B0yfriend backst0ry

Hellu, 

This is the love of my life Justin and this is how we came to be: 

(Our first picture with the Maymont bear and our most recent ^ our first pic in a mirror at the Baltimore aquarium and one at the VA Beach aquarium) 

It all began on my 18th birthday, October 3rd 2014 I went to the state fair of Virginia for the first time and happened to meet the love of my life for the first time as well. We were both dating different people then, and my now ex-boyfriend saw his now ex-girlfriend across the way and flagged them down. She recognized me from elementary school, and they all went to the same high school together. We all still introduced ourselves- his name is Justin. I know we walked around together most of the day, the four of us. Although I don’t remember most of the conversations, I’ll never forget how much his smile struck me. It was the biggest and brightest and most genuine smile I’d ever seen. I had no idea I’d be waking up to it everyday within a matter of about a year, but I’m so blessed to be doing so. We all said we’d make plans to hang out more after the fair, but that never came to fruition. I think honestly, both of our significant others at the time didn’t want it to happen for fear of losing us. 

Justin and I became friends on Facebook and starting talking on May 9th 2015 about karate chopping Spongebob-style of all things. I love him cause we’re silly in the same ways. We’re mature when we need to be, but when we’re immature it’s the kind we both get a kick out of- not some annoying kind of humor. 

(Goofing around at the fair, mini golf, and at home together ^)

I finally broke it off with my now ex and got out of a really damaging relationship in August of 2015. I posted a status asking if anyone wanted to go to the state fair and Justin liked it, so I messaged him and we talked a lot more. He really helped me see that it was a good thing leaving the jerk I was with, that I deserved better, and that the love for me was out there. Back then I didn’t realize he meant himself, but I’d know soon enough. 

(Our very first selfie together ^ and a snapshot of the happiness of being official)

On September 23rd 2015 Justin took me out to Maymont Park to just hang out for the day. It was my first time there and I was impressed! It’s a beautiful 100-acre park that’s open to the public during the day. He brought his camera and we just walked and talked the whole day. It was the start of something so great and I felt comfortable with him right away. It was like we had been friends for years before this with how well conversation flowed and we could just be ourselves. I had never felt more like the real, true me then when I was with him. There was no relationship pressure either. We both knew I had just left something toxic and wasn’t looking to rush into anything else too quickly. It felt so good to be with someone who understood and was caring enough to respect just being friends. We ate at Sushi King that evening for the first time and we didn’t know then it would become a staple in our date night routine in a few short weeks. 

October 2nd 2015 was the day before I turned 19 and Justin offered to take me to the Baltimore aquarium to celebrate. We had an incredible time, even though the weather wasn’t the greatest. We walked through the entire aquarium and then for an hour in the rain to find a sushi place that was closed til an hour later. We walked all the way back and ate at a place called Kona Grill. Justin had been there before, but it was another first for me. He leaned over and whispered something to the waitress towards the end of our meal. I asked what he said and he told me he asked for her number. I pretended to get mad at this and we both laughed about it. She came back a little while later with a huge brownie with a candle in it. I felt like crying, it was so sweet that he had sneakily (or at least trying to be sneaky) did that for my birthday. That was the moment I fell in love with him and I knew we were gonna be seeing a lot more of each other.

We hung out pretty much every day that month and on the 21st of October, I brought him apple picking with my family. It’s something we’ve done every year for a long time and I wanted him to be a part of it. My parents questioned us about our “relationship” the whole day, and at the end of it- we were sitting down when he asked me to be girlfriend. Of course, I said yes and was giddy about it all day and ever since.

* the pictures may not be in order with the text, but I didn’t want to chop it up too bad

(From top to bottom: a year apart at Carter Mountain where he asked me to be his girlfriend, laying around together and him taking care of me so well, adventuring around at West Moreland park and his hometown, Justin at my old high school’s football game and me at his ^) 

(Our first and most recent Thanksgivings together, selfies from Christmas 2015 and 2016, and our two New Year’s Eves together so far + kissing in the first snow of 2017 ^)

(Couple’s first trip to D.C. to see the monuments, excited for the free LV bag and playing skyrim at home, mini golfing at FunLand, more Maymont fun, and hanging around downtown ^)

(Our first Easter together spent with his family- check out this year’s Easter together in my other post, Justin just being sweet and visiting me at home and coming with me to my work training as the most handsome support system a girl could ask for, springtime goofing off outside of Duck Donuts, our first concert together at the NorVa seeing Issues in April 2016 ^) 

(Visiting my cousin in NY- by the docks and in the city, two trips to Kings Dominion, Bogey’s sports park and the Strawberry Faire, and another concert- this time a bunch of bands including Blink 182 at Big Field Day ^) 

(Celebrating our 8-month anniversary with a romantic date at Boathouse, dressing up all preppy for the polo match in Crozet, summer fun with him and his family at Luray Caverns and Hershey park + a dip in the river downtown and gas station cool offs, then vacation with my family in Topsail NC which included mini golf and professional pics ^)

(Of course more mini golf- this time after eating at a great restaurant down by the lake, celebrating his 20th birthday, Field day of the Past which is a local fair in his neck of the woods that I had never been to before, then the state fair for our third year in a row- revisited the place where we first met ^) 

(Our first and close second trips to the VA Beach aquarium + some snipits from Train Day and an awesome toy shop called World of Mirth, our one year anniversary celebrated with a day at the zoo and the most romantic dinner date at the Tobacco Factory * made me cry it was so amazing * and a pic of us on my birthday, back at the orchard where he first asked me out ^)

(Showing off our fresh kicks and our cute puppies, a collage of us going out and FOOD, a collage of us at the art museum in DC and the garden, more selfies in restaurants ^) 

(When we did yoga together, holding hands pics are my favorite, doing anything together like checking out more shops and going to the dentist and petting the animals when I went to work with him, and just a nice full day off together ^) 

(Our picnic lunch in Maymont park, selfies from the day he gave me my beautiful bean necklace from Tiffany, cuddles and closeness cause we’re all about it ^)

* some more random collages as I bring this post to a close 

We’ve been together now for over a year and a half and we’re about to move into our first apartment together within the next month. The last pic isn’t the most recent of us, but there will be more in upcoming posts about what we’ve been up to lately! 

I know this one was crazy long, but he deserves it. Hope you all enjoyed xoxo