Bananaversary

Today is our four year anniversary! On July 28, 2007 I don't think I had any specific expectations of where we would be on July 28, 2011. And that's probably a good thing, seeing as our plans have been jostled and turned up-side-down :) But in hindsight, it's all been for the best and it's proof, for future reference, that God's timing is perfect and He's in control of future together.

(Side note: over the past four years we've learned how to set "long term goals" like adults, and I DO have specific expectations of where we'll be on July 28, 2015. But like always, God's timeline doesn't always necessarily match up with mine, but whatever He chooses and whenever He chooses...I'm cool with that.)

Over the past four years, we've shared sadness in goodbyes (my sister moved overseas with her family), joy in life (I cried when Kristen called and told me she was pregnant with Ben), devastation in unemployment (a year and a half of it folks, but we're that much stronger for it), rejoicing in God's unending provision (Dan got a job exactly a year and a day ago!), trials in miscommunication, strength/pain in growth, but above all, a love and attachment that's grown deeper and more natural than I could have ever imagined.

I love you bip, more every day! (That nickname originated from Jason and Amanda, and can be used in a plethora of ways. I've taken to referring to Dan as bip, bipper, bipstein, bippy, and pretty much any variation of the word.)

The early dating days, at Lake Michigan


In Chattanooga, TN after a banquet


Packing up my room in Waxhaw as I headed to my senior year


Senior year Valentine's banquet?...They all kind of blend together now


Saying goodbye in Grand Rapids


More Lake Michigan


A January weekend in Waxhaw, home for premarital counseling


Graduation!


About a week before our wedding :)


First anniversary


Tigers vs. Indians. It will be a marriage/lifelong rivalry


Second anniversary! (I don't know why I wasn't wearing my anniversary dress in the 1st anniv pic. I wear this dress every year on 7/28. I'm wearing it now, as a matter of fact. Partly as tradition and partly to make sure I don't get too fat. We weren't together last year on our 3rd anniv...so no pic of that. Sad.)


Oak Table in Sequim, WA. Best eggs benedict and french toast I've ever had. Hands down.


Whitecaps game


Us at Neah Bay. (For any Twilight fans, this is just north of La Push.)


On my birthday last year in our new home :)

Here's to the joy of the first four years and the excitement of all that follow!