Ten Years of Being 'Home'

Ten years. In some ways it feels impossible that it's been that long, and in others it feels like it's been much longer. Ten years ago I took a leap of faith and decided to meet in person a guy who I had met online. We had only emailed back and forth a handful of times, and I remember feeling extremely fed up with life in general. "Life in general" back then at the what now seems like EXTREMELY young age of 20, meant my romantic life, which of course was all that really mattered. There were only one or two guys in any of my college classes that were remotely interesting to me and they were either taken or not really my type. So when this 'Hot or Not' guy invited me (and any friends who I cared to bring along) to meet him and a group of his friends for bowling, I decided to stuff my inherent shyness and go for it. I remember walking into the bowling alley with my college roomie and BFF, Shaunie, and seeing Chris stand up a few lanes away. There was a feeling of relief; not only was he just as handsome in person as he was in his hot or not picture (YES. Hot or Not. I know. Who the heck meets their future spouse on Hotornot.com?? Well, I did,) but he had the same genuinely friendly vibe that I had detected in his emails. He came up, gave me a hug, introduced himself to Shaunie, and walked us over to his group of friends to introduce us to them as well. Shaunie and I didn't stay long, maybe a half hour or so. But it was long enough for us to both agree upon leaving, that they were a group of people we could see ourselves hanging out with again in the future.

I felt at home with Chris pretty much immediately. We had a level of comfort that I've found in most other relationships takes months or years to develop. A genuine, strong friendship has been at the heart of our relationship since day one. The first couple of years had their ups and downs; we broke up and got back together a couple of times. But we always remained friends. That friendship wasn't something that I think either of us was willing to let go of. It's the kind of friendship that spans a lifetime. And while our lifestyles have changed (we've replaced numerous camping and fishing trips with numerous diaper changes and trips to the pediatrician,) our friendship has not. We still enjoy just being together. We still make eachother laugh and think, we still support and advise eachother. We still talk. We still text and IM eachother midday just to say "hi." and "I love you." We still dream together of the things we'll do and places we'll see. And I am still so incredibly grateful for that leap of faith I took 10 years ago today. Because it really was the first day of the rest of my life. And I couldn't be any more lucky to have such and incredible man to share that life with.


Below are a few photos from the first year we were dating. Man, we look young, don't we??