Day of mushiness

Most people celebrate Valentine's Day in some way. We usually celebrate February 12th instead, because that was our first date. This year was our 5th anniversary. We both didn't believe it when we realized it was 5 years already! 5 years since a cute, funny, charming guy met me at Powell's (our huge local bookstore), and walked me to a unique totally vegetarian Chinese restaurant. Apparently I passed the test and warranted more time, so from there we walked to a fun arcade that has all old school video games. He got points (cool and geek) for setting the high score on the Galaga machine. We capped off the day with a walk to a local cupcake shop where he bought me a cupcake and we sat on the sidewalk and ate them. All told, I think it was about 6 hours together!

I was totally smitten, but hesitant since I was still getting my feet wet in the dating world after ending a 4 year relationship. The real test was Valentine's Day, a mere 2 days after our first date. I sucked it up and emailed him to see if he wanted to do something - but no pressure! He was up for it and took me to a non-traditional V-day restaurant that served Korean food. It was certainly new to me, but he was happy to show the way and he showed up with a sweet little box of chocolates for me.

A lot has happened in 5 years - I moved to NY, my dad almost died and I moved home for a bit, B applied to nursing school in NY, B moved to NY, we got engaged and married, we moved back to Oregon, B got sick, B became a nurse, we bought a house, moved a hundred times, and both had a few job switches. There hasn't been any significant period of dullness in our entire relationship. We also had to learn a lot about communicating and having a successful marriage, which isn't always easy.

5 years in, there isn't anyone else I'd rather spend my days with. He makes me laugh all the time, and he makes sure I don't take myself too seriously. He's my perfect compliment. We have very different strengths and weaknesses, and those differences make us strong. We've learned so much about ourselves and each other over the past 5 years. My heart still skips a beat when I see him.

Babe - there isn't anyone I'd rather share my ice cream with, and you know that's a huge compliment since I don't like to share my ice cream with anyone :) I love you!