3 years

Two weeks ago, on the 14th, Matt and I celebrated the 3 year anniversary of our first, (and second), date. In honor of that, I thought I'd post about how we first met as well as a little bit of our story:

On Saturday the 12, my sister, Stewie, and I went to a country dance. While we were there, I noticed this cute guy with adorable puppy dog eyes checking me out. I kept glancing over and even smiled at one point. After what seemed like forever Matt came strutting over, (it's true-he struts), and finally asked me to dance. I said yes, but with the forewarning that I didn't really know how to dance. Apparently, he didn't mind how horrible I was, (and still am), since we continued dancing until they turned the lights on and kicked us all out. Before that though, as we were trying to talk while dancing, Matt asked me where I worked. When I told him he dropped my hands and stepped back from me! "You work at *****??" I was mortified! What was I supposed to do? So I said just that. "Should I go sit down now? or... did you want to keep dancing?" Luckily for him, ;-), he opted to keep dancing. We also discovered that we were both military brats, and had both lived in Germany at the same time, although in different places. After the dance was over, I gave him my phone number and headed home with my sister. I talked about "the guy who lived in Germany" the entire way home.

The next day, Sunday, Matt called me. We talked for a while and he asked me out to lunch for the next day. I said yes, and I think we exchanged email addresses. When he asked if he should come pick me up or if we should meet there I said it depended on if it was a date or not. If it was a date then he should pick me up. If we just just going as friends then I would meet him there. The next day he came to my work to pick me up for lunch with a red rose in hand; it was definitely a date. We went to Costa Vida and had a great time talking and getting to know each other. He asked me if I had plans for the night, and when I said no, invited me to come over for dinner.

The rest of the day we e-mailed back and forth, flirting the whole time. After work, I went to his house where he cooked dinner for me while I sat and watched. It was awesome! He made an appetizer of broiled slices of a french baguette, rubbed with garlic, and topped with swiss cheese. Next he served breaded pork chops, mashed potatoes... and something else. (It's been three years-I'm lucky to remember what I do!) He jokingly offered me wine, knowing that I didn't drink, and then served sparking apple cider, (he cooks and has a sense of humor!).

After dinner we had ice cream and watched Layer Cake. Once we were done with our ice cream Matt took our empty bowls into the kitchen. When he came back, without even thinking about it, I snuggled right up into him. It felt like the most natural thing to do. There was no awkwardness about it. I can't remember how the date ended, or what time I went home. I do know that we didn't kiss though. We saved that for a later date!

The first 11 months of dating were a struggle for us. We (I) went back and forth with what we (I) wanted. We stopped seeing each other several times, but it never stuck. I think the longest that we ever went without talking was a grand total of 2 weeks. After it was all said and done, we (I) just couldn't let go.

The first time Matt told me that he loved me doesn't really count but it's a funny story. He had broken his ankle and I went to the ER to be with him, (after the girl he was on a date with had left). They drugged him up before setting his leg, and he looked over at me and said, "I think I'm in love you with." After that, he pulled out his phone and starting texting me gibberish. Things like, "lKobmen kjh Tness." I don't have the original texts still, but you get the point. He was pretty high on whatever they gave him. I'm sure he doesn't remember telling me that, but it certainly got my wheels spinning. It took me a few months longer but we finally got on the same page.

Since then, we've been very happily in love. It's not to say that we don't have our struggles; we do. But the good far out-weighs the bad. Matt's wonderful to both Spencer and me. He's my best friend who I'm able to tell absolutely anything to, which I fully take advantage of, (even if it's just to gross him out). He's the guy who doesn't have a problem telling me if I need to go brush my teeth, or that I'm over-reacting and making a mountain out of a mole hill. He also doesn't have a problem telling me that he loves me or that he thinks I'm beautiful. He makes me laugh and fully appreciates my sense of humor. I simply don't have enough words to say how happy I am that we found each other and that even during the tough times, he didn't give up on me.

Matt's House

For those of you who haven't seen any photos of Matt's house go here. We've been busy putting up insulation in the garage and running speaker wire in a few places. It's been fun to get our hands dirty and feel like a part of it. He should be able to move in before Christmas. Yay for Matt.

Halloween

Here are some photos from Halloween. Matt did everyone's make-up, (well except for mine). He did an amazing job on both his and Spencer's make-up. Check it out:

Yay!

Matt's been gone on a business trip since Sunday. It's not like he's been gone a super long time... but it's been long enough. :-) He's coming home tonight as long as he gets a seat on his flight. Yay! I'm excited.

Some New Photos

Vegas Vacation

We went down to Las Vegas last week, kinda for the 4th. We flew in Tuesday evening and left on the evening of Friday the 4th. We both needed a break from work and whatever stresses we had going on. And it was well worth it! We had a great time.

We flew on Jetblue, which was a first for me. Did you know that they have little tv's on the back of every seat? You can watch DirectTV for free with your own headphones. We watched The Office the whole way down there. It was the fastest flight I've ever been on! Here's a photo Matt took with my camera out the window of the plane, (proving that no matter the camera, he knows how to take a great photo!):



Matt got us a room at the Bellagio with a view of the fountains - pretty cool! We spent the first night running to the window every 15 minutes to watch them go off! Housekeeping came in twice a day to clean up and even replenish our chocolates. :-D This is the view from our room:



And here is Matt proving that he really is suave enough to be staying at the Bellagio:



The next day we spent some time at the pool, walked around a bit, had lunch at Todai, an all-you-can-eat sushi bar. mmmm... it was good, although not the best that I've had. However, you can't complain about all-you-can-eat sushi for $13 a head. Afterward we wandered around the Miracle Mile Shops and stopped for the rainstorm:



That evening we went to a show and then went out with my best friend from high school, Krissy, her brother, Kit, and his wife, Kirstin (pronounced Kerstin), and a whole mess of boys who were hoping for Krissy's attention. Some things never change!

