Seven Years

Now that we’re married, I think we’re supposed to switch over to celebrating our wedding anniversaries, but I can’t look at April 12 on the calendar without thinking about the fact that today is the anniversary of our beginning—when we first started dating—and that seven years ago today was the best day of my life.

Seven years, bubs, can you believe it?  Maybe you can because you’re always exaggerating how long we’ve been together (i.e. two years and 2 months into our marriage and you’re already telling people: “We’ve been married almost three years!”), but it’s hard for me to believe.  Seven years is a long time.  I guess the best times always fly by, don’t they?  Seven years ago, we started daydreaming about a future together—becoming dog owners, living in California, getting married, and having kids, among other dreams…

In seven years, we’ve graduated from college, cruised around the world, lived in Phoenix, ran our first of so many half marathons, got engaged in the middle of the night, adopted a 90 pound bundle of unconditional love, sold everything and moved to San Diego, lived in a cave (okay, it was actually a multi-family house that was basically a cave), ran our first of many full marathons, moved into an actual house, where we lived without furniture for almost a year, got married on the beach, honeymooned in Maui, settled into married life as “The Luries,” and, well, continued to live out our happily ever after.

Life has been beautifully stable for a couple years now (or almost three years, to you), and I’m grateful every day.

We still drive down streets lined with palm trees and watch breathtaking sunsets, marveling at the fact that we actually live here, in paradise.  We still have moments when we look at each other and say: “Wow, we’re really married…”  And getting nudged out of bed each morning by our big, floppy dog still makes me chuckle because we’re living out our dreams.  I know you’re exploding-at-the-seams excited for the next chapter of our happily-ever-after, but if I’ve learned anything in our seven years together, it’s not to rush.  Life is a dream and every day is the new best day of my life.  So today, let’s remember where we started…

And I thought I loved you then…