This is the First - er, 730th - Day of My Life*

Two years ago today, Dan and I got married. We're officially past the point where people tell us "the first two years are the hardest", to which we'd reply, "really, then the years after must be REALLY easy, because this wasn't 'hard' at all!"

I still remember the day I met Dan. He came strolling into the office of the radio station I was interning at and I just instantly thought "wow, this guy is cool". He made me laugh and I wanted nothing more than for him to find me funny too. We hit it off and got to know each other over countless hours spent idling at promotional events. We each bought our fist cell phone at an event and began a flirty text relationship (thank you Verizon Wireless!) which we credit with bringing us together. We eventually started hanging out as friends outside of work, until this fateful night in September (2002)-

when Dan ambushed me as I was coming out of the bathroom, pushed me up against a wall, and slurred "hey, I like you" before planting a slightly sloppy kiss on my lips. With smooth moves like that, how could I resist? I was smitten too.

Christmas Eve - he'd told me he loved me. I told him he could take it back in the morning if he wanted to. He didn't.

By May we'd moved in together in Detroit and the following December (2004) we decided to move to Seattle. That was a year of emotional ups and downs where we discovered how to build a life together on our own. We broke up, quickly got back together, and Dan began to talk about marriage. But I wasn't ready.

Then one day, after an afternoon spent lying in bed with a cold, thumbing through bridal magazines I'd covertly purchased over the past month, I realized I was ready. By the time Dan came home from work, I had a plan. He walked in to find me surrounded by magazines, in my pajamas, with greasy hair and clammy skin. "You can ask me now", I said.

A few months went by. I waited, and waited, and waited. One day, I decided to get snoopy. I checked his drawers and his backpack, searched the closets and the cupboards, and came up empty-handed. Maybe he wasn't going to ask.

That night, we went out for happy-hour margaritas and I confessed my snoopage. Dan was outraged when I told him I'd looked in his bag and continued to harp on me for it as we walked home and entered the apartment. "I can't believe you did that", he said, picking up the bag. "You actually looked for a ring in my bag" (as he pulls out a small velvet box) "and DIDN'T find it!" I cried, Dan got down on one knee, and then rest is a happy blur.

A little over a year later we were married in Detroit, surrounded by friends and family. Despite plenty of little hiccups, it was a wonderful day. And while it was romantic and beautiful, I think we managed to keep it completely "us".


In the last two years - in which we've made new friends, faced new challenges, welcomed a new nephew/godson, and seen six new counties on two continents (over 10 total tips) - we managed to stay true to our vows of loving and caring for one another and making each other laugh, every single day.

In the mythology of us, somewhere along the way we decided we would be together for 70 years - no more, no less. (Since we were 27 and 28 when we were married, we're clearly assuming we'll be living a looong time.)

Two years in, I can't wait to see what the next 68 will bring.

* - "This is the First Day of My Life" was our first dance song. Though technically, since we've been together two years now, I suppose the number is a little higher than one.