Real Talk

Hi, Friends. At the beginning of the summer, I expressed a desire to do more than just post pretty pictures. Recent moods and events have inspired me to share something more personal with this post.

Today is my 3 year anniversary with the big guy! It's pretty surreal. We've come a long way since our first date after our intern signature event at the Woodland Park Zoo in 2011 (Microsoft FTW!). Every relationship has its own story and like many other couples, we are constantly navigating the ebb and flow of our relationship. I used to think relationship nirvana for me meant cruise control. Reaching a state with my significant other where conflict didn't exist and everything just felt easy. "Oh, we just need to work out these problems and then everything will be perfect." I've come to realize that I will never reach a state as an individual where I've worked out all of my problems. I will never be perfect. Yes, I feel confident about myself and my abilities to lead a good life, but that doesn't mean I live my life without emotional conflict. I can get down with my emo self and can be very sensitive to my surroundings and the people around me, especially when I am under stress (which is more often than not, unfortunately). I know there are a lot of cliche lines out there about, "Being you is enough!" and "It's okay to not be perfect!" but seriously, I am enough and it's okay if I can't be perfect. So what does that mean for my relationship?

It means that I've come to deeply appreciate a partner who is willing to work together to evolve our relationship as we continually evolve as people. I can't lie, when I first met Mitch, I was more focused on his beautiful body and his perfection on paper, Caltech engineer employed by Microsoft with an interesting cultured background, than I was with who he was as a person. I felt prideful. He was my trophy, and our relationship suffered for some time because of it.

Now, I feel lucky to be with someone who truly lives his life with integrity. I am grateful to be with someone who patiently listens when I need to emotionally process a bad day and responds with kindness. I am inspired by his desire for self improvement in every aspect of his life and he motivates me to think critically about my actions and feelings. Thank you for a wonderful 3 years, Mitch. I love you, and I look forward to continuously growing together.

Sorry not sorry if things got a bit deep there for a bit! On a much lighter note, I think Mitch is ridiculously good looking and has incredible style. Hello, did you see that AMERICA tank?! It't not even the 4th of July and he was rocking that tank like nobody's business. I've been toying with the idea of running a style blog for him, but my genius friend, Katrina, came up with the best idea ever: Mitch Mondays! Get ready! It's happening!

P.S. I'll follow up with a post for my outfit later this week!