We had a pretty good time, but we stayed out WAY too late. We were supposed to meet up with Krissy the next night, but we decided we actually wanted to relax on our last night in Vegas. We spent some time at the chocolate fountain place, (I don't know the name of it):



Then we went out front of the Bellagio and Matt took some AWESOME photos of the fountains:

The last day we ate a chocolate and berry crepe for breakfast in bed, ate at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, took some more photos, and then came home!

Over all, it was a fun trip! I'm glad we went! I'm also glad we came back when we did and still had a few days to rest and before having to go back to work.

Couple's Photo

Yesterday Matt and I went up to Ephraim to spend some time with his parents and sister. While we were there we went over to his dad's work and got the tour of his office with a window. Afterwards we sat on the grass in the field and Matt played with his camera. He didn't really expect to get any good photos since he was just playing and letting his dad and sister play, but he actually got a few good ones- with him in them! I'm pretty excited since I've been asking for a couple photo of us for a while and some of the ones that turned out were of us.

Matt uploaded them to Costco for me and even had a 8x10 printed of us to hang in his house. Tonight when he got home he put it in a frame and put it on his wall in the entryway. I was feeling pretty special! I mean, he's got a picture of us hanging there for everyone to see. That's a good sign right?? As I was admiring it, I thought maybe it was a little crooked and I went to straighten it. I guess I straightened it too much because it went totally crooked the other way. I pushed it with my finger to the other side and knocked it off the wall! It crashed down and hit two stairs before it finally stopped in the entry way and broke! The glass shattered, the frame splintered and even the photo got scratched from all of the glass. I guess that'll teach me to be cocky! ;-)

Gratitude List

I've decided I need to develop a little more gratitude in my life. I've been such a grouch lately, I can't even stand to be around me.

1. I'm grateful for Spence. He's in the other room painting a wood airplane and singing to himself. It puts a smile on my face when he sings to himself.

2. Medical Insurance. I got a bill yesterday for $1600+. I'm so glad they are billing the insurance for that first!

3. My ipod. I mainly use it to listen to books while I'm driving, or doing some mundane task. It sure helps the time go by faster AND I get to do one of my favorite things! Read!

4. Having The Office on DVR. I missed the first couple of seasons, but the ones I have seen have been a lot of fun to watch. (The last episode was especially funny, btw.)

5. Matt. He took my child shopping for Mother's Day. I have to say, I think that's pretty cool.

I'm not sure how often I'll do this, but I've seen a few of my blogger friends doing this and it seems to be a pretty good tradition to start. Thanks for the example!

New Glasses

Spence got his first set of glasses today! So of course I asked my famous photographer boyfriend, (see below), to take photos of the boy-child in his new glasses; Matt said he was booked full. I think USA Today has gone to his head! ;-) However, after a bowl of homemade chicken and rice soup, he finally relented and took some fun photos for us:

USA Today & Matt

Matt made an exciting discovery last night! I'm very happy for him: Congratulations Matt!

MySpace Follies

I've been dating Matt for about 2 and a half years, 1 and a half exclusively. We've got a great relationship and I'm head over heals in love with him. We rarely fight and when we do it's often a miscommunication. Our biggest problem is that I want things to be moving faster then they are. It's a lesson in patience and acceptance for me. :-)

Yesterday things got a little out of hand. I wanted some reassurance that even though things aren't moving as fast as I'd like they are, at least, moving! But I didn't quite go about getting that reassurance the way I should have, (like... over IM = dumb). He ended up feeling attacked and that I was blaming him for all of the problems in my life. Oy. The conversation ended not well.

Later in the day I logged in to myspace and for whatever reason started looking for Matt. I've looked for him a few times, but always using his full name. This time, I used his nickname and, what do you know? I found him. I was surprised to see that he had an account, but even more surprised to read that he would "like to meet a girl that we both share similar interests." And even more shocking was that his relationship status was "swinger."

This wasn't exactly comforting in my already emotional and insecure state. I have always trusted Matt to not cheat on me. He's been through some pretty rocky relationships and we've both felt the sting of a cheating significant other. Of all the men I've dated (or been married to) he's the one I wouldn't have pegged as a cheater. So knowing all of this, I tried to be rational. Which, as some of you might know, isn't easy when you're already a basket case! I figured that this was probably something he wrote before we had made a commitment and that we spend so much time together as it is, that he wouldn't have the time to cheat! On the other hand... there's always that doubt.

I'm not the type to stuff things. I either talk about things as they happen, or I explode over something small. I prefer option #1. So I got Judy to come over and watch Spencer after he went to bed. Then I went to talk to Matt and get it out in the open. I asked him if he was looking for someone else, if he was cheating, if he was meeting new girls, to all of which the answer was no. And to reassure me, I asked to see his account, and without hesitation he let me. He said he didn't even know it was still on there and that he had written that before he even met me. He deleted it and changed his relationship status from swinger, (which was a joke), to in a relationship. And he even apologized for it all... and he wasn't mad at me for freaking out. We laughed about it a bit and he held me while I bawled.

Now today I feel pretty dumb! I remember how much I love this guy and how lucky I am to have him. And I feel retarded for doubting him and am so grateful that he puts up with my little dramas.