8 years

We celebrated our eighth anniversary yesterday. I kept meaning to get a picture, but I didn't, so here we are at eight years plus one day of marriage.

We had a nice time yesterday on an afternoon date thanks to some new friends who just moved into our ward. Unfortunately we won't have much time to become better friends since we'll be leaving soon (five weeks from tomorrow we drive away!). But thanks, again, Bostons! 

First we went to get a new car battery for the van (we had to jump it twice yesterday - thankfully both of those were in our garage and not at the boys' soccer game!). When they tested the old one at autozone their tester said "bad battery. Replace now!"  

Then we got lunch at Cafe Samana. Wow! Wish we had found out about this place before now. A fun little vegetarian place that's only open for lunch. Was it delicious!

After that we went to a park to sit on a bench and reminisce about our last eight years and how far we've come as individuals and as a couple. And, of course, some thought as to what the future will bring. It was a wonderful day. 

I am so grateful two see many ways in which Spencer and I have become even better friends over the last eight years. and I will always be grateful that he is the man with whom I get to raise our wonderful (if sometimes strange) children. I feel incredibly blessed. 

Good Book

Faith and I have been reading Gary Chapman's The 5 Love Languages this past week. It describes how people feel love in one (or more) of five different ways, being that person's love language. Problem is, in a marriage the husband and wife usually feel love in different ways-essentially speaking two different languages. This means that the husband may be expressing love in a way that he understands but the wife does not and vice-versa. Even though both mean well, the message of love gets lost in translation. According to this book, the key is to identify what language(s) you each speak, then learn how to speak your spouses'.

This has been a very interesting look at what makes people tick and I look forward to finishing it. The principles are a very practical look into the "how" of creating an eternal marriage. We know the "why" in that "marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children." So we know marriage is important-we know we need to stick together and work things out when things come up. Sometimes, we aren't sure how to do this. That is where practical advice, such as what is found in this book and others, comes into play.

In his talk last conference, President Monson told of a plaque he once saw that read: "Choose your love; love your choice." He said there was great wisdom in those words, and I couldn't agree more. Faith and I celebrate our 6th anniversary next week and I think we both did a pretty darn good job of choosing. Now we have time and all eternity to work at loving our choices.

Like this book, I would recommend marriage to anyone.

But don't take my word for it.

Other books I have read in the last few weeks that I would recommend:
Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory By Ben Macintyre
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption By Laura Hillenbrand