For me and for many, the holiday season holds both happy and often some pretty sad memories. But when one starts a new year, I feel it’s wise to focus on the happy times, because they have the power to soften the sad ones.

I have lived in Phoenix for over 30 years, yet had never really explored the mountains surrounding this beautiful city. Then I fell in love. Dave was new to the desert and it’s rugged environs fascinated him. How could anything survive in this heat? Let alone thrive. That’s when we began taking hikes in the Phoenix Mountain Preserves on the weekends he was in town from Houston.

There are so many paths to take here. Our favorite path is a loop that starts from the parking lot to Piestawa Peak. About four miles, and about 800 ft in elevation. Halfway along this trail, we pass a large boulder with a hieroglyph on it. For the past three years, we often see the same lizard enjoying the sun. Quite a nice condo he inhabits—safe and warm, with a view.

Don’t let the crowded parking lot deter you—the trails are so vast that you can easily find solitude. In the spring, desert wildflowers bloom. After a rain, the sweet smell of creosote and mesquite fill the air.

And it just so happened that on a bright December day, close to Christmas, on a bench overlooking the Phoenix skyline, Dave asked me to marry him. It was the beginning of something truly magical.

We still hike the Preserves and we still take a break on that bench. That’s when Dave asks me if I would still marry him. My answer is always the same. :)

Here’s to Happy. Happy New Year!