We started dating on February 29th of this year. He is pretty happy that it was a leap year and that he won't have to remember our anniversary for four years ;-) We met through a former mutual friend of ours about a year ago and it took him a couple of times to get me to come out with him and I finally agreed. We went on our first date, dinner and a movie. He took me to a nice place but when we went to the movie, he fell asleep! Yeah, he didn't make the greatest impression that evening but after he dropped me off at my place I felt like it didn't go too bad, so I text him the next day and he didn't hesitate to invite me over that same night to watch a movie. He fed me cheesecake (how can a girl NOT love that?!) and things went uphill from there.
We've been together for almost 9 months now and I can honestly say that I don't know how I could have survived this year without him. When my grandmother died, he was right here by my side, giving me comfort and making me feel better. He keeps me calm when I want to freak out and he cheers me up when I'm sad. He keeps me on the ground when I make an attempt to fly away and he puts me in my place when I deserve it. Some of you know I can be a lil bitch sometimes but he simply won't put up with it. What a guy! :-) He keeps me sane when I feel like the craziest person in the world. He encourages me to do great things when I feel I have nothing left to give. He gives me advise when I exhausted all my other options. He is a true companion, one that brings me flowers and sends me little notes every now and then that make me feel so much more crazy about him. Above all, he makes me believe in things that I always though would be unimaginable. He introduced me to his faith (Christian), which I was very hesitant to explore at first. But I realized that I grew up not really believing in anything and I found that having something to hold on to makes your life a bit easier, a little less stressful, and a little more fulfilling. I am still not 100% believing in everything that his church preaches (and that's ok because I think it takes some time for a person to start believing in something to important), but I have started reading books about God and they have been very interesting and even calming in a way.
By the way, his name is Israel, 24, he grew up in Montana (it can't really get any more country than that!!), and has eight (!!) siblings (some adopted, some not :-) ). He had a really great job at the Financial Times newspaper in downtown Chicago, but he recently quit it to move to Salt Lake City, Utah, to work with his friend at his Trucking Company. He is quite a free-spirited, creative, entrepreneurial mind and has great goals in his life. He's been gone for one month and I miss him like crazy but I think things are going to be just fine. I am really testing my patience here. I never thought I could be in a long-distance relationship cause, let's face it, it sucks! But at the same time, I think there is a reason we are doing this. It is good for both of us individually, he can focus on work and I can focus on school, and for us as a couple, if we can get through this for a few months with five states between us, we should be able to do much more!
For what it's worth, I am super happy and I wish to be with him for a lot longer time. I love him dearly and I am so grateful for what he's done for me!
