Consider this a highlight reel

jeninla:

A year ago today, I was getting ready for my first date with a guy who supposedly was equal parts techie and foodie, had more frequent flyer miles than I did, and could differentiate between Helvetica and Arial. Sounds like bullshit, right? I figured it was too good to be true, so, while I was nervous, my expectations were somewhat low, my guard was up, and my only real plan for the date was to get drunk.

Spoiler alert: it was all true (and then some!) and I fell hard. We were too engrossed in each other to even touch our food or drinks, which I now regret because I suggested The Lobster in Santa Monica (which, according to Yelp, is spendy). I may not have expected much, but what I got was a year full of happiness: of Broadway shows, weddings, holidays, thoroughly-planned dates, impromptu picnics, karaoke, step and repeats, movies in a cemetery, a Disneyland birthday, acting like little kids, home-cooked dinners, wild nights out, unexpected gestures, Farmers Market trips, thumb wars, and more food than you can imagine.

And then there were our travels. A Palm Springs getaway, six weeks in New York (and an apartment in SoHo), a week in Belize, a handful of visits to his family in Orlando, too many weekends in Vegas, a road trip to New Orleans, and dozens of urban adventures on either coast. I’ve finally found someone who has the flexibility, wanderlust, and airline elite status to go anywhere, anytime with me; someone who doesn’t even flinch when I add yet another obscure city to my our list of places to visit.

There’s been more fun in the last year than I can remember, but most importantly, there was growth. We constantly inspire each other, push one another to do what we love, never settle, and constantly improve. It’s not always smooth sailing. We spent a large chunk of the year supporting each other through some less-than-ideal times, but the good has always come back tenfold. Now, we live together in our incredible new apartment (which we are slowly filling with new furniture, new memories, and—soon—a new puppy), work hard at our dream jobs, and surround ourselves with amazing people.

I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve all of this love, but I will never, ever take it for granted.

I am the luckiest.

That’s my girl. Love her.