Once Upon a Time...

 a dear friend of mine- we'll call her S here - invited me over to her house. We were both Sophomores at an all girl high school in Massachusetts at the time.It was a beautiful spring day and we decided to take a walk from her house down to the baseball park near her home to see some of her grammar school friends who were there playing baseball in the fields. I went along happily, wearing my comfy-cozy overalls, yep overalls (to this very day DJ still talks about those gems...I thought I was too cool for school). We arrived at the field and watched a couple of her friends play their game. While we were watching, I noticed this boy riding his bike around us... around and around and around. S introduced me to "one of her best grammar school friends, DJ". We said our hello's and thought nothing of it. We finished watching the game and started walking home. As we were walking, I noticed this new friend following us on his bike...again. He ended up following us right back to S's house. We all hung out for the afternoon talking and laughing. It was a great day.

 As we were all leaving for home, S and her mom thought it would be the most perfect idea to set me and this bike riding friend up on a little date. I, happy as can be, agreed that this would be a great plan. I had secretly thought this bike riding boy was quite adorable and charming in fact. From that day on, DJ and I started to talk on the phone and see each other in group settings on the weekends. We quickly fell "in like". He became someone I thought about all day and dreamed about all night.  Finally on July 11, 2000 we made it official. "Will you go out with me?" Those are the famous words, people. The words that I had longed to hear, the words that woo-ed me (haha).

We ended up dating all through high school, from sophomore to senior year. We attended all school dances and proms together (as seen above...holy moly old pictures), made new friends together and experienced many of the normal teenage dramas and issues together, as well. We made some pretty amazing memories during those years, things that we will remember & look back on forever.

Then came college. That summer before leaving for school (me=Keene State, DJ=UMass) we decided to end our relationship. (Sad, I know). With the stress of school and moving, we both felt that it would be best to give each other the chance to blossom, to meet new people and experience all we could on our own. It was devastating to say the least, but looking back now, it was the time and change that we both needed to help our relationship grow to where it is today.

We talked a little bit during our college years; saw each other at events around our town on holiday breaks and did a little back and forth on Instant Messaging (ha). We both experienced new relationships, new friends and completed our undergraduate degrees.

We both moved back home and quickly began talking more and more. I couldn't believe that this was happening. I had definitely thought about him often and knew that I honestly still loved him TONS. He was my very best friend. He knew me better than I even knew myself at times. Even when we had our difficulties, we felt it was all worth it in the end. I knew that I would rather be with him than anyone else in the world.  I was a little hesitant at first. We had changed. We had grown. Could we still love each other in the same way? To answer that... no, we couldn't. It wasn't the same love, relationship or friendship- it was better. It was mature, more insightful and more amazing than ever.

The next three years went by quickly and our love grew day by day. We decided to take the next step. We were ready to begin our lives together, to become a little family. February 13, 2010, DJ asked me to be his wife. That day changed our lives in such a huge, monumental way and we haven't been the same ever since... xo