Bozeman and we hiked (and hiked and hiked), despite the thick smoke due to wildfires. Good times were had by all.

We rented this ridiculous bike and pedaled from Navy Pier to the Museum Campus. This was right about the time we stopped for a Chicago dog. Front row: Brant and Justin. Back row: Julie and Natalie.

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August 19: Hyalite Lake

It seems silly to post (even more) mountain biking photos nearly months after the fact, but this blog is about living in a way that keeps your soul alive. For me, the act of mountain biking -- being in nature, transporting oneself under one's own power and spending time with Katie, sharing the experience and encouraging one another -- does just that.  Howard Zinn said, "The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” While I recognize that mountain biking is not some noble act, I am writing this from possibly the most stale, soulless, and spiritually lazy place on Earth (a condo complex in the suburbs of Phoenix) and so it kind of feels like it is.

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I wrote the above while stuck in Phoenix for work. Looking back a few weeks later, it still strikes me how dismal that place was. The attitudes that are cultivated and that thrive in such a place are what scared me the most. Anyway, I hope viewing these photos ease your mind as much as it eases mine to post them. Stay useless. 

Yes, these were taken when not just the state but the entire mountain west region was on fire.

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