8 Years, 8 Reasons

Happy Anniversary to Burnstopia!  It's been 8 years ago today that I married Chris.  I've toyed with different ideas of what to write today, and in the end, I'm stealing an idea from my friend Rae, but putting my own spin on it.

When we first got married we both realized something:  You don't really know someone until you live with them.  I find it ironic that people think that if you "live together" before you get married that somehow your chances of divorce go down, but they don't.  Sometimes they go up.  I think your chances of divorce go down when you determine to STAY MARRIED.

But I digress.  I was folding laundry yesterday and thinking about how very different life is now from what it was when Chris and I were married, and eight years just doesn't seem like that much time, but lo, life is REALLY different.  And that got me thinking about the things I loved about Chris when we were dating/engaged and then married.  And the different things I love about him now...

So how about a list?

Four Things I Loved about Chris when we were Dating-Engaged-Newly-Wed:

1. He was completely patient and understanding of my neurotic tendencies, one might even say vaguely amused by them.
2. He was curious about everything, about other countries, cultures, languages, arts, foods, everything.
3. He was always calm and settled (as opposed to my being always nervous and UNsettled).
4. He rarely argued, preferring peace to being right (very much like myself on that one). 

And Four Things I Love about Chris NOW:

1. He is an AMAZING father.  He loves the Boy and the Girl to distraction.  And he will go to almost any length to amuse and instruct them.  He's patient and loving, but he's not afraid to discipline and correct.  He's fun, but he balances the fun by also being strict.
2. He's turned into Mr. Fix-it.  When we were dating, and newly wed, he never tried to fix anything himself (granted we didn't have that much to fix), if the Beetle broke, he took it to the dealership.  But now?  Now he looks it up and buys the parts and the tools and fixes it himself.  And it cracks me up and impresses me all at the same time.
3. He's not afraid to pull me back from the Verge.  When I start to blow things out of proportion,  when my temper is starting to get the best of me, when I'm taking things too personally or veering off in irrational directions, he's not the least bit afraid to say, "Whoa, Nelly, come on back.  You are fine, all is well, settle down, that's not what was meant, come here and I'll rub your back."
4. He's adventurous.  When I married him, I joked that he was a 65 year old man in a 25 year old body.  But as the years pass he's more and more willing to try new things, new foods, new places, new experiences, and we always have fun getting lost together.  He might complain and grouse while we're in the midst of some things (I can think of a few hikes in particular), but it doesn't take long before he's laughing about it all and talking about what a great adventure it was.

So Happy Anniversary, Babe.  Thanks for 8 great years.  Let's hope there's 492 more coming...