1.  I never have to be worried or concerned about who I am waking up next to. It’s the same beautiful, loving face I see every morning.
  2. The one guy I always wanted/dreamed about/ hoped I could snag will be my #foreverdate to any event that I will ever attend. (Sorry ladies!)
  3. He’s my #foreverboyfriend. And as of right now, 1 year in, we still act like/feel like we are dating. It’s all the great feelings without any of the worry about breaking up.
  4. I can fight with him and not worry about him just walking out. It’s a lot harder to end a marriage than it is to just say, “I’m over this, bye.”
  5. My best friend gets to watch me succeed (and fail) for the rest of my life, and is legally obligated to love me through it. (Lolz, sorry for the constant struggles and tears babe).
  6. Nobody telling you what is “allowed” or “appropriate” for your relationship any more – you can officially become “one.”
  7. Dating is exhausting, period. Long term relationships are where it’s at. No more mind games, no more guessing if he’s going to call me back or if he likes me.
  8. My husband and I are figuring out the roles in our relationship – how we want to divvy up chores, who cooks more, who’s in charge of laundry, etc. And that’s something that will never change unless we decide to change it! No more constantly figuring out what’s ok to take charge of or what I should leave alone for him to take care of.
  9. I have complete confidence that no matter what comes out of my mouth, he’s going to love me anyway. So even when I’m stupid, a jerk, or wonderful, he’s seen it all and still signed up for more.
  10. The most exciting thing to think about is having a miniature Jon running around our house.
  11. I’ve watched him grow up more in the past couple years than I’ve seen a lot of my other friends and guys I dated grow up in almost a decade.  And I’ve had an upfront and close view, passenger side ride in it all. It’s pretty cool.
  12. #foreverboyfriend again. Remember, your relationship only gets old if you let it. We are really good about going on adventures and keeping things interesting, and we haven’t just gotten comfortable and settled yet! He still makes me feel like a big deal, I still tell him how hot he is and how much I love to tell people “I’m married to THAT hot guy.”
  13. Right now, we don’t have kids and that’s just fine. We have two dogs that we’ve had for the past two years of our relationship that have grown up with us (we got one of them when he was just a puppy). I got to watch Jon go from the guy who thought animals were just animals without personalities, to becoming the guy that’s loving on his dog and treats him like he is his child! (Because, let’s face it, our fur-babies with four legs are our children right now).
  14. When I want to do something, there’s nothing or anyone holding me back. He’s always down to be weird, geeky, nerdy, or adventurous with me.
  15. I always have someone to go to the grocery store with me, and do laundry with me, and clean the apartment and dishes with. There’s something extraordinary about doing the ordinary things with the person who’s the love of your life. No searching, no trying to impress them, just doing gross things like cleaning the toilets, washing dirty socks and underwear, and washing petrified food of off plates with. Doing the “real life” things with him (aka adulating) is the best part of my life. We’re figuring it out and it’s pretty fun.

All in all, dating can be a really fun adventure! But it can also be exhausting and spike even more self-doubt than just a normal sad, questioning young adult trying to figure out what the crap is going on with life.

 

-P