Memories

My handsome husband and I have accumulated many significant memories over the past five years that have taken place in the month of March.  I can't help but remember them year after year.

I went out with Mr. Bossy Work Guy for the first time on March 1st, 2008.

After drinking a bit too much saki, Pete showed up at the end of my shift at the hotel we both worked at and not-so-covertly asked me to go play pool with him.  I jumped on the back of his motorcycle and we played pool (rather, he played pool, I drank Red Bull and flirted while hitting balls with a stick) and then we went to Dennys in the middle of the night to eat cake. I decided I didn't hate him so much after all.

We shared our first kiss five years ago yesterday, on March 15th 2008.  

It was our third date, although we weren't calling them dates at the time.  I finished my shift at the hotel we both worked at around 11:00 pm and Pete was on his way to meet me when I discovered that I had locked my keys in my car.  Pete and and I sat in his car talking and watching funny videos on his phone while we waited for a locksmith, and sometime around 1:00 am my car was unlocked.  Our original plans were canceled due to the late hour, so we drove around and talked until I suggested we go play Guitar Hero at his apartment since there was nothing else to do and I didn't want to go home.  A couple hours later I finally reached my breaking point of waiting for him to kiss me, so I gave in and kissed him.  From that moment on we were "together," so March 15th became the official beginning of our relationship.

We don't have a picture from that night, but this
was our first picture together, taken a few weeks later.
We look like babies.

A year later, we celebrated our first anniversary in Las Vegas, March 13-16, 2009.
(I wrote a bit about this trip on my old blog [ginaslovestory.blogspot.com] back in 2010 when I was explaining the reason why we chose to get married in Vegas.  So, because I am lazy, I am going to copy some of what I wrote then.)
Our first trip to Vegas was a turning point in our relationship. While it was an anniversary trip, it was also meant to be an unspoken farewell trip for us, as we knew we only had 6 weeks left together before Pete moved back to IL for a job with Harley Davidson and we did not intent on trying to make the long distance thing work. The three days we spent in Vegas were...well, magical. So much of our relationship suddenly transitioned during that little getaway. We had an insane amount of fun and we got lost in the romance of Paris and Venice, and all the while we were faced with the reality that our relationship was going to end, or at least completely change, in just a few weeks. Somehow, the complex combination of all that led to both of us completely falling in love with each other all over again. On the night of our anniversary, Pete surprised me by taking me to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant, and it was a dinner I will never forget.  

Oh, Vegas :)

One year later, we returned to Vegas to celebrate our second anniversary, and Pete asked me to marry him, three years ago today, on March 16th, 2010. 

(That story, along with the video of the proposal with me calling Pete a liar, is still on my old blog, here.)

I will never let go of how much I wish
I had put down my damn purse.

St. Patrick's Day, 2010

Our wedding date was set for May 22.

I always enjoy when March rolls around and we get to look back on the happy memories we made in the years prior. Last year was the first year we did not celebrate on the 15th or 16th, given the fact that I was in the hospital, but I think we may have toasted some apple juice or something.  This year we didn't celebrate either, but Pete did send me flowers yesterday.  These days we have a much more important anniversary to celebrate, and that will happen in May.  But for now, I'll take a stroll through all the Vegas pictures, reminisce about our first kiss, giggle at how stupid I was for not seeing straight through Pete's surprise proposal...and be thankful for good memories.