Six Years

This weekend, Joel and I will have been boyfriendandgirlfriend for six whole years. We were babies when we started our relationship.

Our 1st picture together

I remember sitting in my dorm room, on our black futon talking to Joel on my black Razor phone,  March 31st, 2007 -  asking him if we were going to finally make it Facebook official. And since it was facebook official, it's the first day that I considered our relationship official. Facebook was that powerful.

We spent the rest of college dating long distance, him up in Minnesota - me in Iowa. He would drive his mom's green minivan to visit me every three weeks and we would spend our summers together back in our hometown outside of Chicago until I graduated college and finally moved into our first apartment together in Wrigleyville.

Joel quickly became apart of my family. 

 

 My mom loved to cook for Joel, and Nellie and Hannah loved that he was making me happy, and therefore nicer to them. And my Dad was just excited to finally have a boy around - Joel was very good at helping my dad get things done.

 

My cousins, and friends, and grandparents...everyone...all took him in and couldn't have been more excited to have him part of our group. I think they would have traded me out had anything gone sour in our relationship.

And now that little thing is my Junior Bridesmaid!

Our Flower Girl and Ring bearer

 

With six years, lots of things have changed. We've grown up, we've gone through good and bad times, we've changed jobs, hairstyles, hobbies, friends.

 

We've gone on vacations, to funerals; have become aunt and uncle, been through lots of hobbies, bottles of wine, and boxes of kleenx.

 

 

We've done the Swine Flu, viruses, and six allergy seasons. We've just gone through life. Six years jammed full of life, but we've been together the entire time, finding the good, trying to laugh, and coming out alive.

Here is to sixty more years of life with my best friend.