Ace and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary this month!
Ace was great and planned a little 24 hr getaway to Pagosa Springs. We stayed in this rustic little cabin and sat around a campfire. Simple, but so fun. Actually I think it may have been my favorite anniversary celebration yet.
The above picture was one of the very first pictures Ace and I took together back in June of 2005. I was just so happy to be near this boy let alone have him wrap his arm around me. I had never been so outrageously giddy about a boy in my life (and lucky for me I never was again).
I remember my problem during the dating years is that I would always imagine up all these really great, really romantic scenarios. But when it came to real life dating I got way more butterflies sitting at home in my pajamas watching a chick flick then I ever did on any real date. But wonderful Ace changed all that. I called my mom back in March 2005, when Ace and I first started hanging out, and I just gushed. She told me she had never heard me talk like this about a boy before and she was happy for me because I was finally REALLY excited about a boy. I remember hanging out ALL day and then being so sad when we had to go our separate ways for a few hours at night. I just loved being with him and that feeling has never changed.
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When I flew down to Florida to see Ace in June after only having known each other for a few months I thought I was crazy. I had always played very uninterested and hard to get during my dating years but now I was flying across the country. I was crazy! Plus we hadn't even kissed yet. Everyone kept telling me if he didn't kiss me after flying all that way then he wasn't interested. But lucky for me he did kiss me. However, it was very unlucky for him.
I hadn't kissed a boy in YEARS so I was crazy nervous. Im pretty sure I bit his tongue....but honestly that's his bad because who goes in for that kind of kiss on the very first kiss. Anyway, I remember calling my mom almost in tears the next day because I liked him so much but I was sure he wouldn't want to see me again after this trip because I was an AWFUL kisser. My mom just told me to relax and enjoy it and she was sure I would get better quickly.
I don't know if I really got better but I stopped caring and forced my kisses on that boy from sun-up to sun-down.
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It really was just a crazy, exciting, unpredictable romance and I feel so lucky to be able to look back and say, "This is our story."
It is not a story with only ups. We definitely had our hard times. But most the time our struggles came from always having to say good-bye. We spent from June 2005-January 2008 working through a long distance relationship. No fun! But again when we were together it was the greatest minutes, hours, days and weeks of my life, so I was full of happy memories to get me to our next visit.
We tried to make the long distance thing as bearable as possible by dating other people when we were apart. But every date, every kiss, every other boy just left me aching for a certain someone in Florida. We tried being exclusive as well to see if that would ease the pain while we were apart, but this too was difficult and led to a few break ups. They only lasted for a 24 hour period before I would call Ace and tell him to ask me to be his girlfriend again.
This time of separation was an insanely confusing time for both of us. But when we managed to fly to the other person and spend a week or so together everything felt so right and just the way it should be.
(The above picture is our first and so far only Jags game together. I love the picture bomber in this one)
May 7, 2007 Ace told me he loved me, OUT LOUD! He had skirted around the idea a few times. He had even said it in a letter, but he was pretty nervous to tell me this because I had never told any other boy "I Love You" and I had told him on several different occasions that I only wanted to say it to one boy. That would be the boy I married.
I was visiting him in Florida and one Monday evening after FHE he told me he wanted to talk to me about something so he wanted to take me for a ride. I excused myself to the bathroom before leaving and said a little prayer. I felt like he might say those three little words and I was nervous. I cared so deeply about him and this was something I had never felt before but was it love? I prayed that if he did say it I wouldn't freak-out. I prayed that I would be able to better understand my feelings and that I would be able to express them honestly without hurting Ace in anyway.
Ace took me to a beautiful dock next to his friend Andrea's Catholic Church. He was really quiet for a long time and then he finally said "I don't know where things are going and I don't know what our plans should be but, I love you."
Instead of being freaked out I was so happy and so excited and everything about him and this moment felt so right.
I whispered in his ear, "I think I might be falling in love with you."
I think he was pretty shocked to have me actually say those words.....and maybe a little worried since I had some pretty big plans for whomever I said I love you to.
But like Ace had said we didn't know what our plans were or what they should be. So we still had some moments of heartache, BUT we both knew we wanted to end up eternally together.
In January 2008, Ace moved out to Utah and we were FINALLY living in the same city! I was nervous about getting too ahead of ourselves. We were great at having a fling a few times a year, but when it came to day-to-day stuff would we struggle, find each other boring, fight?
We were even better than ever! All the stress and pain that came from a long distance relationship was gone and we were AMAZING together. However, I still told Ace that we had plenty of time to just be and let things sink in.There was no reason to take the next BIG step in our relationship until we really needed it and wanted it to happen.
Ace agreed and said "Ok. But I really just need you to be the one to have my babies."
Well, I think that little comment made us both `needing and wanting it sooner than we had planned because the very next month Ace asked my dad if he could marry me.
August 2, 2008 was a completely perfect day. I wouldn't have changed anything about that day. Not one thing.
Sometimes I try to write a list of the reasons why I love Ace so much but it is just too hard. I love so much about him that it would be much easier to make a list of things I didn't love about him.
I don't love how he sits on his side of the bed and puts his socks on when I am still in bed trying to sleep. We have a window seat and a chair in our room, my dear. Use either! Well that takes care of that list.
See, if you don't know Ace then you are truly missing out. He is such a optimistic, smart, loving, funny, spiritual guy. He makes every day of my life exciting and new. I find I don't spend a lot of time with just girlfriends because you can bet that if they have something planned for the weekend I won't be there. I'll be with my honey, sometimes doing absolutely nothing, but that is where I'm happiest. He's my very best friend.
5 years and two little boys later, Ace is still my everything and still makes me OUTRAGEOUSLY giddy.
