He's More Than I Could Ask For

Throughout all of this heartache, there has been one positive.  I know I've said it, but I wanted to make it it's own post.  My husband is amazing. 

We met in high school.  We had homeroom together (not that that really means much considering I think we had homeroom all of maybe 5 times).  We hung out in the same group of friends freshman year, and then went our separate ways shortly thereafter.  I was a math girl and he doesn't love it so much so we didn't have any classes together.  Graduation came and went, freshman and sophomore years of college came and went. 

Then at the beginning of junior year, one of his good friends was turning 21 and went to CMU.  My girlfriends were all going to the party so I decided to tag along.  I had no idea that going to that one party would change my life forever.  Aaron was there, and I hadn't seen him since high school (and even then only in passing).  We were both a little more chatty than usual (the drinks didn't hurt) and hung around each other all night.  I'm not one to just give out my number...I sucked at the whole "dating" scene...he never asked for it so life went on.  Fast forward a month or so later.  Aaron was back at CMU from UofD.  Little did I know that he did that on purpose to see me again.  He's not very obvious and straightforward either...it's really a miracle it all actually worked out :) 

Fast forward again to November.  Our phone rings and my BFF picks up, she comes to tell me it's for me with a smirk on her face.  Who is it?  Yep, he FINALLY called.  I never gave him my number, I couldn't even tell he was interested.  He got my number from another friend (sneaky).  So he asked me out on a date.  Mind you Aaron went to UofD which was 2.5 hours from CMU so it was a little difficult to just go out on a first date with someone.  But we scheduled it for November 21.  Of course, the second I got off the phone, I ran to my BFFs room and told her.  She looked right at me and said, "I bet you a hundred dollars you get married."  Now, I'm a hopeless romantic, I love all things cheesy, but this one I wasn't buying.  I should have listened.

November 21 came and the doorbell rang.  Instead of flowers he brought me a card and burned CD.  I thought it was incredibly thoughtful (the more I got to know him, I realized just how thoughtful it was...it was totally him).  Even though he wasn't from the area, he did his homework.  He had the whole date planned.  We went to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays, bowling (which I won), then to a party.  He planned to stay at a friends but the party had a lot of people so he ended up crashing on our couch (yes, he really slept on the couch).

I'm pretty sure we saw each other almost every weekend from that point on.  The long distance thing was hard, but we made it work ("Make it work people!" - Aaron's favorite quote from Project Runway...Tim Gun).  Graduation came and I moved to Detroit for work and to live with my BFF.  Thankfully, Aaron was still in school in his Master's year so while he was in studio ALL.OF.THE.TIME, it was better then being 2.5 hours away. 

The engagement conversations (all me) happened more and more often.  And FINALLY in Glenn Arbor on the beach, he popped the question.  It was absolutely perfect.  Up north Michigan is my favorite place and holds so many great memories for me.  He knew just what would make me the happiest :)  The wedding came and went way too fast (I had a serious breakdown the next day that it was all over...seriously, you plan for a year and then it's just done).

Our first year of marriage wasn't perfect.  We were dealing with living together for the first time, buying a house, getting a dog.  I had my moments and thankfully Aaron could deal with crazy me :)  And year two and three got better...we were getting to be old pros by then.  Year four has definitely come with it's challenges, but they've only brought us closer together.

I'm so thankful that I went on that date all those years ago.  I don't think I could have met a more patient person.  I can sometimes be high maintenance, I sometimes have serious anxiety issues, I probably have borderline OCD, and the list goes on...Yet he loves me anyway.  He listens to every complaint I have.  He puts up with how crazy and weird I can be.  He makes me laugh.  The way he is with Wally makes my heart melt every day.  I am so lucky to have him in my life.  I remember when we were going through our marriage classes through church, the priest asked us a question about getting married (I can't even remember the question).  But Aaron's answer was so simple, yet meant so much, "I just want to make her happy."  And that he has.

I love you Aaron.



2006