One year ago today…

…life was VERY different. I had quit grad school not long before, I was only two months into my internship at RTI, and I was limping through an attempt at a “Photo-A-Day-For-A-Year” blog. I wasn’t sure where my life was headed, I was scared of what would happen when my internship ended, and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life. The only thing I knew for sure was I that I was falling hard for this guy in Chicago.

I met Todd the previous October while he was here in Gainesville visiting friends. It’s a pretty random and very entertaining (so I’ve been told) story….so I thought I’d share it with you. Sit back, relax, and enjoy reading about our shenanigans. 🙂

We met in a club while getting our dance on to some 80s music. Yep, it’s true. Apparently you can meet a good (great!) guy at a bar.  He was out with his guys. I was out with my girls. We met, we danced, we clicked. We exchanged first names and where we lived (me Gainesville, him Chicago). We shook hands at the end of the night. “You were the most fun person I’ve ever met at a club.” No exchange of info. I go home with my girls.

Next day, I’m still swooning over the mysterious boy in the vest and tie who had magic feet. I decide to post a message on Craigslist Missed Connections, because I’d seen it on Ellen. Ellen is fabulous, so I had a little faith in it…but not much. I post, I wait. But not long. 4 days later, someone named Ryan e-mails me. He knows Todd from Chicago. He was there that night. He remembers me. He tells me Todd’s last name is Koenig and to message him on Facebook. I message, he messages back, we start chatting on Facebook. He asks for my phone number, I play hard to get (I just read He’s Just Not That Into You and was feeling fierce), he messages my friend to get said number, he calls me, and we have the best first convo ever. The first of many many more…

So, to jump ahead, because this could be the longest (don’t lie, cutest too) story ever…

We talk on the phone and flirt our booties off for 3 months, until he comes to visit in February. Four days before he arrived, on Feb. 11 (hence the “One year ago today”), we jump the gun and make the relationship official…even though we haven’t seen each other since “that night” in the club. To sum up the rest of the year…we fall in love over the phone and once a month in Chicago. I try to get a job there, but no. Nothing. Not even an interview. I panic (classic Wendy), think my life is over, and then get offered a job…not in Chicago, but at the company I’d been interning at in Alachua. Another long story short, I take the job, we flip flop the plans, and Todd starts looking for a job here. Fast forward til the present…..

Todd lives in Gainesville. Todd works at the same company as me. We get to be a “normal” couple. We get to see each other every day. We get to learn each other and love each other in the same city.

Life is good. No, life is GREAT, and I don’t want to take it for granted. It’s becoming so normal to have him here, and I have to remind myself what a blessing it is that I don’t have to wait a month to see him anymore. I think our crazy, sometimes stressful, but always worth it story has made us stronger as a couple. Todd said the other day, “I think we’ve done more talking in the last year than most married couple do over 5 years.” Probably true, and probably why we are together today. I love every one of those late-night conversations that made me fall in love with him a little more every time. I wouldn’t trade the way we began our journey for anything. It’s just US.

And now, because this post is already the longest ever…a few moments from the past year for your viewing pleasure….

Cubs/Cards game. I was an honorary Cards fan. 🙂 Chicago-style hotdogs are delicious btw.

Todd came to visit my parent’s house in Malabar. We made a farm boy out of my city man.

On top of a museum in Chicago. (Isn’t the view AMAZING??) I took this one…

And he took this one. One of the few pictures I love of myself. Maybe Todd should be getting in on this photography thing.

Inside the Museum…of Modern Art? I think that was it.

One of my favorite places in the world, the balcony at Todd’s apartment in Chicago. I could have sat out there drinking coffee and talking to him for hours.

A little aquarium love. We had to wait outside in the rain…somehow that seems to be a trend in our relationship. I’ll tell you about the Hot Doug’s experience someday.

Todd’s hometown, St.Louis!! Loved the arch. Did you know it’s metal?? I thought it was concrete.

We spent my 24th birthday at the Lincoln Park Zoo. The giraffes were pretty much amazing.

Oh Chicago. I miss it…but I’m glad Todd’s here. 🙂

Happy One Year, Todd. I love you!