RL4B: Relentlessly Looking For Beauty

Last month, my husband and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. Many women (arguably so) expect a big event on their anniversaries and put an equal amount of pressure on the man to plan and produce said event. They want to feel special and loved and appreciated. That's not me. Well... I want those feelings (like any other human) but I don't pin all my hopes on one big day either, because my spouse will fail - miserably - at planning an all-out, Hollywood-style, "romantic" date... and I'm okay with that. Instead, we've learned that feeling special and loved and appreciated can come in many different forms in many different settings and in any given minute of our relationship. I hope I don't sound high-minded or superior - in fact, we've learned these lessons the hard way by expecting the other to deliver something that is totally uncharacteristic of that person. My weakness has always been the movies - thinking my dear one will magically rep...

Gipsy Lake in Helena National Forest We have many high-mountain lakes here in Montana, yet a large percentage are only accessible on foot. Luckily, I was able to ride right into this beauty and capture this great panoramic picture. Not long ago, my family and I were camping at a large lake near our state's capitol. Canyon Ferry Lake is actually a reservoir on the Missouri River, which ultimately drains into the Mississippi. This lake covers over 35,000 acres and has 76 miles of shoreline. Naturally, it is a popular place for water recreation and fishing in this land-locked region. My parents towed their personal watercraft and we were camping with others who had large boats, but since Canyon Ferry is in western Montana, and the mountains aren't ever very far, we brought our ATVs too. Doesn't everyone bring a four-wheeler for a weekend at the beach? On the first day we were there, we decided to pack a lunch and head east on the trail -- well it was really a dirt ro...