Two Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty

That is the number of days that Danielle and I have been married. Today, we celebrate our eight year wedding anniversary. It was a cool Autumn day eight years ago, our ceremony was suppose to be outside, but the weather did not cooperate so it was moved indoors. It would have been nice to be outside with the leaves all changing colours but it would have been chilly. Since that time, we have been on many adventures, the move from Kansas City, Missouri to Hilliard, Ohio, Danielle's first trip overseas where we spent New Year's in London and more recently our fourteen day trek through France and Belgium. There have been a lot of good times and with all things there must be a balance so there have been some bumps along the way. Though, for me, it requires a fair amount of effort to remember the bad times which is the way it should be. It should be more about remembering and looking forward to the good times while the bad times should be used as lessons to improve and maybe one day laugh about. Maybe.I would say learn from, improve upon and let it be water under the bridge.

In my opinion no marriage is truly happy. It takes work, dedication, commitment and compromise. It has moments of great pride while having equal moments of humbling. It requires patience and the ability to forgive. It is frustration, which slowly leads to understanding. It takes time. It takes time to develop, nurture, love and grow together. It is a never ending cycle and maybe that is what in the end makes it something that is simply satisfying.

So to my wife, Danielle, it has been a wonderful eight years of challenges and growth. I am happy to have you as my partner on this road we are traveling. May our adventures continue, may we always learn something new and may we always continue to grow together.