One year

Remember our love story? Well, believe it or not, that was a year ago yesterday! "Sometimes I thought it was moving too fast, and in every relationship I've been in- I've always thought about it ending & how it would end. I couldn't think that way, even if I tried, something told me I was going to be with him for awhile. He was the one, I knew it...and he did to." It's been a hard, wild, crazy, and amazing ride the past year. We've been through so much together, and there isn't anyone else I'd rather fight with or wake up next to. He's the first person I talk to about anything,  I can't remember what life was like without him and don't want to even imagine it. Here are just a few things I've learned in our year of dating;

Commitment- I've learned that it doesn't take a marriage certificate to be committed, it really just takes knowing you'll be with this person for awhile (in our case, forever) and you're willing to do everything to keep it that way. John proposed to me four months after we started dating, so it's been serious for quite awhile. We both work really hard, we communicate about everything, and we don't have fights without a resolution. I remember once we had a fight and I was just so annoyed that I was going to have to live with something like that the rest of my life (something small and stupid), and I was laying in bed that night just furious when I asked myself, what does this do? How does this solve anything?  You're going to marry this man, you better figure it out, and we did. Date Nights- Spending time home alone on the couch cuddling up watching a movie or tv is great...but at the end of the week, you're still going to feel a little distant from your partner. I don't know about you, but I have to have alone time with John, without technology, a good conversation, a laugh that makes my stomach hurt, anything that sparks up the fire we had when we started dating.  Right now especially, it's crucial for us to plan a date night where we don't bring up Wedding Planning, it's easier said than done though. ;) Expectations- I wrote a post about this once, and I remember asking my readers if they have ever asked their significant other what their expectations are of them; as a wife, as a mother..etc. I am very hard on myself, and I have a lot higher expectations for myself than what John actually expects. I hate when I don't get time, or don't feel well enough to make dinner for him, or we go too long without laundry being done, or when our house isn't spotless. Knowing John's expectations of me has helped me do things easier, I don't feel rushed, I don't feel like I have to be perfect, and I don't feel like I've failed at being his fiance. His expectations are a lot lower than the expectations I held for myself. It's okay to do your best, but it's not okay to be mad at yourself when you don't feel perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, everyone is going to slack on some household chore, and not everyone's house is 100% spotless. Live in the moment- John is very laid back, and I'm a big planner. I like to talk about goals in the future, plans when we have kids, and I'm always about three years ahead in thinking when I forget to stop and appreciate what we have together now. Before the kids, before we move, before things in our life get crazy. John reminds me to live in the moment a lot, and I'm so glad that he helps me relax and not plan ahead as much as I want to. He's very easy going, and he takes things as they come, I can only hope that he will help me relax in the years to come.  and of course, don't forget the post I did awhile back called You're Doing it Wrong, that was probably the hardest thing to get used to in the last year, but I'm getting lots of better :) I'm not going to say that we've been through a lot, or we've had it really hard, but I am going to say that I know, no matter how hard it gets, I picked a great guy to get through it all with. You'll never find someone who's going to make marriage easy, but you'll find the one who will make it worth it. In 11 days, we'll be married and I'll officially be Mrs. Kirk. I can't wait! Even though there's a 50% chance it's going to rain, there's 100% chance I'm going to enjoy every minute of that day.