I can’t believe we are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary today.  It honestly feels like we just got married a couple of years ago.  I’ve been trying to reflect and think of something profound to say about this, and I don’t think I can say anything more profound than has already been said.  I follow Candace Cameron on social media, and she just celebrated her 20th last week and she had this to say and I think it is perfect:

Let’s be real for a second. We are celebrating 20 years of marriage today. 22 years together as a couple. I couldn’t be more proud to be here and love my man the way I do. But let me assure you it hasn’t been all roses the whole journey. There have been several tough years, in a row, ups and downs, bad attitudes and bad decisions, but we’ve persevered. We rode them out. We loved each other through them. We kept the focus; God’s glory. We are both better for it. I’m so grateful and thankful for the man I married. Neither of us are perfect, far from it, and will continue to make mistakes because we are human. But God’s Word and His grace see us through- striving to be the best of ourselves in Him. To God be the glory. Thank you for an awesome 20 years together. I pray for another 60. Amen.

I went on my first date with Daniel when I was 17 years old.  A lot has changed in 24 years and we have both done a lot of growing up.  I was married at 21, baby number 1 at 24 and all 3 by age 28.  This isn’t anything I would script out for my own girls.  It’s YOUNG!  We both feel fortunate that we grew up together in the same direction.  We are having a blast raising our kids, but look forward to being empty nesters at age 48!  Yes, there is a perk to being a young Mom!

We have had ups, we have had downs and we have had just about everything in between.  We have had good years, we have had bad years, we have had blasé years.  We have laughed, we have cried, we have yelled and we have rejoiced.

I feel blessed to have a man who has stuck by my side all this time, in spite of all my failures and shortcomings.  I desperately need time to slow down.  This thing called life is going way too fast.  I have a bucket list a mile long, but there is no one else I would rather share it with!  Here’s to another 20!

As a side note, I thought it would be fun to look back at what was happening in 1996:

• average price of a new home $166,000 (our first home was $92,000)
• first class stamps were $0.32
• a gallon of gas was $1.23
• Bill Clinton was President (could we be getting another Clinton all these years later?)
• Osama Bin Laden is expelled from Sudan and moves to Afghanistan
• Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales get divorced
• Mad Cow Disease hits Britain
• The Summer Olympics are held in Atlanta (the magnificent 7 won the women’s gymnastics- now we only have 5 on a team.  Anyone know why?)
• The DVD player launched in Japan