I'm amazed by you.

For the first part of college, I was mostly focused on school. I wasn't seriously looking for a girlfriend, much less someone I could look forward to the future with. Sure, I dated/talked to/flirted around with a few girls here and there, but it never came out to anything really serious. I mean, I was at Huntsville for school first; it's a point that had been hammered into my brain at least a hundred (thousand) times. School came first, and anything "serious" could and should wait until I had something stable under my feet a.k.a. my diploma cover and a job.

You dropped into my life at a turning point.

Something changed about a third of the way through my sophomore year. Maybe it was all the attractive girls I found after joining Pike, or maybe it was my longing for something a little deeper than I'd ever held before. This translated into a few more frequent attempts with various girls who had piqued my interest for one reason or another. None of these options ever really panned out the way I had expected, though. I had basically given up on the whole "serious" thing again until I could broaden my horizon and adjust my foundation.

You made me change my mind.

On a whim, you came to UAH in pursuit of your nursing degree. You came to visit campus with a mutual friend whom the only reason I knew was because of Pike. More specifically, our mutual friend a friend to one of my pledge brothers, and sometimes I wonder if I would have been able to meet you that faithful evening if I had joined the year before or, even more drastically, if I had chosen not to join at all. Whatever the case, Pike brought you to me.

Of all the people there that night, you keyed in on me.

We hit it off almost instantly. We played together, laughed together, and enjoyed the night together. I missed the chance to get you number, but I quickly made up for that with the aid of Facebook. It seemed so good, and I didn't want to miss out on something that felt so genuine. The party you stayed for came about a week before Independence Day. What better way to start some fireworks of our own than with a real and grand fireworks show at lake Guntersville? Sure, we missed the fireworks for being on the wrong side of the trees at the waterfront, but we walked and talked and laughed the whole night away.

I can't say it's always been easy since then...

No, we've had our fair share of ups and downs. We've pushed, we've pulled, we've tried, and we've cried. Our journey thus far has been relatively short in the grand scheme of things; as the time of writing this, it's been a year and going on eight months. But man, look at how we've grown together. Look at all of the different adventures we've been on, and think about all the places we've yet to go! Look at how we've become better at being who we really are; look how much we've learned how to love.

I would never trade my time with you for anything.

We've got a long road ahead of us, and the road won't always be simple and straight. I'm not really worried, though. Out of all the people that God could have given me to walk through life with, He gave me you; and for that, I am eternally grateful.