Anniversary & Seth's Birthday

Today is a pretty big day, for a few reasons. Today is my fiance Seth's 23rd birthday!! Happy Birthday to Seth!! :) I love him so much. I hope he has an awesome birthday and is happy. We are going to get a delicious lunch and then maybe do dinner with a bunch of friends. Whatever we end up doing, I hope he is happy with it. :)

----

Life is a journey, and love is what makes that journey worthwhile.
Happy Anniversary

Right now, I'm just sitting here next to my sleeping fiance and sleeping puppies. I'm just thinking about how interesting the feeling of an anniversary is at this stage. At one year, I felt like "wow, this is new. Never done this before." At two years, it was like "Hm, this is pretty significant. Look at us." At three years, you feel legitimate. It's like "Yeah, we've been together and are established and we're awesome." Lol. Needless to mention, today is our three year anniversary.

Three years ago today, we went on our first date to Applebee's. It was Father's Day, his 20th birthday, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr, won his last race to date. Oh, and I met the man I am going to marry, though I had no clue of that then. You really don't get to know those things, which is beautiful. You take that chance. You go on that date at 1 in the afternoon on a Sunday (yeah, I know) and you end up meeting the person that will forever change your life regardless of the outcome. Silly little you has no idea. Lol.

We have gone through SO MUCH in these three years (feels weird to say that) and we have a lot more to experience together. I feel so blessed that I was given this opportunity but at the same time, I feel proud. I feel proud of us both for sticking out the hard days, months, and even years and I feel proud that we put our pride in the backseat. I feel proud that we, the two of us with our issues, have made such a solid, lasting, and even enviable relationship. I'm not trying to be narcissistic, but I think we really do "have it right." We aren't your traditional couple but we aren't totally non-traditional. We have respect and love for one another on top of a hundred other little nuances that make our relationship strong and unique. I'm a lucky girl, doubtless, and he's a lucky guy. Who knew that three years ago today we'd end up like this. :) Color me happy and happily surprised.

------
Our first picture together is below. It wasn't taken on our first date, but was taken shortly after (a week, I think). We look like babies, literally. I've probably posted this before. But I was 18 and he was 20. How strange....

Us today, three years later:

We have grown up a lot, in many ways, due to our relationship. I can only hope we continue to grow and change together. My hopes are high. I'm not the eternal optimist but I've got to admit I have an optimistic view of love. I hope to grow old with this man. I hope to learn and change and grow together like we have been doing for many many many more years. :)

The most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a growing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing; it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of divine accident, and the most wonderful of all things in life. - Hugh Walpole, Sr