10 years

Chris and I have been married 10 years!

As I reflect back on all that we have experienced in that time, the list keeps growing. I thought I'd share some it...

Since May 8, 1999:

• We each had a beloved dog, so when we married, there were actually 4 of us.
• We still have Chris' dog who is now 12 1/2, blind, and just about deaf.
  
• We have lived in 6 houses, but only 2 towns.
• Our first child was 16.
• We have changed countless wet beds in the middle of the night.
• We have parented about 16 kids for varying lengths of time.
• Survived 3 difficult birth experiences.
• Held each other, cried, and lived through incredible grief as our foster-adopt daughter walked out of our lives.
• Survived Chris in graduate school.
• Moved out-of-state.
• Almost moved to Africa.
• Survived Chris playing in 2 bands (plus lots of worship teams).
• Survived many years of me working on-call, taking calls and getting called to the hospital at all kinds of inconvenient times.
• When we moved last summer there were 11 car seats in our garage.
• Watched friends divorce.
• Owned 4 vans.
• Sat at our newborn's bedside and tried not to panic as he held each of our fingers in his fists.
• Felt our love grow for a little girl on another continent.
• We once moved 3 times in 9 months.
• We have owned 4 homes, one we built, and 2 at the same time.
• Chris has watched me gain 45 pounds, then 50 pounds, then 55 pounds with each pregnancy, and always managed to make me feel like I was still beautiful to him.
• Had 6 kids in diapers over the years - 3 all at the same time.
• Shared our lives, schedules, and family with caseworkers and placement workers over the years.
• Supported each other through job changes, a couple of them painful.
• Been separated at airports 3 times: once for Haiti, once for Utah (a business trip), and once for Ethiopia.
• Have talked about going to a marriage seminar or retreat for over 10 years, and every single time something comes up that weekend - it is now a joke that maybe God doesn't want us to get any training...
• We were landlords while still in our 20's.
• Been in one car accident together, several more separately.
  
• Once ended a road trip riding in the back of our broken-down VW vanagon with our kids, on a flat-bed tow truck for the 5 hour trip back home. I looked down at one point to see a man taking a picture of us.
• Put dreams on hold to build a life-long marriage, and parent our kids without regrets.
• Struggled to make ends meet doing work we loved. At one point during grad school, Chris worked a full-time job and 2 part-time jobs, while I worked and juggled the needs of our new baby.
• Been surprised by God several times as we realized we were on the right path.
• Spent the first year of our marriage living in a 400 square foot cabin a block from the bay.
  
• Shared the same politics, values, faith, and world view.
  
• On our honeymoon in Hawaii, Chris promised we would return on our 10th anniversary. We watched that promise vanish last fall with the news of our pregnancy, and the decision to adopt our little girl. Maybe for our 20th?
• Laughed, cried, loved, hoped, prayed, despaired, dreamed, persevered, supported, sought forgiveness - and given it, been quiet when there weren't words, and talked even when we didn't feel like it.
• Now workin' on the next 10.

I couldn't have predicted any of it, but it seems to me that rolling with the punches, living intentionally, and pausing long enough to notice the blessings around you are essential to a great life - and definitely a great marriage.
















Each of these pictures captures a piece of Chris I love.

This is Chris spending time with our little guy.














Here is Chris watching J.T. sleep the first day the C-Pap was on.














Chris is watching the respiratory therapist work on J.T.
He alternates between fascination with the science of it all, and anger at the person hurting his little son.














And after all that...















Happy Anniversary Chris!
You will always be the love of my life.