Our story began 8 years ago this very day....

Eight years ago today, in the middle of a blizzard, Chris and I began our life together. My mom had sent away to have masses said for us at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, so I've always viewed that snowfall as a sign of blessing for our marriage. Although, on a practical level, it was pretty inconvenient (but it made for some really great snowboot-themed wedding pictures!)

As inconvenient as the snow was, it actually set the tone for things to come. We have been blessed beyond measure in our marriage, but our blessings always tend to come in strange ways and inconvenient packages. Almost every event in our marriage that at first seemed to be an overwhelming burden has brought us the most unlooked-for, unthought-of, but ultimately necessary blessings. Babies born in what conventional wisdom would deem bad times, too close together, too often. Chaos when we thought we needed serenity. Serenity when we thought we needed excitement.

Who are we to know what is best for us? I don't know that I would have planned for my life to go this way - toddler with cancer, kids in public school, five times the amount of kids all our friends have. I haven't written that best-selling novel I had planned on. Chris hasn't set the world on fire the way it was predicted he would. But......I love my husband with all of my heart. I admire him, I respect him; he is not only the best friend I have in the world, he is my model of virtue, the bright spot in my day when things are bleak. And, improbable as it seems to me, he feels the same way about me. This is something; something really rare, something really good, something I am proud to be a part of.

So, happy anniversary Chris! I don't know what other surprises are in store for us, but I know that you will be beside me when they come. And that is all that matters.