Monday, April 18

our story


this is the story of how i met my boyfriend, steve.

it was june 2005, and i had just finished my sophomore year of high school. i logged onto my myspace page and i had a friend request from a band, scopata di morte. i checked out the band's page and accepted because i saw they were local! i remember looking at the band's pictures, and this one boy, the drummer, caught my eye. i didn't know his name, so i commented on the band's page and asked "which one of you is the short haired one, tee hee." from there i think steve added me from his personal account. we started writing each other back and forth and i found out he lived just three miles away from me; i didn't even know it! our exciting little friendship began. we would write each other e-mails and chat on msn messenger until 5 am. we probably chatted online for about a month until we finally met for the first time.

in our chats i told him about how i liked photography. i was exploring different types of photography. steve and his other bandmate asked if i would be intersted in photographing this concert that they were playing in a few weeks. i was really interested! it was a concert on the beach in harbor beach in mid july. i was nervous to meet steve. on the day, i came there to take pictures of the concert event. there he was up on stage setting up for his band. i don't think we got to say hi at first because he was busy. i took pictures of his set and a lot of the others; it was fun! it was my first concert. i think i felt a bit disappointed because i didn't get to hang out with him for a lot of the show. toward the end of the night he came up behind me and tapped on my sholder and said hi! he asked if i brought any grapes with me like he said i should on msn messenger (i hadn't).

for weeks after the concert, steve, myself, and his friends (also all my new friends) would hang out with each other. i remember a few of his friends liked me actually, and i was overwhelmed with all the new boys. i liked them all; they were all so nice to me. at one point i really liked another boy who was hanging out in our group, too, but then he went off to camp for a few weeks, and while i was waiting for him to come back,  steve called my house and asked me if i wanted to go out to the movies with him. i asked my mom, and she said i could! it was the first time a boy ever called me to go out. it was a cute moment, and i remember i was so excited! we went out august 1, 2005, to see the movie the island at a near-by theater. during the middle of the movie, he asked if he could hold my hand! it was so cute! i think i was nervous. i remember riding home after the movie listening to as i lay dying. we hung out a few days after that, too. i don't know if it was him or me, but one of us asked if we were boyfriend and girlfriend now, and we agreed that we were, haha.

i was in my junior year of high school and he was a senior at his high school, and i remember getting in trouble a lot because i wanted to go to concerts and my mom thought it was a bad idea because of all the boys that were going to be there. the next year i thought would probably be our hardest because that fall steve headed off to college in a town about 100 miles away. i was starting my senior year of high school. we would talk on the phone pretty much every night, usually for about an hour. pretty often, he'd be able to come up for the weekend.

in fall 2007, i moved to the same town for college. he lived in the dorms and i had my own apartment. it was exciting being able to spend more time together again! he spent the night at my apartment pretty regularly, and at one point i got in trouble with the landlord because they thought steve should be paying rent for how much he visited and stayed over. in summer 2008 we moved into an apartment together for the first time and we've been living together ever since.

now we've been together for five and a half lovely years! we've grown together and like a lot of the same things, but we also have our separate interests. we became vegetarian and then vegan together. we've both gotten excited about moving to a bigger city and then we did it. we've both become interested in blogging and certain kinds of music neither of us liked in high school. i'm so glad we found each other, and i'm really glad we've been kind and understanding enough with each other to get through the hard times and stay in touch with what we like about each other. i'm really happy with us and i'm so excited for our future together, too!

Monday, April 4

10 little reminders, part 5


welcome to part 5 of my series "10 little reminders," the final part of the series! before i get into the final reminders, here is a recap of the first eight:
  1. surround yourself with positive people
  2. it's never too early (or late) to start doing what you love 
  3. stay organized and keep up with your home
  4. don't just be kind to others, be kind to yourself
  5. everything will always be okay in the end
  6. not everyone is going to like you, and it's okay
  7. don't hold grudges
  8. don't compare yourself to others
9. focus on today! many times i get caught up in thinking about all the amazing plans i have for my future: where i want to live, the family i will have, the house i'll get to paint and buy furniture for, getting married, and getting my permanent studio! yes, it all sounds so exciting, but what about right now? i know a few years ago this was all i could think about: living on my own with my boyfriend in a big city. and now that it's here, i just keep thinking about what's next. i think it's a good idea to just focus on today, to be in the moment. i am here now, i am living in chicago with my high-school sweetheart. i'm really happy about this, but i rarely focus on it and just appreciate it. time is going to go by so fast, and soon i'll be in my late 20s, married, working for myself, and perhaps with a baby on the way. i think it's good for me to appreciate the now when it's just me and steve and all the adventures the two of us will have. we are young and we are in school, anything can happen! i want to appreciate the days we are having right now.

10. take time to appreciate the ones you love. i don't talk with my dad much; he wasn't really a big part of my life growing up. one day a few years ago when i was just starting college, i decided to write him and get to know him more. since then, i've visited him a few times, and he even got to see my sister graduate from high school. i know he must have been so happy and proud of her. i'm very happy that he has been able to be in our lives again. it makes me happy to see him happy. sometimes i get caught up in my daily life, though, and don't always have time to contact him that much. i keep saying i'll write him a letter later. we can get so caught up everyday with school and work, and then when we get home, surfing the internet, etc. i think it's nice when we can take the time to sit down and call someone, write a loved one a letter, or just talk to your partner. as with the above tip: you will only be in this period of your life, surrounded by these people, for so long. take time to really focus your attention on the ones you love.