Sleeping in Seattle

I am feeling a little sentimental.....tomorrow is our 10th wedding anniversary!  It seems like that should be so long, I mean it is 1/3 of my life and yet I just can't believe it has been 10 years.  How can so much time have passed when I still remember being 16 years old and waiting for Jimi to pick me up for our first date?!?  How can that have been nearly 14 years ago?  I know this is a major cliche' but it is so true...the older you get the more you realize you are really not that old.

So, as I was sitting on the couch tonight watching Jimi try to negotiate with Grace about not wearing a fleece jacket in the 83 degree weather, I had to laugh!  He tried his best to convince her to leave the toasty jacket behind and almost won the battle after pulling out a Fruit by the Foot as bribery but Grace was not having it.  She stuck to her guns and out the door they went....fleece jacket and all.  I sat there on the couch for a few minutes before I got on my knees and thanked my Heavenly Father for this wonderful little scene I had just witnessed.  My life is so great and I am beyond blessed.

I tried to picture what I was doing 10 years ago and I remember laying in my bed with my sister talking and laughing and feeling a little nervous and anxious not being able to sleep.  I was so excited to marry my best friend.  I remember thinking that we had been through so much together already we could do anything as long as we were together.  Although that thinking was totally naive, it was also completely right on spot.

Just as every couple goes through hard times, we definitely have too.  Some of those trials were extremely difficult and at times I remember feeling like they were never going to end, but they did and we came out stronger and more alive because of them.  I know that our trials are meant for us.  And while I am not one of those people who pray for such experiences I am thankful for the lessons they have taught me, the person I am and the marriage that I have after having gone through them together.

Just for fun, I wanted to make a list of all the things that these Jars have done together.

In the last 10 years we:

• bought our first home
• worked full time while going to school full time to put ourselves through college
• both graduated from college with bachelor's degrees
• sold our condo and bought a house
• have bought 6 cars
• have had 8 jobs
• experienced 2 layoffs
• have had 17 callings
• added a cute puppy to our family
• have been sued
• battled infertility and became so thankful for our trial
• became parents to an amazingly sweet little girl who was always meant to be in our family
• survived 13 days in the ICU
• packed up and moved out of state, leaving all of our family behind  
• became landlords
• became tenants for the first time
• lived in our first apartment together
• traveled to 11 states
• have been blessed more than we could have ever imagined!