Three years ago yesterday (or today, perhaps - we've never quite been able to remember the exact date!), this very handsome, tall gentleman walked into my college apartment and wrapped his arms around me.
We'd spent the month prior sheepishly texting and talking on the phone while he spent winter break at his family's house in Indiana, recovering from ACL surgery. (My mother in law still makes fun of Ryan about his nervous twitch every time his phone bleeped during that month!) Our courtship was verrrrry long but very sweet, and the month of giddy texting came after over a year of shyly avoiding each other at parties until our dear friend Sarah finally took Ryan aside and said,
"KARA IS FINALLY SINGLE, RYAN, SO YOU SHOULD PROBABLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT IMMEDIATELY."
(Sarah, ever the queen of subtlety, gave the keynote speech at our wedding.)
So, Ryan finally made a move. From 2,000 miles away!!! And when he came home to take me on our first date - a day early - we threw all date plans out the window in favor of getting in all the hand holding, hugging and kissing we'd been missing out on for the past year.
I still feel that silly in puppy love when Ryan wraps his arms around me. Now, we have a wedding anniversary to celebrate, but I'll always cherish this one the most. It was the time I knew that those arms were the only ones that really fit.
Happy anniversary, my love. Here's to many, many more.