Two Years

Today, I came home from work exhausted, with a full day ahead of me.  Fridays are rough, with work 4:30-8:30 am, school 11-11:50 am, then work again 4-10:30 pm.  I go to my room and see the sweetest thing ever on my bed:

You see, this was my Christmas gift last year.  Patrick blew up our favorite picture together, had it framed, and the long process of drilling holes in the frame to dangle this beautiful topaz necklace from followed.  I absolutely adore topaz, and I teared up when I saw it! I wore it every single day for months.. in fact, every day until something very sad happened.  I don't like wearing necklaces at night, so I would just take it off and put it in my purse or pocket and put it on while in my car before headed off.  I went to get gas one day, and the money was in my pocket, and as I took out my money, the necklace fell without me noticing.  I sure did notice when I got to work! I was crying and Patrick went to the gas station and, of course, it was gone. I kind of knew this one was coming, because right after it happened I asked if he was mad and he said, "Heck no! Now I know what to get you for our anniversary.."

Next to the frame was a card.  To sum it up, the card said that this anniversary is all about remembering.  Remembering our first kiss, first time we held hands, first concert together, first trip, first time we exchanged "I love yous."  Because I was feeling nostalgic, I broke out my memory box. In this box, I have every note, card, movie ticket, concert ticket, etc. that I've ever shared with Patrick.

Going through, item by item, so many memories came rushing back.  I have realized that it's the little things you remember and treasure the most.  I look back and cannot stop thinking about how blessed I am to have Patrick as my best friend and the love of my life.  My life hasn't always been the most stable, and even now it isn't, even though I share mostly only the good things through this blog.  However, I can say that the past two years spent with Patrick have been the absolute best years of my life. So, let's take a walk down memory lane.

For Valentine's Day last year, this was hidden in a bouquet of flowers! I had been encouraging him for months and months to play at an open mic night somewhere, yet he never quite felt ready.  He put all of his pride aside for me and played one night at my Starbucks open mic! He covered a few songs by our favorite artists, but the best part was the song he wrote just for me!

Some things don't always QUITE go as you've planned, as you learn quickly in any relationship.  Take the Spy Museum in D.C. for example.  Sounds pretty B.A., huh?  Well, guess what?  It's not.  It was the lamest museum I've ever been to in my life. They had an interactive walk-through show where you had to try to solve the mystery.. WOW! There was a kid our age who got SO into it and would yell when he realized something and just sounded so enthusiastic! After we were done (and $60 poorer), we couldn't help but burst out in laughter!

Random flowers on random occasions, sometimes just because! My favorite flowers EVER, however, were from our one month anniversary! I'm not sure if you guys have heard of Edible Arrangements, but they are really beautiful fruits that are shaped like a flower arrangement, and usually dipped in chocolate.  Well, I kept saying how I never got one and I loved them, but of course Patrick couldn't afford it (pretty much a minimum of $60 for the smallest one!) so he made his own from scratch.  He hand-carved about 15 pineapples, strawberries, etc. and dipped them in chocolate! 

Ah, concerts.  The only time we ever travel is specifically for concerts.  We haven't gone anywhere too crazy (yet) but we've been known to travel about 4 hours away just to see a show (multiple times a year).  Our first date (even though we didn't know it at the time.. but I was hoping it was a date because I had a major crush on him) was at a Mute Math concert.  We were always in the same circle of friends, but had somehow never hung out, and decided to go to the show with two of our friends.  The two friends bailed last minute, so it ended up being just us two! He met my parents and picked me up and everything!

Finally, random reasons why Patrick loves me are scribbled all over these notes.  These were given to me for our one year anniversary! Here are a few of my favorites: "Brittany makes the best cuddle buddy! Since day one on my front porch, I could tell that I would never have trouble sleeping by her side." "The girl loves to eat like I do! It doesn't matter how much is left or where it's been.  If it's cooked medium-well, covered in chocolate, or resembles pineapple, she'll eat it!" "My music works on her! The ultimate confidence-booster is when she applauds my attempts to woo her with song.  Thanks baby."

However, the best parts is that these bits of paper weren't just thrown in a paper bag.  No sir, not with my Patrick!  He actually bought a toy capsule machine from a manufacture, hundreds of toy capsules (because they only sold wholesale!), and filled the capsules with chocolates and these notes. Seems kind of random, but I'm absolutely obsessed with these machines! I can't go to the grocery store or mall without begging people for quarters!

The best part of the toy capsule machine was inside one of the capsules, and I had to go through almost every one of them to find it.

This ring may look familiar to those of you who have been reading for a while.  I'm sure you've seen it in various pictures because it never leaves my little finger.  It's my most treasured material possession.  Patrick gave me this ring last year as a reminder of our future together and the incredible love we share.

There is never a second that take our relationship for granted.  We may bicker (hm, seems like it's only during a certain time every month though.. very peculiar..), we may have different opinions sometimes, and some days he may even be craving a thin-crust spinach pizza while I will settle for nothing short of a Trader Joe's chicken pot pie.  However, I never thought I'd be where I am today.  I never thought that I would have someone in my life who I care about so unconditionally, and I never thought I would be so confident in my future.  The details remain uncertain, but I know where I'm going and I know who I'm going with.  Happy two year anniversary, Patrick.  You have all of my love.

A look back on the past two years..

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