Meet Jose and Tara from the Poconos, PA

Tara grew up touring caves. As a young girl, her parents would often take her on underground adventures. Throughout college Tara would go spelunking with some of her school mates who were National Spelunking Certified. In college, she minored in geomorphology and majored in education. She loves caves and exploration. For her 50th birthday gift her husband Jose gave her the option to choose where she wanted to go and what the agenda would be. She had many options to choose from, including a cruise. Instead, she decided that she would really appreciate taking a cave tour and spending a long weekend hiding out, in the snowy wilderness, in a cabin in upstate New York, near the Finger Lakes, with her husband. Jose & Tara met in high school. They didn’t immediately hit it off. At the time Tara was the captain of her high school rifle team and she was dating someone in the Marching Band. When they met, Jose joked that Tara was more manly than the guy she was dating. Today they laugh about it because she understands now that he meant it as a compliment. At the time, however, it was not taken that way. Years later, after college, they reunited while playing a game of flag football with their old high school friend group. At the end of the game, in passing, Jose mentioned to Tara that they should go see a movie. He never called so she took the initiative and called him. They have been together for 23 years. The hardest part of their relationship is being able to carve out time so that they can focus on each other. They have two beautiful children that are young adults. One is away at college and the other is at home taking care of the family axolotl. (Which by the way is a fascinating story but would be a whole other post!) Their children are their greatest adventure yet. They love being parents. They understand that their time with their children is fleeting. They have spent as much time as possible devoted to being the best parents they can be. That being said, this is only the second vacation they have ever gone on by themselves since their children were born. Jose‘s favorite thing about Tara is that she’s a little bit quirky. She’s passionate about life and she can’t hide it. He can always read her by her facial expressions and he adores that about her. Tara’s favorite thing about Jose is that he is always her calm in the storm. He helps keep her centered and she genuinely, truly enjoys his company. The one thing they want to tell the world is, “You have to be able to have a sense of humor. Don’t take life so seriously. Happiness is an inside job.” Thank you for visiting. Happy Happy birthday, Tara!