Did you make that doctor’s appointment?/ I made you some tea/It’s your turn to sleep in/Let’s take a trip/I picked up that dip you like/ Do you want to watch a show?/I’ve got it handled, you go/Remember the time when…?/Let’s hold hands about it1/I did the dishes/I’m going to the store, do you need anything?/ I’m listening/What’s the name of that restaurant where we ate on our trip to…?/I got here safely/ I’m sorry/ How was your day?/I’ll take care of it for you/You can have the last piece/I got us concert tickets/This made me think of you/I’m proud of you/ I brought you back dessert/You look good in that shirt/I’ll go with you
The theme of this month’s Exhale blog hop, Love, just so happens to coincide perfectly with mine and Luke’s 15 year dating anniversary.
He asked me to be his girlfriend on an icy February night after a date to none other than Chili’s. We sat idling in his white F-250 outside of my sorority house, pressed for time until my chapter meeting started. When he asked, my first response was, “does this mean we’re Facebook official?”
We dated long distance for the next 5 years until getting married and thought distance would be the hardest challenge we’d have to overcome. LOL. Young love.
Last year I wrote about the battle sc(our)s we’ve earned throughout our relationship. The difference between young love and middle love is I now know the trials we’ve encountered won’t be the only, or even the hardest, ones. I also know I picked the best partner with whom to fight these battles.
18 year olds are not notorious for their wise decision making skills, but I’m forever indebted to 18 year old Kelsey for having the wisdom to say “yes” that night.
Here we are at our first date party together. The majority of our college pictures are from some date party or another. I remember overthinking whether I should put my arm around him or not, if it would seem too forward.
Aside from date parties, lake trips also defining our college years. Every Labor Day weekend and sometimes 4th of July, you could find us out on Grand Lake. Some. of our best memories are on that lake. Please appreciate the Valencia filter.
Even to this day, are country concerts are a central tenant of our relationship. In college, every spring his school put on “Calf Fry” where we would spend the weekend listening to some of our favorite artists in a field in the Middle of Nowhere, Oklahoma.
Does anything scream “I got engaged in 2014” louder than a chevron maxi dress and statement necklace? Maybe the hot pink fit bit on my other hand does.
Here we enter the “wife chop” era, where after growing her hair out for her entire engagement, a young new wife chops off her hair in an effort to be taken more seriously. This is also the era when we had no money and relied on the free tickets Luke got from work to Oklahoma City’s minor league baseball team for date nights.
Yet another relationship pillar for us is travel. On this particular trip to California, we went to a wedding and our Uber driver wore a werewolf mask the entire drive home and lectured us on how America has lost its Halloween spirit.
On The Road to Hana, the one Maui activity we were able to do before having to unexpectedly fly home less than 24 hours after this picture was taken and prepare to say goodbye to our foster son.
Our last stop before heading to the hospital to be induced. Or so we thought. While at this restaurant near the hospital, we were informed my induction time was pushed back, so we drove back home and sat on pins and needles watching Bachelor in Paradise for a few hours. It was the last time we’ve been bored in 3.5 years.
Now that little baby we waited so long for keeps us on our toes full time. She also keeps us laughing full time.
After 6 embryo transfers, it seems as though hospital gowns and hair nets are yet another essential component of our relationship.
And here we are today, or in January, as captured by our daughter. Still enjoying our life together, side by side.
This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "Love."
Whenever I get sentimental about our relationship, I reach for Luke’s hand and say “awww, let’s hold hands about it.” Even though he rolls his eyes, he agrees.
Goodness, I love this stroll down memory lane. So fun and I may have swooned over the sentiment "let's hold hands about it." I mean how cute is that!
Love this! And great title, by the way.