Marriage...true love

This past Tuesday, Geoff and I celebrated 2,922 days of marriage.  That's 8 years for those of you who aren't super quick on the math.  It's really hard for me to believe it's been that long already.  It's flown by.  It seems like just yesterday we were kids starting our future, our new life, together.  Neither one of us are the same people that got married back then.  We've both changed and I hope in good ways.  I remember within the first couple weeks of our wedding being shocked at the revelation of just what a selfish person I was.  I was used to everything revolving around my needs and wants and then suddenly, I was being called to serve Geoff's needs and wants over my own.  While I certainly have not perfected this by any means and daily have to choose to put aside my own desires, I am thankful God has used our marriage (and also later parenthood) to expose and flush out the internal focus off of me and onto others.

Last weekend, my brother Brian got married and had his ceremony and reception at the same facility in northern Indiana that we did eight years prior. (Separate post to come on that later.)  It was fun to go back and remember our day, especially with it being so close to our anniversary.  Many memories and emotions were remembered.

As a small way to honor Geoff for the great husband he has been for eight years, I figured I would highlight just a few of the many things I admire/like about him:

G - Generous: He is always willing to give to others, whether it's his time, resources or finances.  I love his big heart to help those around him.
E - Excellence: He likes to get things right and do them to the best of his ability.  He seems to excel in everything he does.  And when times come when he's not satisfied with the results, he works harder.
O - Obliging: Geoff is always willing to help out with whatever I ask him to do, even the stuff he's not too keen on...doing the dishes, getting up to rock Olivia at 4:00am, changing stinky diapers, etc.
F - Funny: For those of you that know Geoff well, you know that he has a pretty quirky sense of humor.  He always make me laugh or at least roll my eyes and groan at him.
F - Fast:  This guy can run pretty fast.  Actually, really fast.  I admire his discipline to his sport, to put in the grueling training day after day, as well as his passion for running.  He truly loves running and it's fun to see the enjoyment he gets out of it.
R - Research:  It must be his analytical, engineering mind or something.  Geoff loves to research stuff - new cars, baby strollers, stocks and various investments, vacation destinations, wines, creationism...you name it.  I love this because I know that whatever we purchase, do or have a discussion about, he has made an informed decision that I can trust.
E - Easygoing:  Nothing really seems to phase him.  I have difficulty remembering many times when he has gotten upset at anything. 
Y - Yappy:  Ok...I'm stretching to come up with a good "Y" word.  Geoff loves to share lots of details when he gets into his storytelling mode.  (I'm sure this is shocking for his mom to read who can easily recall many conversations with him where he provided very limited detail much to her disappointment! :) )  This always makes for interesting conversations around the dinner table and opportunity for me to practice my listening skills as I try to keep up with all of them.

Here are some of my favorite photos of us over the years

Chicago 2003

Seattle 2004

Celebrating anniversary #2 2005

Halloween 2006

Hawaii 2007

Brazil 2008

Boston 2009

New York City 2010

I love you, Geoff.  Thanks for being the best husband I could ask for and my best friend.  I'm so thankful that you chose me as your wife and I can't think of anyone else I would want to be stuck with for the rest of my life.