Paul and I met one year ago today. It has been the best year of my life. I know what you're thinking...Kleeee-shay. But it's true.
It was a very unexpected day, and not what I was looking for. I met him less than 24 hours after I got home from my trip to Peru. I'd spent a month in Ukraine just before my trip to Peru and I was feeling totally independent, excited, ready to travel more and never settle down. Who knew.
He and I were both invited to my parents house for lunch. He was friends with my younger brother Taylor. He'd already met my family a year before and I'd heard every once in a while about this amazing guy who lives in California. He was living in Utah now and had finally found some time to visit my family. He didn't know he was meeting me that day, and I wasn't even sure if I was going to go because I was covered from head to toe in red bug bites from these little Peruvian jungle bugs and I wasn't feeling great. But I hadn't seen my parents in almost a month, so I went. Little did I know, my life was about to change.
We went on our first official date 10 days later. To keep this shorter, I'm gonna make a quick list/timeline. Mostly for me to remember, so sorry if this bores. (It's interesting looking back, because I honestly didn't think we'd ever really date. Our lives had been and were so different and when we met I was days away from 28 and he was a couple months into 22. That was way too much for me but I was intrigued, and found myself thinking about him way more than normal.)
February- We met, I turned 28, and we went on our first date.
March- Started talking and or texting almost daily and hung out once or twice a week.
April- Talked a lot more and about a lot of deep stuff. Slowly started spending more time together.
May- I spent a couple weeks in Hawaii and we talked on the phone quite a bit. I realized that I liked him a lot and I missed him while I was gone. He went to my apartment while I was gone to check the mail and water my plants. (Only one died.)
June- I realized we were dating but not officially dating. I was frustrated and told him I needed a break. It was sad. He contacted me 4 days later and we went to dinner and a long drive and things got right back to how they were but still not dating.
July- He decided we needed a break. This one felt a lot more final to me. I cried and was sad. It lasted 3 weeks. We saw each other 2 or 3 times at events that mutual friends had invited us both to. Awkward.
August- Things were kind of back to "normal" but I had a lot of insecurities. I always had in the back of my mind that it could happen again, or this might be the last time I see him. I loved being with him, but I was very unsure about the future of our friendship. By the end of August our conversations and time together were a lot more personal and deep. I went to California for a conference he was doing for work. I met and stayed with his family and realized I was dang near in love with him. It was a great trip and the thought of coming back to Utah and feeling unsure all over again was exhausting.
September- On the 2nd he asked if I was free for dinner the next night. I spent 24 hours hoping he was feeling the same as I was but also preparing myself for possibly our 3rd (and final) break. I'd decided that if it was a break that I really couldn't do it anymore and that we'd be done for good. It was a good dinner. We "became official" on Sept. 3rd. Road tripped to California again. Had our first kiss. And started spending all our free time together.
October- Spent all our free time together...kept falling more and more in love.
November- Spent all our free time together...kept falling more and more in love. He turned 23.
December-See previous months...had a great Christmas in California.
January- Yep, still in love. Oh yeah, and he asked me to marry him.
February-Wedding planning, parents meeting parents, and every single day when I feel like life cant possibly get any better, it does.
I'm so lucky to have him. I can't imagine anyone ever loving me as much as he does.
"I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart. Run the risk. If you get hurt, you'll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived."
-Anthony Hopkins, Meet Joe Black
I'm looking forward to many more amazing years! I love you, Paul.
It was a very unexpected day, and not what I was looking for. I met him less than 24 hours after I got home from my trip to Peru. I'd spent a month in Ukraine just before my trip to Peru and I was feeling totally independent, excited, ready to travel more and never settle down. Who knew.
He and I were both invited to my parents house for lunch. He was friends with my younger brother Taylor. He'd already met my family a year before and I'd heard every once in a while about this amazing guy who lives in California. He was living in Utah now and had finally found some time to visit my family. He didn't know he was meeting me that day, and I wasn't even sure if I was going to go because I was covered from head to toe in red bug bites from these little Peruvian jungle bugs and I wasn't feeling great. But I hadn't seen my parents in almost a month, so I went. Little did I know, my life was about to change.
We went on our first official date 10 days later. To keep this shorter, I'm gonna make a quick list/timeline. Mostly for me to remember, so sorry if this bores. (It's interesting looking back, because I honestly didn't think we'd ever really date. Our lives had been and were so different and when we met I was days away from 28 and he was a couple months into 22. That was way too much for me but I was intrigued, and found myself thinking about him way more than normal.)February- We met, I turned 28, and we went on our first date.
March- Started talking and or texting almost daily and hung out once or twice a week.
April- Talked a lot more and about a lot of deep stuff. Slowly started spending more time together.
May- I spent a couple weeks in Hawaii and we talked on the phone quite a bit. I realized that I liked him a lot and I missed him while I was gone. He went to my apartment while I was gone to check the mail and water my plants. (Only one died.)
June- I realized we were dating but not officially dating. I was frustrated and told him I needed a break. It was sad. He contacted me 4 days later and we went to dinner and a long drive and things got right back to how they were but still not dating.
July- He decided we needed a break. This one felt a lot more final to me. I cried and was sad. It lasted 3 weeks. We saw each other 2 or 3 times at events that mutual friends had invited us both to. Awkward.
August- Things were kind of back to "normal" but I had a lot of insecurities. I always had in the back of my mind that it could happen again, or this might be the last time I see him. I loved being with him, but I was very unsure about the future of our friendship. By the end of August our conversations and time together were a lot more personal and deep. I went to California for a conference he was doing for work. I met and stayed with his family and realized I was dang near in love with him. It was a great trip and the thought of coming back to Utah and feeling unsure all over again was exhausting.
September- On the 2nd he asked if I was free for dinner the next night. I spent 24 hours hoping he was feeling the same as I was but also preparing myself for possibly our 3rd (and final) break. I'd decided that if it was a break that I really couldn't do it anymore and that we'd be done for good. It was a good dinner. We "became official" on Sept. 3rd. Road tripped to California again. Had our first kiss. And started spending all our free time together.
October- Spent all our free time together...kept falling more and more in love.
November- Spent all our free time together...kept falling more and more in love. He turned 23.
December-See previous months...had a great Christmas in California.
January- Yep, still in love. Oh yeah, and he asked me to marry him.
February-Wedding planning, parents meeting parents, and every single day when I feel like life cant possibly get any better, it does.
I'm so lucky to have him. I can't imagine anyone ever loving me as much as he does.
"I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart. Run the risk. If you get hurt, you'll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived."-Anthony Hopkins, Meet Joe Black
I'm looking forward to many more amazing years! I love you, Paul.
