Two days ago, I ran a marathon. (Thanks to all who gave me big congrats in the comments!)
It was hard. I struggled. My joints cried out in fear of being obliterated into dust.
Yet one thing kept me going: the fact that I knew my husband would be waiting for me at the finish line.
You see, my other half is pretty awesome. And today, we get to celebrate being married for three whole years.
I thought I'd jump on the Way Back Machine for today's post in honor of the 1,095 days we've spent as a married couple and flash back all the way to 2004 and beyond, when we were just another set of college sweethearts college kids looking for someone to date.
We met while working at Best Buy in 2004. I know, totally romantic, right? Our eyes gazed at one another while surrounded by the sound of a thousand doves tinkling the strings of a thousand golden harps plasma TV's playing looped videos of crappy musical performances. I took customer complaints at the service counter; he was slanging TV's and audio equipment in the back corner.
After college graduation in December 2005, we quickly said goodbye to our townhouses at school and hello to a new (shared) apartment back on the east side of the state. Key word: shared. Notice the Will Ferrell/Old School/blow-up doll "artwork" on the wall?
A year later, we were engaged! (Will Ferrell was there to congratulate us, of course. Real classy first engagement photo!)
And before we knew it, it was time to officially tie the knot. We were married in May 2008, amid a 16-person bridal party, tons of calla lillies, an open bar, and 150+ family & friends.
We bought our first house that year, too, and quickly settled into the married life.
So what do we do now that we're married? How is it that it's been nearly seven years since we started dating and we still sometimes act like we're in the first exciting weeks of our college relationship days?
We are absolute goofballs together. I don't know if we would've gotten this far without laughing together most days.
We wear silly costumes. Ugly Christmas sweaters are key to a good marriage.
So are awesome, 80's aerobics instructor Halloween costumes.
And a few years' worth of Festivus costumes (shown: 80's Prom - although I'd changed out of my dress for the dance party - and the Festivus that was brought to us by the Letter 'L' - he was Lara Croft, I was a loofah)
And then there's always time for crazy camera faces. This one was totally featured in our wedding guest book album.
When we're not acting like two 15-year-olds, we get outside. A lot. Together.
To run. (Post Detroit Half-Marathon in 2010)
To cycle. (On the ferry to Mackinaw Island after the 2010 Zoo-de-Mac 51-mile ride)
To snowboard. (Hitting the slopes of Boyne Mountain in 2007)
To catch the occasional summer concert. (Ok, it's almost always Eddie Money or some other 80's classic rock band that we can see for a mere $5).
To hike and camp. (This one's from our honeymoon to the Grand Canyon in 2008)
And then there are the reasons why Kevin is just such an easy guy to be married to.
He's a pretty fab dresser. Confession: I sometimes watch what kind of outfits he puts together so that I can try to mimic some of the fun color combinations.
He loves the BaxterCat. He's actually the one who found her through a lady at work who was trying to find homes for a few stray kittens she'd encountered.
He lets me lay all over him when I'm tired, if if that means he's uncomfortable in the process.
And he can do "The Move", a very special, limited-edition dance move that's been in and out of retirement more times than Brett Farve, Jay-Z, and Celine Dion combined.
Tonight, we'll have dinner at Giulio's, the Italian place down the street from our house. We'll eat pasta, maybe sip on wine, and celebrate being together and happy for the last three/seven years.
And maybe in 5, 10, 15, or 20+ years, I'll still be writing this blog (although I hope by then Google will have integrated a threaded comment feature!) and I'll get to post new pictures with new memories.
