3000 Days

It was on Monday that I opened an app on my phone to see how many days before Thanksgiving...and I noticed this:

3000 days? Really? It's only been 8 1/2 years....but I never would have guessed it's been 3000 days!

I forgot to tell Patrick the news until the next day, but when I remembered, I texted him:

Reaching this landmark really caused me to reflect on the journey my sweetheart and I have traveled. Together we have:

• lived in 8 different residences and 2 states
• owned 2 cars
• welcomed 3 children into our family
• adopted 7 pets
• traveled to 3 different states
• worked at 10 different jobs
• finished 2 bachelor's degrees and 1 doctorate degree
• and held 16 callings in our Church

But the numbers are only a representation of the stories behind them. And we have experienced so many wonderful stories....

Like the time we ran out of gas on our honeymoon, and later were pulled over by a small town deputy because we didn't have a license plate on the front of our car. Or how our families moved us into our second apartment the day we were in the hospital for our first son's birth. We've had scary stories like when our oldest son fractured his skull, or the day our second son split his forehead, or when we had an intruder in our house. We've also had countless days of miracles, like the day we found out we were having a little girl, or when Patrick was accepted into his doctorate of Physical Therapy program, the day he passed his boards, or the day he was offered his dream job right down the street from where we were building our home.

The memories could go on. There are just too many to enumerate. Great, big grand ones, and small and simple little ones. Each year has added layers of friendship, trust, and endearment to our love story, and I'm just so grateful that I get to be with my very best friend for eternity.

I don't know who I would be today if I had lived 3000 days without my best friend. He has loved me, encouraged me, supported me, listened to me, and shaped me into the woman I've always dreamed of becoming. 

"Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord." ~1 Corinthians 11:11

I can't wait to see the countless pages of our love story that will be added in the next 3000 days...

What stories have been written for you over the past 3000 days? Can you see how far you've come and the amazing person you have become? What stories will you write in the next 3000 days? Consider writing your hopes and dreams for the future in your journal tonight...