Cue “How Deep is Your Love” by the BeeGees and you will be singing our song. We danced to it just last winter at a BeeGees Tribute concert and can still sing every word. The chorus ends with the phrase “We belong to you and me.” Today is our 40th wedding anniversary.
Randy and I met soon after we arrived on the Northern Arizona University campus in August 1977. We became friends and then a couple.
We married on May 23, 1980.
Over the years I’ve taken a lot of grief over those rust tuxedos!
My extended family traveled to Arizona for our wedding. My dad gave me away in his dress white uniform at my request.
Randy’s family mostly lived in Tucson where we were married. It is sad to see how many beloved people, in both of our families, we have lost in these 40 years
Our first home was in married housing at NAU. In the photo we are celebrating our first anniversary, likely the only year we ever re-lit our wedding candle! (It is funny that we now live only 150 miles from where we began.)
Shortly thereafter we moved to Boise, Idaho for Randy to work at Hewlett Packard. Here he is with his first engineering paycheck!
I was hired as a first grade teacher and we were off, working at careers that would last 33 years for Randy and 25 for me.
I spent some time being a full time mom after our daughter, Natasha, was born in December 1982.
This is our family at my grandparents’ farm – including our first fur baby, Anna. My grandfather was always happy to put Randy to work, which he didn’t mind.
Natasha is holding our cat Sierra. For dog people, she was a good cat for 18 years.
Travel and adventures were always part of our lives and family activities.
We spent about 15 years traveling to and staying at each of the great lodges in the western national parks. This is Oregon Caves Lodge, one of the smallest, but also one of our favorites.
We snowmobiled in Yellowstone – and then decided we didn’t think it was right.
We were joined at the hip with the Sloan family for many years, often seeming more like one family than two. We also traveled and spent time with my parents. We were all together on this houseboat trip on Lake Powell.
Our boat was a big part of our lives each summer. We had weekly water-ski outings for many years.
We spent a lot of time hiking and camping around Idaho.
I don’t usually like mustard!
This was our very good boy Toby. He was part of our family for 15 years.
Natasha grew up…
…and she married Seth. Welcome to our family Seth!
Randy and I kept working, traveling and having adventures. Some, like this trip to South Dakota, were in our first fifth wheel trailer.
Same with this trip to Lake Tahoe where we went in our first hot air balloon.
Over the years we have traveled MANY times to MANY places with our friends Kent and Pam. This trip was to the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, an EPIC college football game. We are so happy that traveling with Kent and Pam continues.
In 2010 this boy came into our lives. If you’ve been reading the blog awhile, you know about our sweet boy Elko. We still miss him.
We have been blessed to travel with these friends, Darrell and Cindy. We’ve enjoyed many RV trips together and they’ve joined us at our Mexico timeshare several times. We’ve even cruised to Alaska together.
Randy and I really enjoy cruising and have been on quite a few. Our very first cruise was for our tenth anniversary and was just the two of us. Over the years we went with Natasha (letting her take a friend) or with my parents. Twice we have gone on an extended family cruise. This is Randy with our only grandchild on a cruise to celebrate my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. Our most recent cruise was through the Panama Canal with my mother.
In 2013 Randy got his last paycheck from Hewlett Packard, retiring on his 55th birthday.
I retired in 2014, a few days after my 55th birthday. We sold everything and took off to live in our new fifth wheel trailer for an indefinite length of time. This blog was created to document that journey.
For five years we enjoyed traveling, exploring and volunteering in state parks. I’ve written, and you’ve probably read, many blog posts about those adventures!
It wasn’t our plan to stop full time RVing but sometimes life happens.
And when you climb to the other side…
You figure out how to make the best of the new circumstance and move forward. Randy is doing great and we are enjoying our new home and community near Phoenix. We were all set for a spring/summer RV trip to see new places and add stickers to our state map when COVID-19 derailed us. We also had to cancel our Great Britain land tour and Norway cruise scheduled for fall. Undaunted, we’ve got new travel adventures in the planning stages. We’re always looking forward to something.
It is what we’ve done for 40 years and will keep doing as long as we are able. We Belong to You and Me.
Serene Wandering 
Congrats on 40 yrs. I am so happy to have been a part of your lives at Farragut. What fun we have on football Saturdays rooting for each other’s teams. I treasure your friendship. May you have many, many, many more blessed years! I still hope to see you in NC. If I come to Sedona, I will let you know.
Lovely 🥂🎊💕
A very special look back and look ahead. Thank you for all of these wonderful memories. One correction though. Your dad didn’t “give you away” at your wedding. I remember the statement as being “Who has brought this woman to this place in her life?” Love you both, Mom
And he probably replied “Her mother and I”
Thank you for sharing all this joy, Serene, and happy anniversary to the two of you. Hard to pick a favorite photo… the rust tuxedos match the venue so nicely! But I think the “park host” one is my fave. Happy trails to you both.
This is a great tribute to your marriage. I feel blessed to have bumped into you near Minneapolis several years ago. I had a question about regenerating a water softener I am so glad I came over and started a conversation and subsequently have been able to follow your wonderful blog.
Happy Anniversary! I’m not good at remembering other people’s important dates. Lucky if I get our own right! Hope your day is special. Loved your blog entry! We should talk again soon.
With Love,
Ruth
Congratulations on 40 years! It is wonderful to see you both through the memories you have shared here. Also, it is great to know Randy and you are doing well. Nancy and I are not too far behind, as we will celebrate our 35th this August. We all must be doing something right, eh.
As a coincidence, I just happened to be sporting my 2010 BSU Fiesta Bowl T-shirt while reading this post. Go Broncos 🙂
Best wishes on a healthy and safe future together,
Paul
Please compile your writing into a book, I promise to purchase one. To
I have often thought that when I was done writing this blog that I would do that very thing, to have a physical momento for us and those few who would want one, to remember these days. I have also wondered if that time is getting close – or will I keep going with future travel no matter the form? Pondering….but thank you, if I do it, you’ll get a copy.
What a fantastic journey! Our lives are full of twists and turns and the two of you have made the most of yours. We wish yo many more happy years to come!
I’m so glad we met yall at Farragut and have been able to get together a few times since then. Congratulations on 40 years! Really enjoyed reading about your journey.
And thanks for the idea! I hadn’t thought of it until you did Mark’s 60th birthday blog post.
We have enjoyed so much reading about your adventures
since you left Boise. Congratulations on your 40th
Anniversary !! You two are living the dream that we
wish we could live! Jean and Reed
Seems I have fallen behind in your always informative blogs. What treasured memories you have shared. Wishing you a Happy Belated 40th anniversary.
Glad you are able to make the best of this Covid situation and still travel to cooler places. Sorry to hear you were ill for awhile but glad you are feeling almost normal again. Seems to be hard to receive solid results with Covid testing.
Thanks for always sharing your travels and memories with us all.
Hugs to you both
Catie and Gord
Hi Serene & Randy,
Thinking of you two. Hope you are having a great Christmas. We are feeling very happy though we miss the RV lifestyle. Can’t wait to come visit you two. Might need to plan a quick flight down to Phoenix when we are all vaccinated from Covid.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
xo Sharon & Stu
On Sat, May 23, 2020 at 6:43 AM Serene Wandering wrote:
> Serene posted: “Cue “How Deep is Your Love” by the BeeGees and you will be > singing our song. We danced to it just last winter at a BeeGees Tribute > concert and can still sing every word. The chorus ends with the phrase > “We belong to you and me.” Today is our 40th wedd” >