Ten-Year Love Letter

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year in the life?

How about love?
How about love?
How about love?
Measure in love

Dear Lindsey,

In high school we sang this song from the musical Rent. As we approach a major milestone in our lives, I thought it would be fun to look back over the years and look at some of the numbers behind the 10 years of love, laughter and friendship that we commemorate today.

Family

In the last ten years our immediate families have more than doubled from 15 to 31. We've welcomed several new brothers and sisters and even more little nieces and nephews, and together we've mourned the passing of three grandfathers and two grandmothers.

Messy Business

Our own little family has expanded as we have welcomed three wonderful little boys into our home. Each of our cute little boys has come with a cute little bum that is in constant need of changing. To date I estimate that we have gone through roughly 7600 diaper changes between the two of us. At 25 cents each, that's almost $2000; I believe this means that we earn ourselves a pretty nice vacation when we finally get these tykes potty-trained.

Working for a living

You’ve got me beat by a point in the job count, but together we've worked a total of 13 jobs since we've been married. Though you have spent the majority of your time working to develop the impressionable minds of children as both a mother and teacher, I have been impressed by your willingness to roll up your sleeves, supporting the family with everything from chopping veggies to crunching numbers while I finished up with school. My jobs have been more on the mundane side with positions like teaching assistant or grader, but possibly my favorite was the 10 months I spent in an auto shop learning how to work on cars. That training has certainly served us well.

Getting Around

Any guesses how many vehicles we've owned in ten years? We've owned exactly 6 cars during our marriage, and we've named everyone according to its personality. From the twin sisters Trixi and Prixi who were always acting up to get attention; to the Yoda, our regrettable impulse buy; to our current people movers Odie and Hickup. But for some reason our fondest memories have been with Sven (our little Svedish svedan). Sven was the first car we bought together; he brought us 1374 miles across the country to grad school in Wisconsin as well as the 147 miles back and forth to Chicago every month for temple trips; and he was at the center of a rather miraculous repair job when we were our most destitute. But more than anything, we enjoyed the laughter and conversations during our hours of driving around together in his more comfortable than average seats.

And we can never forget the '73 Kawasaki motorcycle that I attempted to restore. I’ve decided to name him Osu, the Japanese word for push, because I spent a lot more time pushing him than actually riding.

Movin' on up

We've managed to stay relatively put over the years, moving just three times from Orem to Madison to Peoria: a total of 1573.6 miles. You’ve kept us organized and sane each time through the process while I did the grunt work.

Reading Between the Lines

One of our favorite things to do is to find a good book and curl up together and read to each other out loud. Together we've read more than 7500 pages from authors like Dan Brown, Grisham, and C.S. Lewis, and from some great series like Eragon, Hunger Games, and Series of Unfortunate Events. Notice the absence of Harry Potter from the list, probably a travesty to many, but we really never got into it. Perhaps that will be the next 2000 or so pages we decide to tackle.

Dedicated Service

Together we've served in a total of 13 callings, from my brief stint as the ward chorister to your latest calling as the compassionate service coordinator.  Most notably, however, have been the 4 opportunities we've had to work together in teaching assignments. It seems like someone was aware of how well we work together as a team. My personal favorite was the year in Madison that we were asked to put together a Mission Prep class for the youth of the stake. We didn't have a prepared curriculum to go from, so we got to work together to develop our own lessons from the new (at the time) Preach My Gospel reference.

In addition to our callings, I estimate that we've been to the temple about 75 times, about 20 of which we were able to sit together and hold hands through the session because of the layout of the Chicago Temple. We will always cherish those trips to Chicago where we made a concerted effort to turn off the radio and instead use the time for sharing memories from our childhood and impressions from the temple.

Windows of Heaven

Based on our combined AGI from the last ten tax returns, I estimate we've contributed (redacted) in tithing during our ten years of marriage. When you look at the numbers on this scale it's easy to think that that money could have constituted a substantial nest egg or perhaps a stellar European vacation or even a dream sports car. But as I look back through the years, it's equally easy to acknowledge the blessings of continued employment, ample sustenance and comfortable shelter. As I reflect on these blessings, it is easier to focus on gratitude than on the sacrifice.

Measure in Love

Even with the conservative estimate of an average 60 beats per minute, I would guess that my heart has beat at least 315,360,000 times since our hearts were joined together in marriage (18,250 fewer if you deduct the average of three times per day that my heart skips a beat when you walk into the room). Regardless of the actual number, I am certain that each and every one of those beats has been for you, Lindsey. You have become my closest confidant, my best friend, and my greatest partner. You are constantly in my thoughts, my dreams and my aspirations. I love you, and after ten years I can't imagine life without you. I look forward to the next 10 years and 300,000,000 heartbeats. I can't wait to look back and see what we have accomplished together.

Happy Anniversary!!

Love,

Ryan