3 years and counting

I am sitting here thinking while working (not a good sign, I should be paying attention) about the eve of my wedding three years ago. I have great, great memories! What a great day it was, and I will never have to do it again! Can I get an AMEN! Here are some of my very fond memories:

It was great to finally get to meet Rob, Ruth, and Amber of whom I heard so much about. I enjoyed taking counseling classes, even though they were with my father. There are a few things I still think about to this day about what we talked about in our three (yes, only three) marriage classes. One was how you should treat your spouse like elegant china instead of paper plates. I think he stole it from Joel Olsteen actually. Even if we weren't getting married, I'm sure he would have shared that analogy with us anyway. Another thing I took away was when he said that he can't really teach us what marriage is all about. We just have to live it. He said we are pretty much just jumping in the deep end of a pool not knowing how to swim; and to an extent, he is definitely right. He said I can give you tools and advice; but in the end, you are the ones that are going to do all the work. I remember Katie being preggo with Taylor and worried that she was going to have Taylor when I was on my honeymoon (she didn't). Matthew was actually nice to Tara and romantic for once (weird, I know). Charissa ironing my veil into the wee hours of the morning. I remember how much I LOVED my cake with the cake topper, totally African haha! Shopping with my mom for all the wedding stuff. Enjoying the last months of singlehood. Amanda Vogel spending the night for my bridal shower and reading a book that prepared me for the big day and just reading "certain" passages of it. Alyvia ringing those bells like her life depended on it. Matthew and his new video camera and taping the best video tape in the world. Taking Elisabeth to Color Me Mine and spending quality time with her (she is 9 now, it's sad). Noah being a complete babe and very hilarious about his flower....I could definitely go on; I'll stop though or else this post will be TOO long.

Honestly, marriage has been better than I thought. It hasn't been as hard as I thought either. I'm sure now that the "honeymood phase" is over (I think they give you 2-3 years), it will get harder. I have learned that marriage takes work, and you definitely have to be willing to work at it to make it last. I also have learned that the better walk you have personally with the Lord, the better your marriage is. Randy and I are definitely doing great. I pray that this will always be the case. Today, we went to go get wood for our woodstove to keep us warm this winter. An elderly man from church sold us some. He was just so happy to see us both working together getting the wood, etc. This is what Randy and I do though. We work together as a team, and this man was just grateful to see this. He was so encouraging to us, and I hope that we can have a strong marriage like he and his wife have. He has gone through a lot, but they both stuck together and put God first in their lives. I hope we can mirror them in some way.

Well, this is a long enough post and I am suppose to be working, haha! So off to rock climbing tomorrow. I am REALLY excited about this!!! We will have a great 3-year anniversary.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

If this post wasn't too long and you have nothing better to do, check out the following:
You tell her, Dr. Dobson. Where Katie and I will be at midnight on Friday. Craziest x-rays ever. Obama to approve stem-cell research. Something I agree with Obama on. Glad they caught him. Diagnosis of cancer declines in US. Go get 'em Palin. America headed for breakup? Don't mess with my Gov.