My, How Time Flies!

This past Thursday, Chad and I celebrated 4 whole years of happiness together.  4 whole years!!  I couldn’t help but reflect back on all the time that has passed. It has hardly felt as long as it sounds: FOUR. WHOLE. YEARS.

It is amazing to think that it was 4 years ago that we were wandering out of the Notre Dame dorms, wandering down the cobbled streets, breathing in the ocean air on the way to our first date!  All dolled up in dresses and slacks, we hopped on the train, and admired the beautiful beaches of Cottesloe, Swanbourne, Karrakatta... as we ‘sailed’ into Perth.  We wandered hand-in-hand to dinner at the Brass Monkey – a fancy-smancy restaurant that we couldn’t really afford at the time.

We watched it get dark as we hopped the train again to wander around the streets of Swanky Leederville before catching a movie at the ritzy ‘Luna Palace Cinema’.  We saw ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’.

When we got back to Fremantle late that night, we dropped off our shoes back at the dorm and wandered down to the beach barefoot  - as Chad liked to say, he was “getting Aboriginal feet”. We admired the stars as we mosied slowly down the sand until we reached the McDonald’s, and sat on the rocks watching the moon until we decided to wander back.

Cheesy as it is, it brings a smile to my face to think that was where the “us” began.

I reflect in awe that so much time has passed, and so much has happened. Since that little date in Freo, I have moved to California and then to Oregon; Together we have lived in 3 different houses, gone to 3 different colleges, and are now 3 years into the trek of becoming Rad techs. With the very real possibility of returning to Australia!  Talk about coming full-circle!

My purpose of sharing our story isn’t to incite eye-rolling and nausea, but to share with you how amazing our 4 years have been.  Reflecting back, and then looking ahead to what the future might hold in the next 4 years has brought a much-needed reminder of how exciting things can be.  Try it for yourself!  Are you today where you once thought you would be?  What have you accomplished in the last few years? How have you changed?  Where do you think you will be next year? Three years? Five?

It is far from hard, living in our tiny little truck-stop town, to turn negative and start to loose sight of everything except the ‘finish-line’ – the very day that we can pick up and move on to new and better things (approx. 123 days, but who’s counting?) but taking the time to really reflect on where we stand in our journey together has shone a bright little speck of happiness on things. This little truck-stop may not be ideal, but it has become part of our journey, part of what got us to where we are.  And after all, it is only a truck-stop on the long road that lies waiting!