Friday, August 10, 2012

Pizza and love letters.

This week, Ryan and I celebrated our second anniversary in style. Lazy style,
eating Dominos pizza while we sprawled on the couch in our shorts and tanks,
sweating in the unusually warm evening air and our lack of air conditioning. 
Romantic, right? (We try.) We had planned on dressing up for a fancy Mexican dinner out,
but after bidding our guests farewell at the airport the afternoon of our anniversary, I looked at Ryan, exhausted and guilty, and said, "Can we just go home?" All this homebody really wanted to do was cuddle up on the couch with my husband, our stinky pups and a pizza. And so we did.
Two years isn't so long, but I think we're beginning to settle into a semi-normal married routine.
He knows the chances of coming home to a spotless house are pretty slim.
I know the chances of him arriving home from work before dinner aren't too high, either. 
But our marriage is still young enough that the newlywed sparkle hasn't worn off.
I love to see mail addressed to both of us, I love waking up on the weekends to Ryan sleeping
beside me (and then waiting a few minutes as long as I can 
before the dogs and I pounce on him to wake him, too). 
Sometimes when I'm at home by myself during the day, I'll be struck with just how lucky
I am to be married to such a wonderful, amazing man...
someone who has known me for years, who puts up with my quirks,
who can finish my sentences and supports me in my quest for a career in writing
The summer before we were married, Ryan was living in Kansas City for an internship
and I was a three hour drive away. For three months leading up to our wedding day we saw
each other only a few times, and being apart gave me an idea for a special wedding gift for him.
I kept a journal that summer and every night I wrote him a letter with my thoughts,
my worries, my fears and my excitement. Mostly excitement. 
There are a LOT of exclamation points littering the pages of those letters. 
This week, I pulled it out again and read through some of the pages - lists of things I love about Ryan, accounts of my DIY wedding decorations and countdowns written in huge block letters - and I came across the story of how Ryan and I started dating. We've never really known the precise day we started dating seven years ago. And I don't remember the first time we said, "I love you" either. Our relationship was one of those that transitioned from a close friendship into a relationship in a way that wasn't quite clear cut. But we always marked our dating anniversary on December 5th, the day one of Ryan's best friends was killed in a car accident. It was the middle of the school day, and we were in different classes at the time when we found out about the accident. Our entire class was sent into the auditorium to grieve and I remember walking down the hall with my friends just thinking about how badly I needed to find Ryan. 
We weren't exactly dating, but he was the one person I needed to be with in that moment. 
We were each others' rock through that situation, and our relationship took off from there. 
In our first two years of marriage, we've experienced a lot. We've found success and failure. We've laughed until we cried and we've gotten into arguments that ended with me laughing at how ridiculous I must look when I have my angry face on.
And we've been there to hold each other up through more tragedy
We've grown up together and I'm so lucky to have a husband who has loved me since I 
was a crazy, emotionally volatile, sweatpants-obsessed 16 year old. 
We still have growing up to do and trials to face, 
but as long as I can do it all with my best friend by my side, I know I'll make it through anything.
And even when we're celebrating with pizza and sweaty tank tops,
I couldn't think of anything more romantic than that. 

18 comments:

  1. Happy Anniversary, kids! I enjoyed this story, thanks for sharing :)

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  2. I got a little teary-eyed reading this. You two are sweet. I also started a journal for my boyfriend when we started dating... I'm excited to read it in a few years when it's all full :)

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  3. Happy anniversary! I love how long you two have been together. The "then and now" pictures are always so fun.

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  4. Not going to lie your anniversary was a lot like mine... we celebrated 2 years on the 6th. We planned to go out to eat, but ended up ordering pizza because we had just gotten home from vacation and we needed a vacation.

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  5. This is so sweet! I hope my boyfriend and I will be like this when the time comes :)

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  6. I found your blog through Story of My Life, and I just want to say that I am so happy I found it. I am always thrilled to discover bloggers that are also fantastic writers. I think it is incredible that you are pursuing your passion in writing -- it's definitely not an easy path -- but it is encouraging to people like me, who've always loved to write but are a little paralyzed by the fear of failure. I am actually on bed rest right now with a broken foot, and just reading through your writing journey has inspired me to start writing that novel that I've had in my head for SO long :) I haven't written any novels since I was like maybe 12 years old ;)

    ANYWAY! I bet you didn't care for my whole life story, so sorry about that. Happy anniversary! Your story is a little heartbreaking but so sweet at the same time. It is amazing how horrible, horrible circumstances can make two people fall in love with each other. I can definitely relate -- my boyfriend and I transitioned from a kind of "whatever" fling to a serious relationship after my mom tried to commit suicide.

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  7. Happy Anniversary!

    My husband and I are the same, we were best friends and don't really know when we started dating. We've been married for 8 1/2 years, have 4 kids and still talk all day long(via random texts and emails) and can't wait to see each other at the end of every day.

    Praying many more years of love for you two!

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  8. happy anniversary week!
    nothing screams celebration to me like pizza.

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  9. What a wonderful post.. so sweet, honest, and real. It sounds like you 2 lovebirds have the foundation to make that marriage last. Congrats on 2 years! And a night in with pizza and comfies sounds perfect to me :)

    xoxo

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  10. Sounds like you and your hubby have a really great friendship and a sweet marriage. "Lazy dates" are the best kind because it means you're happy enough being together. Love that!

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  11. Happy anniversary!

    Love your story. Reminds me a lot of me and my husband. I wish I could keep our home clean and tidy ALL the time, but he knows better by now. ;)

    Can't wait to read more of your story and follow along!

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  12. Happy Anniversary. This fellow homebody knows where you were coming from with your plans :)

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  13. Happy anniversary:) it was really nice to read your story! Love your blog.

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  14. Happy Anniversary! Yay for August anniversaries! If only we were closer in miles... we could celebrate together! xo

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  15. Such a sweet note about your love and the man you get to share your life with! Congrats on your 2 years of wedded bliss... and best wishes for many, many more!

    xx
    Here&Now

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  16. Happy anniversary guys! Hope you had a perfect day. I loved reading this story (it always makes me cry now that the fiancé lives abroad...)

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This is the part where you tell the pups how cute they are.
...but seriously, thank you so much for stopping by and for your wonderful comment! I read them all and try to respond as often as I can. We hope you visit again soon :)