"I've never been bored one day with you"- Mike, while having drinks at T.G.I.Friday's

I love being married. I love everything about it. I love that Mike and I are young and learning things on our own, like signing up for benefits and car insurance, or changing names and documents and bank accounts, or making a grocery list and shopping together, or having the courage to say "I don't think we can afford that" to the other. I love going to bed and waking up next to the same person, every night and every day. I love the amazing sense of security. I love leaving love notes around for each other. I love relaxing in silence, and knowing the silence is okay. I love watching out for someone else. I love being as One. 

I keep thinking, "this isn't happening to me". 

The truth is, I never imagined I would be where I am today so soon in my life. Just over a year ago I was set on being independent until my mid-twenties, just quietly living the single life and having a "good time".  But then Mike came into the picture, and everything changed. Quickly. Very quickly.  

When I first met Mike, I was sitting in the back room at work counting the daily deposit. He popped his head around the corner and asked to speak with my assistant manager about an application he turned in. She introduced us, and he left. I didn't think twice about it. 

A week or so later he was working in my store, as an opener, the same shift I worked. We hit it off almost immediately, and I was so relieved to finally have an accomplice in the daily "fun" of Starbucks. You know, sharing sarcastic humor, inside jokes and imitations of problem customers, and music (because Starbucks' music rocks). I really have to credit the music here, because Feist is really what I think got the ball rolling. 

I say Feist because, one: if you have ever listened to her, you will know she is amazing, two: her new album was to be released right around the time Mike and I started hanging out, and three: I loved her, and Mike loved her, and this we both knew. So one day I read this article online about how Feist's album release date was pushed back. "What?!", " Seriously?!", " No!", and "I have to tell Mike!" popped into my head at once. I thought this was the perfect chance to start an out-of-work conversation so I sent him a text message informing him of the news. He was at school, and we began small chat on who knows what. The conversation ended with a date and time to get together the following week. Might I add this was not "a date", at this point, there were no feelings involved. 

Long story short: the first night we hung out was amazing. This ultimately led to a summer full of endless fun. Eating pints of Ben & Jerry's, night swimming, countless shows, Chipotle burritos the size of our heads, passing out on the dirty condo floor listening to music, last minute trips to Tucson, picking me up for work at 4 am, Harry Potter reading contests, laying in the middle of my yard on a mattress at midnight, riding bikes, long walks from the condo to my place, margaritas (extra salt for me, please!), mattress shopping, afternoon movies, and getting one hour of sleep several nights a week. Just to name a few. 

I couldn't get enough of this person. We would open the store together and work 4am to 1230 pm, go home, and call the other no later than 1pm asking "wanna hang out?". It was a fabulous cycle that never seemed to end. I would have felt clingy, but I didn't, because this person clung just as much back. 

It wasn't until a couple of months later that feelings started to set in, and confusion on whether or not risking this friendship for a relationship would be worth it. I later found out that Mike felt the same way for at least as long as I did, although neither of us knew of the other's feelings. Finally, after Mike and Jack had stayed with me for almost a month during their remodel, Mike made his move and kissed me. 

Things pretty much snowballed from that point on. I moved out of my place and into the condo with him, he proposed, we got our little surprise of a pregnancy, and now we're married. All within 8 short months. Those thoughts of being single until I was 26 left my mind so fast, I'm not sure where they went. I just knew from the very beginning that Mike and I were meant to become something much greater than those summer nights. It also proves a strong point that "when you know, you just know". Few understand this crucial point. 

I am so blessed to have found such an amazing person so early on. Every single moment we share together are moments that I will never forget. I love that I found someone to grow and evolve with, someone who understands me, and someone who I understand. Someone that I always have fun with, whether it be as dull as setting up a car insurance policy or as exciting as leaving town for a few days. Someone that I know will love me for the rest of my life, and that I will love forever, too.