Huntin', Fishin', & Lovin' Every Day

Sorting through some recent photos, and I can't get Luke Bryan's song, "Huntin', Fishin', & Lovin' Every Day" out of my head... because it basically describes my husband to a T.

Let me show you...

"If I could make a living walking in the woods... you can bet I'd be sitting pretty good"

"If I could make a nickel off of turning them bass... never worry about the price of gas"

"Huntin', fishin', and lovin' every day... that's the prayer that a country boy prays"

"Black coffee in the mornin', dark whiskey in the evenin'"

"I love it when my baby wants to roll with me... tuckin' her hair in my hat and she's ready to go"

"Huntin', fishin', and lovin' every day... that's the prayer that a country boy prays"

"Early in the mornin'... late in the evenin"

"Thank God he made me this way... huntin', fishin', and lovin' every day..."

See?!  Those who are reading this post & know Zac -- isn't this SO him? <3 <3 <3

*These photos were from Zac's 2016 Turkey Hunt & a recent date night of pier fishing

Gone Fishin'

If you follow me on instagram, you might have seen that I caught a nice little salmon this weekend...

of course, with the help of my husband -- those suckers are a bit of a challenge to reel in!

My husband LOVES to fish.  Like, in life, fishing is his #3:

#1 - Me (at least it better be) ;)

#2 - Hunting

#3 - Fishing

He asks me to go fishing with him all the time, but most times I decline, as I have no interest to wake up super early on my weekends.  But, we are blessed to live about 15 minutes away from Lake Michigan & 2 minutes away from the Bay of Green Bay, so really, we are surrounded by large bodies of water, filled with fish.  I think sometimes I take that for granted.

Over the years, I have learned to like fishing, however I sometimes get bored when there's no action.  This weekend though, I witnessed the pure joy it brings to my husband, which was totally worth the 2:30 AM wake up call.

Zac gets so excited & is always optimistic about the fishing report.  The night before, he made sure the launch ticket was accounted for, the coffee was prepped, & the alarm was set.  At the sound of the alarm the next morning, he jumped out of bed, anxious & ready to get our fish on.

After picking up a couple friends & Zac's brother, we arrived at the busy harbor.  The guys quickly launched our boat -- they have a wonderful system & each person knows their role.  The process is like clockwork for them.  Totally seamless.

Zac drove us out into the dark lake, and then put auto pilot on & the guys quickly worked to set the lines.  Something about fishing on Lake Michigan when it's pitch black out is both nerve-racking & rewarding -- it's just such a large body of water & knowing that it can turn rough at any moment is scary!  But Lake Michigan was so good to us that morning....

Since it is currently the KD Salmon Tourney, the lake in the distance looked like a city of lights (which I neglected to document) -- filled with boats of fisherman hoping to catch the $10k winner.

Around 4:30 AM, we got two bites at the same time & the guys made the girls reel them in.  We lost one, but they helped me get my catch in safely.

I'm still tired, I have a sore arm & a blood blister on my pinkie (how? I have no idea), but it was so worth it!  The thrill of catching a nice fish & seeing how happy it made Zac, was my favorite.

We watched the sunrise & had a slow rest of the morning on the water.  Needless to say, we didn't catch a winning fish, but it was so calm & relaxing.  I even got in a little snooze -- the rocking of the boat puts me right to sleep! :)

We ended the morning with breakfast; a perfect start to our Sunday. 

Date Night: Fishing off the Pier

I have a tendency to label any activity that Zac & I do together as a date.  

Grocery shopping together?  Date.

Breakfast & picking out lawn fertiziler together?  Date.

Going for an evening run & then pulling weeds together?  Date.

It sounds silly really, but we have such busy lives (I know, along with 90% of the population) that I have to cherish the moments we spend together, just the two of us.  So I find that whenever we're together, I usually document the time with photos & call it a date.

In my book, dates don't have to be fancy & expensive... cue, fishing.

A recipe of deep-fried cheese curds, beer, & two fishing poles are the perfect ingredients for a simple & fun summer date night.

We've been pier fishing fairly often lately & we find it very relaxing, even if the fish aren't biting.

This particular night we were fishing for walleyes & ended up with a sucker fish.  Oh well, it was still fun & completely worth this sunset...

The best part about fishing date nights?  They are usually followed up with ice cream for the drive home.

What's an ideal date night for you? I'd love to hear!