Read Chapter 1 here.
So, in the beginning of June, we had established that we were bf/gf.
Summertime was typical summertime, lots of hanging out.
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| July '03 |
He would hang out in my room more.
He stayed the night more...in my room.
We grew closer.
I still remember when he said I Love You, when we first kissed...aaannnd when we first...well....
It was all in about the first month of us being bf/gf.
He very quickly became a little more...permanent at my house. He was there all the time. During the day. Overnight. Within a month or so he had essentially moved it. I turned 15 in July.
I know you're thinking, "what, you were 15, he was 18 & he lived with you?"
Well,...simply put, yes.
Everything was going good.
In July, I went to Florida for a week as I had done before, to spend the week with my best friend & it was so cute when I got back I came home. This boy had gotten me a dozen roses and a note. (The only time he's even gotten flowers for me-lol).
He was getting ready to go away to college. To Wyoming. He was initially going to leave in September, but changed it to end of Dec./beginning of Jan.
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| Nov.'03 |
I still didn't fully meet his mom, step dad and baby bro until a few months into the relationship. His mom was very unsure about our relationship in the first couple of months since he had turned 18 & I was 15. There was the whole "underage" issue and all, but she still accepted it. And then by the time December came around we had been together for a little over 6 months & I remember having to say goodbye to him not long after Christmas, (it might have even been in like the first week of January.)
I was devastated. My boyfriend just moved to freakin' Wyoming, to go to college. We had decided that we were going to try this long distance thing & see if we could pull through. If I'm being honest, I really didn't see it fully working out. Let's face it. I was a 10th grader & he was about to start college and we were basically on opposite sides of the country now. But we didn't want to break up.
Well,...about a week into him being there, it was time for him to actually start school.
He didn't even finish his first day. His mom called to my school, had someone from the front office call me out of class to talk to her on the phone. She told me a few details & told me to call Doug. So I hung up with her & called to talk to him.
His anxiety got the best of him, he was homesick, didn't want to be there, etc, etc. Everything just kind of hit him at once. And when it came down to it, it just wasn't for him. So it was either by that night or the next day his mom and I were on a plane to Denver.
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| If I'm not mistaking, I think...this is a small part of the Rockies (obviously, not the big parts, haha) |
Now, I'm a puss when it comes to flying. I always said I would never, ever fly.
EVER. EVERRRR. And yet here I was agreeing to go with my b/f's mom to Denver, Colorado to get him. We landed in Denver & then drove up to the CO/WY line to meet him & then we all drove home. And just like that...3-4 days later we were back home.
A couple of months later he landed a job at a car dealership.
Everything was going good.
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| June '04 |
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| June '04 Vacation |
June 2004 marked 1 year & I was even invited to go on vacation with his family.
And then we added another year,
and another, and another, etc, etc.
We had been through ups and down. Been there for each other in bad times, sad times, happy times and all.
We went through many times when I was
sure we'd break up. I'm a difficult one to deal with and he can also be hard to handle.
But, I don't know, we just worked so well.
I graduated in '06 & turned 18. Age was no longer and issue, not that we cared anyway. We hit our 3 year mark a few weeks after I graduated.
We started getting a little more serious. We moved from upstairs at my house, to the basement. We had a dog and eventually got a cat. (lol, that sounds dumb saying it or typing it, but that can be a big deal for some.)
Over the next couple of years we tossed around marriage, kids, jobs/school (mainly for me), etc etc. Typical "adult" type stuff, even though I was only 18-19-20, it was still something on my mind. I had always been okay with being a mom that young. I kind of got baby fever early in life... But I needed to try to get back into school or find a job.
We were a typical couple. We had some pretty rough arguments, but we also had some very special times.
We basically "grew up" together, and that came with a bunch of trials. We grew stronger together.
In many ways we grew up faster than most people our ages, which is what presented a lot of our problems. It can be difficult transitioning from teen to young adult anyway, add on a serious relationship & it can sometimes speed it up a bit.
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| '07 |
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| '08 |
Fast forward ahead to about 2008. We had been going through a rough period due to outside influences. It had been an up and down battle & It came to a point where I
had to give him an ultimatum. It came down to "it's me or that". Well, he chose me.
I'm not going to get too much into that right now. But it all came to a peak in October of '08. It was a huge eye opener to him I think & he realized how he looked & learned real quick that I wasn't playing games. Over the next year or so it took a lot of adjusting. I've always been willing to work with him. It didn't come easy, but we had been together for 5 going on 6 years and been through too much for me to just give up without trying at all.
Brings us to the end of 2009 and on Christmas Day. We always spend the night at his moms on Christmas Eve so we can open gifts with them on Christmas morning.
So that morning I got one gift from Doug.
I pulled a little box out of a little bag on Christmas morning & he looked at me and just simply said "Will You?"
So romantic, right? ;-)
After 6 1/2 years together, we were finally engaged!
I know I have a couple of pictures from that morning...just don't know where. lol
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| Just Engaged! Christmas Evening '09 |
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♥
B
