Wow. It has been an amazing ride so far. Today, on our four year anniversary, I thought I’d take you all down memory lane and share a little bit about Bobby and I and how it all began. Hopefully the spark notes version.
For the most part besides the fun Instagram pictures, we keep things pretty private so there’s probably a lot you don’t know about us and our journey together.
First, I want to start off by saying it has been four years of growth, four years of learning from each other, four years full of adventure, four years of endless laughs, four years of change… but most importantly four years of unconditional love. It’s not easy or perfect, but I’ve loved growing together and learning more about each other in every single stage. Not to get all mushy here but when you find your person four years seems like forever and you wonder how you ever lived without them in your life. Well here it goes.
It all started in college…
Me, a California girl, and him, a Long Island Guy attended the University of Alabama. I know what you’re thinking… “Opposite sides of the country? How the heck did this happen?” Well it somehow did and I’m so thankful for it.
I met Bobby our sophomore year at a house party and man was I acting weird haha. He’ll attest to this! I remember thinking wow he’s cute, funny, has a NY accent and this little side smirk on his face when he smiles at me (still does). I was nervous to be around him and say something wrong or embarrassing 90% of the time haha. I definitely was crushing on him hard and I was terrible at communicating it. Side note: I hardly dated much in high school (if at all) hence the weird, awkward, shyness probably haha.Thankfully he always knew what was on my mind and made it easier for me to open up.
We kept hanging out and getting to know each other which grew into dating and then a serious relationship. I learned so much about him and his upbringing in New York and vice versa with me growing up in California. Ironically, even though we come from different coasts we had so many similarities within our childhoods, morals and the way we were raised. We found out cool things about each other like how my mom actually grew up around the same parts as he did on Long Island. And how he played hockey his whole life and is pretty damn good at it I might add. I visited him in New York for the summer and met his parents and he met mine shortly after in Alabama which is where my parents and I moved in the middle of my college education.
Fast forward a few months back at college, he surprised me with a trip to Disney World for fall break. We were sitting outside of a restaurant we frequented called Mugshots in downtown Tuscaloosa waiting for our table to be ready. He was on the phone for a while and it seemed he was planning something. Which I have come to realize these four years – Bobby is full of surprises and has been surprising me since day one. After getting off the phone he said, “So love, I have been dying to tell you this and I was going to wait a little longer but I just can’t… We’re going to Disney World!” I had only ever been to Disneyland and we both have a huge love for Disney so you can imagine my excitement. There’s nothing better than going to Disney with someone who loves it as much as you do. I bring up this trip because it was then I realized I was completely in love with him.
He felt like home. I loved the way he taught me new things all the time and was a good listener anytime I needed his advice. He looked out for me in ways I never realized before. He was always up for anything whether that be us staying in and watching movies or going out. Bobby has always had a way of making me feel so comfortable, relaxed, accepted and I always feel 100% myself around him that this trip heightened all those feelings for me that I continued to have about him. We were able to remove ourselves from our busy day-to-day lives at college and just relax for a few days together unbothered from our daily stresses.
Fast forward a few months from that we moved in together, adopted a dog and started talking about our future after college. I always knew I wanted to do something in communications so I continued to pursue that while Bobby made a big decision that would carve the path for us for the next few years to come. He was going to pursue becoming a doctor and go to medical school.
After graduation it was a little hard. Hard in the sense that we were emotional and missing each other a lot. In college we got to live together and see each other every day that once we graduated and moved back home it was kind of like something had been taken away from us. However, we both knew it was temporary and pushed through it. We started developing a long-distance relationship over the next year while he was in Virginia getting his masters and I was starting my career in Mobile, Alabama. When we would have a chance to visit each other I never took one second for granted and that’s a piece of advice I would offer anyone reading this that’s in a long-distance relationship.
After a long year of distance, flights, thousands of phone calls, he graduated and got accepted into medical school in Auburn. Not only was I happy for him and his journey but now he would only be a few hours away and I was excited to start this new chapter of our lives together… closer!
Since then we have gotten to experience so much of the world together with trips we’ve planned and visits back and forth that the whole “long distance” thing hasn’t been an issue. For anyone in a similar situation if you have the means/ability to I would suggest planning trips throughout the year together when you both have breaks. Your trips don’t have to be extravagant either. They could be to a new town in your area that you never explored before. Bobby and I started doing this because we love to travel and explore new things together, but it also gave us something to look forward to every few months. It helped the time go by and whenever I was having a bad day, or he was stressed with schoolwork we could escape for a while planning our next trip together. Long distance can be really tough for some people, but I feel that this has helped us so much and look past all the days we can’t spend together.
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Now we are here today ready for our next adventure and path in life. Cheers to four years with an amazing man and a love I use to only dream of. Thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey, loving and supporting us every step of the way. Can’t wait to see what the next four years bring for us!
What a beautiful tribute to each of you and your special relationship. I am so happy to learn all about how your life together has developed. Wishing you both much happiness and many blessings.
Becky Embrey
Thank you Becky! ❤️ Love and miss you dearly!
[…] After a few years of long distance and starting our careers we are finally able to move in together! I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am knowing I get to be with Bobby everyday. We’ve been really excited and waiting so patiently to share the news. (Read about our LDR here) […]