10 Years today!

TODAY is our 10th anniversary. 10 years! Wow. I'm so proud of us.

In honor of this momentous day I have summarized some of the big events that have occurred in 10 years of marriage, in a numerical countdown. Hey, what can I say, I'm up in the middle of the night feeding a baby so I have time to think up such things. So here's my little countdown...

10 years of marriage. That is approximately 3,650 days living together. And the vast majority of those days have been really good days.

9 new extended family members welcomed...3 brother-in-laws, 5 nephews, and 1 niece...plus another nephew coming in November

8 trips to hospitals...for some really good reasons and for some really awful reasons

7 years in Colorado...beautiful years full of beautiful people

6 family members gone to heaven...some way too soon

5 jobs between the two of us...2 for me and 3 for him

4 places of residence...in two states

3 amazing daughters...as well as 3 miscarriages

2 graduate degrees...MA Counseling and MA Communication

1 couple who made REALLY big vows at the REALLY young age of 23. Vows made in front of family, friends, and more importantly according to God's holy ordinance. Vows we have tried to live by for 3,650 days and vows we aim to live by for the rest of our days on this earth.

On October 12, 2002 we stood in front of each other on a beautiful fall day in the Chicago suburbs and pledged to faithfully love each other in good times and in bad, in times of plenty and times of need, in sickness and in health, to support and encourage...until death. We've lived through all those times in ten years...good, bad, plenty, want, sickness, health...a lot of those times are reflected in my little countdown. Marriage vows are a big big deal. Little words, pledging big stuff. Big beautiful and sometimes really hard stuff.

The picture above is my favorite shot from our wedding because it captured my favorite moment of that ceremony...the first act of our marriage...prayer. I honestly have no idea what we said in that prayer, but I know it was an emotional prayer and I know that while we were praying people in that sanctuary were praying for us and I know my sister and her husband were singing, "Jesus, Be the Center." 

And 10 years later that is still our prayer today...Jesus be the center...of our lives individually, our family, and our marriage.

I am so thankful for my amazing husband and these amazing 10 years. What an adventure it has been so far.

And now, on to our date night!

Here are some silly wedding memories and fun pictures from last year's 9th anniversary blog post.