July 12, 2002

"I know we've only known each other four weeks and three days, but to me it seems like nine weeks and five days. The first day seemed like a week and the second day seemed like five days. And the third day seemed like a week again and the fourth day seemed like eight days. And the fifth day you went to see your mother and that seemed just like a day, and then you came back and later on the sixth day, in the evening, when we saw each other, that started seeming like two days, so in the evening it seemed like two days spilling over into the next day and that started seeming like four days, so at the end of the sixth day on into the seventh day, it seemed like a total of five days. And the sixth day seemed like a week and a half. I have it written down, but I can show it to you tomorrow if you want to see it."

Oh, How the time can fly. I think at this time four years ago, I was being pushed up and over the wall to the light and video booth at church. I was in the middle of getting my make-up done and the flower lady showed up to decorate the church and the door to the booth was locked. The worship center was dark and she needed lights to decorate. So when life gives you lemons.... you hoist the bride up and throw her head first into a video booth!
Without too many other hiccups the ceremony ran fairly smooth. And here we are today. What a journey it has been and I'm so glad that in many ways it's only just begun. (Ah.... anyone got any Carpenters to serenade this post to?)

As we looked ahead and planned for this special little celebration, this year we took a whole new approach to the festivities.
So, if you've even spent two minutes with Kenton or I you know we like food. We've had a fickle relationship with this mutual love of cuisine. In the past, our beloved was a consuming passion that began to show quite heftily around our waistbands. About year ago, we decided that maybe it was time we spent more time apart from this obsession of ours. And to our splendor, we have gotten much healthier as a result. SOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo....... very long story short, we wanted to fraternise with our old flame to celebrate this milemarker. To "earn" this sweet reward we made a deal that we would work for it. That meant cutting calories and exercising everyday for three weeks. We were faithful and have been bitten by the running and biking bug.
Every morning we've put on our cheap shoes and hit the pavement.
I'm up to two miles at a time and Kenton is cutting seconds off his fast mile every morning. We put over fifty miles on our bikes this past weekend, and had a few minor crashes as you can see by our road rash.

Here we are yesterday morning, after we both took our turns running, knowing that our plunder was less than 24 hours away.

Yeah, I know we look good! Whatever... it's been freakin' hot and humid at 6:30 in the morning!

We made it, and today we have been treated to all the fast food, all you can eat, and chocolate infused snacks that make this such a great country to live in! While canoodling with this former love has been nice and very temporary, I can say with the utmost satisfaction: Nothing tastes better than spending your life with someone who is running this race with the same fervor and passion as you, and that they are chasing the same goal as you, and that they are giving it everything they've got to love you with the love Christ gives to us. Un-ending, perfect, appetizing, and filling love. Today is a great day.