Eric Holen

For the second year in a row, Yvette and I celebrated our anniversary with an extended camping trip. Previously, we would have taken a cruise or a some other vacation. However, last year, we decided to camp. Just us, nature and a comfortable trailer.

Last year, we rented a fifth wheel travel trailer that was delivered and set up for us. This year, we rented a 21’ foot travel trailer from Dependable Camper Rentals. We wanted the opportunity to do everything from setup to tear down. We picked up the trailer early Sunday morning. You would have thought we were buying the travel trailer and not renting given the walk through they gave us. They explained everything concerning the setup and maintenance, which made us very comfortable considering it would be our home for the next five days. We picked up the travel trailer so early that we had time to take it home before an driving back to Austin for an afternoon UT Longhorns softball game.

After the game, we finished packing up the trailer and headed out to Pedernales Falls State Park. We arrived with plenty of light and the trailer was a breeze to back in and setup. I drew a blank when trying to uncouple the trailer from our vehicle, but thankfully Yvette figured the latch out.

Monday started out colder than we expected so we changed our plans and drove into Fredericksburg. We stopped in Wal-Mart for some forgotten items and then to Bealls where we picked up some steeply discounted pullovers to keep us warm. Then we enjoyed lunch at the Java Ranch with plenty of hot coffee. Afterwards, I forced took Yvette to the National Museum of the Pacific War. Three hours later, even Yvette agreed that it was a great experience and we both learned a lot about the United States’ involvement in World War II. We finished up by stopping in Luckenbach (Texas) where we squeezed into the saloon, drank some Shiner and listened to live music.

On Tuesday, I took the 4-mile loop hiking trail. I used a walking stick that Yvette had given me for our anniversary. I had my MP3 player on for about the first ¼ mile until a deer crossed the trail ahead of me. It’s then that I decided to take it off so I could use all my senses. For the rest of the hike, I only came across or heard small lizards. On the back side of the trail, I came across a stretch of trail that was just beautiful.

On Wednesday, Yvette and I hiked the falls and then sat in the river. The water in the river was cold, not cold like get in slowly, cold like put your feet in for 15 minutes and wait until they were frozen. Then slip in up to your knees and wait for them to freeze. An hour later we found ourselves sitting in the river actually having a great time. That evening, we traveled into Johnson City and ate dinner at the Hill Country Cupboard so that we could watch UT Longhorns softball on GameTracker.

Thanks to Kristi West, who gave me the idea, on Thursday I somewhat unsuccessfully tried geocaching using a list provided by the park. My first attempt, just using the GPS on my phone and no special software, was a bust. So I walked a mile or so to the park office where they had wifi and downloaded some geocaching software. Then I set out to find my first cache near the office, which I couldn’t find. I walked back to the camp grounds and sought out four other caches, all within a mile from my location. I use mile loosely because that’s what the GPS read, not the actual distance through winding trails. I found one out of four caches.

By Friday, we were ready to get back to our dogs, and our own bed. Still, we had a wonderful time and are looking forward to doing it again in the fall when the weather gets a little cooler.

By trade, I spend a lot of time evaluating and performing return on investment analysis on proposed systems. Then as those systems get older, I end up performing cost benefit analysis to determine whether it makes sense to retain or replace those same systems.

What happens when we use those same terms on relationships? 

When we begin dating someone, we often perform a return on investment (ROI). How much are we putting into the relationship versus how much we are getting in return? Don’t let your mind wander with that statement.  Dating is about the long term goal, finding that special someone who you hope to spend your life with. Early in the relationship, you often find yourself giving a lot of your time, self and money to support and grow the relationship. That leads to an evaluation on whether your investment in the short-term relationship will provide a return; that is a long-term relationship with someone you love.  If you’re investing in a short term relationship with no long term potential, then your ROI fails. 

However, if your ROI works, then you are joined in marriage or in a civil union. 

Now that you “own” each other, I know it’s a bad term, but I couldn’t think of something better, we perform a cost benefit analysis. Maintaining a marriage takes time and effort.  Don’t let anyone convince you that marriage is 50/50.  If they tell you that, ask them what happens when a spouse can’t contribute their 50%?  A marriage requires 100% from both partners.  That way when one partner falls a little short, the other partner picks up the slack.  Throughout marriage, we evaluate the cost of supporting the marriage versus the benefits we are receiving.  Again, don’t let your mind wander.  Do you support each other? Are you happy?  Do you share similar goals and work towards helping each other fulfill those goals?  Continuing to spend yourself on a relationship without benefits doesn’t make sense. 

But if you married a wonderful person and are getting ready to celebrate 14 happy years of marriage in a couple weeks, then my analysis points to a great investment.

