The story of us

When I was a little girl, I would dream of prince charming. I blame it on my grandfather for reading me stories where the princess always gets the prince and Disney for their interpretations of fairy tales with a happily ever after.

As the years went by, I learned there are a lot of villains dressed as prince charming and over time, I lost faith in my happy ending. I became a recluse, I hated the world and I wanted nothing more to do with it. Especially when it came to men. At that time in my life, I'd had about all I could take of the opposite gender. It was at that time that one of my friends told me about this guy.

At first I was totally against it. After telling me he was her ex-boyfriend, I was even more against it. After reassuring me they had dated in high school and he really was a great guy, I gave in.

That evening after classes, I logged onto Facebook and there was a message from this guy. After a few days of exchanging messages, I received a surprise phone call.

"This is Ryan," he said.

I stayed on the phone with him for three hours, the longest I've ever talked to anyone on the phone in one sitting. We discovered we had a lot more in common than we originally thought. Three days later, we had our first date. For the first time in my life I had discovered, "it."

Until then I never understood what my family and friends were talking about. Why they would get all starry eyed and act like idiots for another person, then "it" happened to me. I understood the difference between infatuation and love.

I've learned love and relationships take a lot of work. They are nothing like the movies. There are going to be hard times. There will be times when neither of you agree on anything. Instances will arise where one or both of you will fight and cry. But I've learned that all the little things we disagree on give us something wonderful in return.

This man who likes for people to believe he is tough guy is actually quite humble. This man was able to reach me at a time in my life when no one else could. He taught me to laugh again. I smiled more and made jokes. My roommates told me I did a complete change when he was there. I never noticed at the time.

I know that Ryan will be by my side fighting with me when the rest of the world is against me. I know every night when I go home, he will be there to talk to me about my day or dry my tears. I know that he supports my dreams and wishes nothing but happiness for me. After a hard day's work, it is so wonderful to have that hug waiting for me. It is so calming and reassuring to go to sleep snuggled up with the same person and to wake up beside him the next day, even if it is at 5 a.m. Sometimes I think he can read my mind, but I've learned he's just really good at reading me.

Before my grandfather died, I asked him how I would know the one for me. He said he knew it was my grandma when he first saw her. He was right. For the first time in my life, I knew I could spend forever with someone else.

We have our moments. There are times where I want to scream because he drives me crazy. There have been a few times where he has even made me cry. But for all the times he has done it to me, there are probably just as many instances that I have done it to him.

The last thing I wanted was to find someone, but it turned out to be the best thing that could've happened.

Happy anniversary boo-bear. Two years and we haven't killed each other yet!