30 things for Aaron's birthday

Today, my very best friend turns another year older. Actually, another decade older, although he's not so thrilled about that part.

Happy, happy birthday, Aaron. I love you so very much. And I am so thankful God put you on this earth 30 years ago.

Here are 30 fun memories with you. Let's keep making more, okay?

1.  After two months of dating, we spent New Year's Eve of 2008/2009 together. I still wasn't technically your "girlfriend," but I was so, so smitten with you.

2.  We have always loved to hang out downtown. And sometimes match.

3.  On February 13, 2009 you took me to the beach for the day. You told me you loved me. And that was that. We were in. No looking back.

4.  In June of 2009, you went with me on a family vacation. You were brave. And it was fun sneaking away to Universal Studios for the day.

5.  I thought you might propose in Florida, but you didn't. You pretended like you couldn't afford to. Actually, you already had the ring...

6.  You did propose on August 8, 2009. On this bridge. And the random joggers took this picture and emailed it to us.

7.  I loved being engaged to you and planning our wedding that would take place in front of this lake.

8.  What's to say? I just love this picture.

9.  Taking our engagement pictures was a fun day. After planning out all our outfits we just stayed in the same ones the whole time. Oh well.

10.  This was our first and only holiday season as an engaged couple. The year before, we were barely dating. The next year, we were married. That was a strange, wonderful thing.

11.  Less than a month before we got married, I graduated from college. Thanks for making it a big deal amidst all of the other stress around that time.

12.  The day before our wedding is kind of a blur. I just couldn't wait for the next day. What did we even eat at our rehearsal dinner? I honestly have no recollection of eating food.

13.  I will never get tired of looking at our wedding pictures. They capture our joy on that day so well.

14.  Off we went to start the real adventure:  marriage. And what an adventure it has been. 

15.  Our honeymoon was SO much fun. I'm glad it didn't end when we got off the ship. I'm also glad you always call our anniversary trips honeymoons. They are.

16.  Our first year of marriage was wonderful. Living in an apartment, figuring out how to cook, budgeting money, and so many other firsts with you make me smile when I think about them.

17.  We spent our first anniversary at Disney World, of course. Remember that nice old couple that talked to us at dinner that night? They had been married for over 50 years. There's so much to still look forward to!

18.  One day, we came home with this little fur ball. It's been fun learning how to take care of another living thing with you. I love our Penny girl.

19.  Sometimes we still try to be handy. We really should stop. But it's always funny, at least.

20.  I love, love, love doing ministry with you. Sometimes it sucks. But it's always worth it at the end of the day. God never ceases to show off and show us up.

21.  And sometimes in ministry, we do things where we don't feel like we know what we're doing. But it's an honor to do it with you, and it's fun along the way.

22.  You make sure we never have a dull moment. Thank you for putting a smile on my face every day.

23.  One day, let's win the lottery and build a mountain house. I love all of our trips to the mountains. 

24.  Every once in awhile, we can pretend to care about sports. But we really don't. And I'm glad I married someone that doesn't make me care about sports. This baseball game was still fun though.

25.  I'm glad we decided to take another cruise this past year. That was the most relaxing trip we had had since our honeymoon.

26.  And thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long to pay a visit to our favorite place (where relaxing is not a thing).

27.  Let's take our kids here as much as we can. And buy them Minnie/Mickey ears.

28.  The day we found out we were pregnant with this baby was one of the best days of my life. I'm so glad I got to share it with you.

29.  You are already such a wonderful dad and I love to see you love our baby. I can't wait to see you grow as a father, and I know you'll be amazing.

30.  Aaron, I've had so much fun celebrating this birthday with you. I'm so proud of you, and I'm blessed to be your wife. Happy 30th Birthday.