Milwaukee Fashion + Lifestyle Blog
Today marks the eight year anniversary for making it “Facebook official” with my boyfriend. If you’re a new face around here (thanks for being here), Jeff is obviously my boyfriend. But he’s also my roommate (ha), my best friend, and easily my favorite person in the world. He’s also my primary photographer for my blog, my biggest supporter of all of my crazy dreams, and my favorite person to do everything and nothing with. Our love story is not your high school sweethearts story. It’s also not a love at first sight kind of deal. But we knew each other long before our relationship evolved into more than just friends.
What you might not know is that I met Jeff when my family moved to Manitowoc, WI in 2000. Coming from Michigan during the school year, I was plopped into the same elementary school that Jeff attended. In the early years, we bonded over a love of kickball (elementary school), our love of playing and supporting our school’s sports teams (junior high + high school), and our love of similar types of music. We always ran with a similar crowd so we had always been good friends. We enjoyed going to concerts, traveling to away games, and hanging out on the weekends.
Our friendship continued to grow when we went away to college, even though we didn’t go to the same schools. We’d make a point to visit each other and our friends in those cities when we could. We always had a great time together and enjoyed a friendly back and forth of witty banter and sarcasm. That’s probably why our friendship became as strong as it did.
During our senior year of college, we were out for New Year’s Eve in Green Bay with some of our closest friends. We were both single for probably the first time at the same time ever. Blame it on the juice or the music at the dance club where we were ringing in the New Year, but we ended up spending most of the night dancing together, and eventually, sharing a kiss at midnight. It was unexpected to say the least. A few months had gone by as I was wrapping up my last year of college. We continued to talk, but didn’t have any romantic run-ins again until the Mifflin celebrations in Madison.
After another fun night out celebrating & dancing in Madison, we kissed again and that was it for me. What I had felt for Jeff for the past 12 years at that point of being “just friends” was over. I woke up and knew I wanted to pursue a relationship with him. With the strong foundation that we had built over the years, we were extremely comfortable with one another, we respected each other, and loved spending together. If there is anything better to start a relationship on than a mutual sense of trust, respect, and ease of communication, please let me know!
At that time, I felt like I was seeing clearly for the first time. It was just a moment where I thought “duh, why didn’t this occur to me sooner”? I know I could have saved myself from not-so-great relationships and mistakes I made in the past has we started dating earlier on in life. But had we not both traveled along the path and the relationship journey that we did, things may not have worked out the same.
I always say that it’s about the journey, and that’s true for the multiple road trips Jeff and I have taken cross-country, as well as our path to becoming more than just friends. If we hadn’t experienced the heartbreaks, mistakes, and other relationships we had before we started dating, we might not be where we are today. I always believe that you need to trust the timing of your life. One of the reasons I believe that so strongly is because of mine and Jeff’s relationship. If we started dating in 7th grade, when I had a ‘crush’ on him, things may have turned out differently.
When it comes down to it, he is my best friend. I liked him for years before I realized that I loved him. We have always shared similar interests and those interests, our amazing friends, and our paths kept bringing us back together throughout the years. I’m just as thankful for all of the memories that we made together, all of the laughs we shared together, and all of the experiences we had together when he was just a friend, as I am for all of the moments we’ve shared since he’s been my boyfriend.
Not to say that our relationship is perfect just because we developed a strong friendship first. We’re human and there are days when we’re not on the same page, and might be getting on each other’s last nerve. We make it work because we are committed to love, support, and choose each other every day. And it’s because of the depth of our commitment that we have the constant support of our family and close friends. My family has completely welcomed him into it. He’s another brother to my 4 older brothers, and I feel like I’m apart of his family as well. Which is amazing, because if you know my brothers, yes they are pretty easy to get along with, but they can be protective of me and have intimidated guys I’ve liked in the past.
For us, I feel like the time we spent getting to know each other and sharing experiences as friends has only made our relationship stronger over the years. Like I said, when I finally realized my true feelings, it seemed so obvious. But I wouldn’t change any of it.
There’s a million and one ways to fall in love with someone. It might happen in an instant, or it might develop over a period of time. What has worked for us might not be the same story or process that works for you. What I love about stories, especially love stories, is that they’re kind of like snowflakes. I think that they’re all beautiful but none of them ever look exactly the same. What’s important to recognize is that those differences is what makes you and your relationship unique.
We do our best not to compare our relationship or our story or our timeline to anyone else’s. That means not falling into the trap of thinking about what we “should be” doing. We just try to do what’s best for us and our relationship. And we continue to trust the timing of our lives and our relationship. Every moment of our love story and leading up to it is cherished and important to us. We do our best to always show gratitude for each and every minute we get to spend together.
What can I say, I like him and I love him.
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