Yvette and I just celebrated our 13^th anniversary, which makes it a lucky number.  But then 12 was a lucky number and 14 will also be a lucky number.  How did we celebrate?  We went camping for 4 nights in a rented 28’ fifth wheel trailer.

It was Yvette’s idea to go camping as a way for us to save money while getting us both out of the house and away from work.  At 4 nights, it was the longest or tied for the longest camping trip that we have taken.  Yvette was right, the trip relaxed us.  We played games, walked and read books, all while enjoying great weather.  Yvette was right.  Getting away from work, at least for me, was a great way to recharge myself.

One of the interesting things that Yvette I started doing since our 10^th anniversary, is reminiscing over the past and quizzing each other on fun facts.

Here are two of the questions that came up this trip.

Question:  Which is the only state, in the contiguous 48 states, that Yvette and I have eaten just one meal?

Answer:  Utah.  Yvette and I crossed the state line from West Wendover Nevada into Wendover Utah to eat lunch at a Subway restaurant.

Question:  How many different barbecue restaurants have we tried in Austin and the surrounding areas?  Chain restaurants, with multiple locations, only count once.

Answer: We came up with 11; we must like barbecue.  One of the 11 we recorded that day when we tried a place in Elgin.

Finally, I am not the greatest when trying to come up with a gift for Yvette.  In addition, this year we agreed to keep the gifts under $50 to save money.  I surprised Yvette and myself this year.  In December, Yvette took me on a cruise for my 40^thbirthday, but it meant that she was missing out on attending a Wynonna concert.  Well, about a month ago, I found out that Wynonna would be playing at Billy Bob’s in May and the tickets were only $35 each.  Yvette opened the card with the tickets on the drive-up to the campground.  When she screamed, I knew that I had done good this year.

Today, Yvette and I celebrated our 12-year anniversary. There are days when I am still surprise by how lucky I am to be married to her. She will be the first to tell you that I was a big jerk the first AND second times we dated. Luckily, when we got back together for the third time, I had my head on straight and knew that she was the one for me.

For this anniversary, we had previously planned to go on a cruise. It would have been our sixth cruise. However, with the economy, we decided to pay off bills and save the vacation for next year.

For breakfast, I made French toast, her favorite. Then . . . we cleaned the house, which is typical for a Sunday. For a late lunch and our celebration, we went to Estancia Churrascaria, a Brazilian steakhouse. It was the first for us, and we were not disappointed.

The food, salad bar and the service were wonderful. The atmosphere and décor of the restaurant was also nice. The best example of the service was that I don’t think my tea glass ever dropped below half before someone was refilling it. The salad bar had HUGE mozzarella balls and asparagus spears. For side dishes, they served fried plantains, mashed potatoes, and fried polenta. The sides were good, but did not keep our attention like the meat. My favorite cut of meat, and I think we tried almost all of them, was the garlic pichana. Yvette had two favorites, the filet mignon and the linguica (pork sausage). In the end, we were two stuffed to stay for desert. With tea and tip, we got out for just under $80.

While driving back home, we decided to stop at Baskin-Robbins for some desert. They had a great “no sugar added” ice cream. Yvette and I each enjoyed a scoop.

Here’s looking forward to this next year with the woman I love.

• Weight: 184.4 lbs | Goal: 160.0 lbs
• I lost almost 8 pounds in three weeks, due in large part to Yvette and I exercising again. We’re getting up and going to workout at 4:40 AM. I have been surprised about how much I like working out that early and how it increases my energy level during the day. Furthermore, I don’t feel guilty about being lazy in the evening.
• Finally fixed the problems plaguing my Motorola Q9c smart phone (more on that later).
• Excited that the Texas Longhorns softball team is on a winning streak again.
• Things are really ramping up at work (not that they haven’t been busy already). The next four months will be very busy and, for the 6th year in a row, keep me from going to Texas A&M fire school in July.
• Had a great weekend. Saw Pete Benz at Wyatt’s 1st birthday. If you have the chance and hear he is playing nearby, I encourage you to go see him. Not only does he sound great, but he has a good connection with the audience.
• Yvette and I saw Fireproof on Saturday. The wait was too long to on Netflix, but to my surprise it was available at the Kyle Community Library. As a short review, the movie was wonderful and highly recommended for married or soon to be married couples. Yvette and I both cried at the ending.
• We also saw the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, which we thought was one of the better Bond movies. A lot more action and grittiness then you would expect.
• I responded to a mobile home fire Sunday night, but luckily it turned out to be minor.
• Looking forward to this weekend when Yvette and I celebrate 12 wonderful years of marriage. I am taking her to Estancia Churrascaria a Brazilian steakhouse. It will be our first time, so I will try to follow up with a review.