Happy Anniversary!

Since I was so peeved when I last posted I neglected to mention anniversaries.

Last post was my 200th (can't believe it's been that long and that I actually have had readers for 3 years) and last Thursday was our 4th wedding anniversary (can't believe we've been kissing and loving for 7 whole years now). How time flies. I realized that next month I turn 27...which means 30 is just around the corner. Just yesterday I was patting myself on the back for being such a well-accomplished 26 year old and as of next month I'll be creeping up on 30. Wow.

To commemorate the occasion here are my top three favorite moments from the last 4 years of my life:

(I was totally going to do a David-Letterman-style top 10 but when I got writing I realized it would be a veeerrry long top 10.)

3. Walking out of the conference room after presenting my research project to my committee to finish my Masters. I worked through some of the hardest times of my life (the deaths of my friend, cousin and sister, the estrangement of my mother and a hard fight to find balance in my relationship with Morgan) and managed to come back to UW to finish grad school. I will always be proud of myself for accomplishing that feat...and I grew a baby at the same time. Go me!

2. The minutes after giving birth to Emma. It was such an amazing moment to have her in our arms that I cried from relief and Morgan squeezed out a few tears, too. Labor was finished! Nine months of waiting to see our new baby had passed and there she was, healthy and real. (Also, the epidural was still working so the pain from giving birth hadn't set in yet.)

1. Our wedding was a happy day but it's almost a blur. The greatest moments were not those in front of friends & family in that church but the quiet times to follow, those times when we have truly inhabited a life together have been my favorite. They were mornings on the porch in the sun with coffee, others have been playing with Emma, and the best tend to be quiet nights that we sit and talk for 3 hours. It's not one special moment, but the accumulation of years of love that have come in precious pieces.