7 Years!

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11
Today, I celebrate 7 wonderful years of marriage to my beautiful wife Sarah! 7 years into the ultimate goal of becoming one! 7 years ago, it all started fast...unconventional...not planned...and certainly with no foundation. We were two separate people on two separate paths that came across each other at the wrong time. We jumped right into this partnership with no direction...a baby on the way...and no money! 7 years ago it all started, with two.

But I love our little story...because our little story demonstrates  how big God's love, grace, and mercy is. It reveals how He can take our ugly and mold it into something beautiful. Though we did everything the wrong way, God started working His wonder in our marriage. Despite my flaws, selfishness, and hurt, God just kept seeping into our marriage. God remained as He is...Faithful!

And in His faithfulness, He has been molding a partnership that is rooted in Him. This partnership has evolved from what it was in the beginning (baby einstein videos and a lot of weight gain) to what I hope and is my prayer for our marriage: two people (partners) becoming one. It's a process...but nonethless, it's a process that God promises He will make beautiful in time.

So it's been 7 years...and since the start of our marriage, we have direction (Jesus), two wonderful little girls (Hannah and Pia), and still have no money! And everyday our marriage gets a little more beautiful!

When:5/26-5/27/12 Reimer's Ranch, E-Rock, Austin
Why: Celebrate 7 year anniversary
Who: Sarah and I, Oliver (Our dog pictured above)

Early Saturday morning, Sarah and I headed out to Reimer's to climb, swim and hang out for the day. Reimer's is located about 30 minutes West of Austin right off of the Pedernales River. It's a great place to visit...it has world class bolted limestone crags of all kinds. There are roof climbs, overhangs, pocket rockets, and much more from 5.5 to 5.13+...when your done climbing, you can take a dip and cool off in the cold Pedernales River (above). There are also miles of hiking and mountain biking trails.

Just want to say, my wife is the coolest...this is what a Pasquel anniversary weekend packing looks like. And really, so do vacations and weekends for the most part...

Climbing with Sarah this past weekend reminded me a lot about what it takes to have a good marriage. I found many similarities between a climbing and marriage partner. To be successful in both partnerships, you have to have commitment, dedication, communication, protection, and most importantly trust. You have to be able to rely on one another, especially when times get tough.

As a leader in climbing, you have to protect the route by placing your gear as you lead the route. As I climb up the wall, I clip a draw into the bolt and then clip my rope into the carabiner. My job is to establish the route for the other climbers/partner to climb next. I feel like my job as husband is to protect my wife. To lead her safely in our marriage by making sure she is protected from all outside forces...both spiritual and physical. To also lead and protect her as she makes her way in our marriage.

While climbing, communication is of the upmost importance. Partners have to communicate when they need slack or take up slack, when rock is falling, when they are ready to get belayed down, when protection is set in wall, etc, etc...For a climber to have a successful send, he needs his belayer to be in sync with him. The same holds true in marriage. Sarah and I need to be able to communicate effectively to get through the day, week,...life...dinner.

 After several hours of climbing...we headed down to the river and just hung out for a few more hours. No girls...just us and Oliver. The water was cool, the drinks were cold, and the day at Reimer's was very well spent! Next on the anniversary agenda...dinner!

So we headed back in to Austin, showered up, and headed to the food trailers off of South Congress in Austin. We heard a lot about the Mighty Cone trailer and their signature deep fried chicken, fried avocado and cole slaw cone drizzled in their specialty sauce...and yes, we ordered ourselves just that...

Once again, I am appreciative for a very cool and understanding wife. Most couples would probably choose the finer cuisine of Hudson's on the bend (a nice, fancy, expensive restaurant that serves awesome food...and also owns this little trailer) for a special night...but Sarah was very content and pleased with her anniversary meal! But we weren't done...after dinner, we went over to another trailer off of 1st St. for dessert...

Gourdoughs! Huge donuts with tons of cream cheese icing with whatever else you want...I'm sure it's 1000 calories a donut. We probably should have split one...

The next morning, we got up at 5:45 am and drove to E-Rock, just North of Fredericksburg. If you've spent anytime on this blog, you know how much I love this place. Our goal was to climb the routes on Turkey Peak which face Southwest and remains in the shade until noon. The day was absolutely gorgeous...low 80's in the morning, in the shade, with the South Winds hitting us up top to cool us off.

 ...so back to my climbing and marriage comparisons if you will...Let's finish with trust. An absolute must in climbing. In lead/sport climbing, your protection is essentially the next bolt. But there are many variables...one which includes your belayer giving you slack to clip your rope in. As you clip in...you continue to head up, knowing if you fall past this point, you will fall twice the length of your rope...another words, you need full and complete trust in your partner to give you the confidence to continue moving up in your climb. Without that trust, you will doubt your ability to finish your climb. I see marriage the same way...with Sarah belaying me in our marriage, I would not have the full confidence to lead our marriage. I need her to catch my falls when I "pump" out or have something fall apart. I need her to give me slack when I move forward. I need her comfort and security to lead successfully. It's no different in climbing.

...and just like our marriage, when we are done with something...Sarah cleans up. Sometimes it's the dishes...and somtimes it's the gear. Just kidding!!!! (I'll get a look later)

Poor Oliver...

***I use this blog as a place where I store my precious memories...so these next pictures are just different moments I can look back on that we've had so far in our adventures. These were all taken at some point within the last few years or so...***

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!