I've Loved You For a Thousand Years...

And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

One step closerOne step closer
I have died everyday waiting for you
And all along I believed I would find you


Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more...

Valentine's Day is coming up.  I'm not usually big on Valentine's Day.  I remember being the nerdy middle schooler longing just to find a love note stuck in my locker between classes, and never getting it.  I remember being single as a teenager and young adult and being insanely jealous of all the other girls getting the balloons and flowers and chocolate...looking so giddy and in love.  I also remember being "so giddy and in love" myself as a young girl and thinking "Wow, this giant bear is really nice, but I'd much rather he just hang out with me for an hour instead."  Always wondering why previous boyfriends' gestures never seemed like enough.  And then I met him...

In 7 1/2 years together, there have been many little gifts and gestures.  But the things that stick out in my mind are the EXPERIENCES.  I remember our first date.  I remember May 30th, 2005.  Opening the door to see the man of my dreams standing there. I mean literally!  We worked together at Jimmy John's that summer.  We'd only seen each other in our work garb.  Black t-shirts, blue jeans, ball caps.  And suddenly we were both standing there, literally gawking at each other.  Me thinking, WOW!  He's got blue eyes AND black hair.  Oh my!  I was immediately taken back to a conversation I'd had with a girlfriend a few months before.  I was a total mess because I'd gotten my heart broken once again.  She said, "Rach, he's not the one for you.  What does your perfect man look like?"  And I had said between sobs, "He's tall.  He's got dark, dark hair, and ice blue eyes."  And then, there he was...standing in front of me.  But he was so much more than that perfect picture!  He opened doors for me, pulled out chairs for me, looked in my eyes when I talked to him.  He remembered things I had told him weeks ago!  We laughed until it hurt, we closed down a restaurant and a Starbucks.  That date ended in one of the best hugs I've ever gotten (I replay it often actually!) and a promise of another date later in the week...

That was a Tuesday night.  We had planned a date for Friday night.  ALL day Wednesday, I thought about him.  I was already head over heels for him.  Little did I know, that same day that I was "giddy in love" and so nervous that I'd already emotionally overcommitted, HE was with his mom in Oklahoma City.  He had called her that morning and said, "Hey Mums.  I met the girl I'm gonna marry last night.  I'm taking her out on Friday, and I need you to help me pick out some new clothes."  He was already looking forward to Friday, just like me!  He was so nonchalant about it all though.  Probably fearing, just like I was, that he'd overcommitted too soon.  Nonetheless, he was going for it.  I kept myself from calling him all day (man that was hard!).  Thursday we were working together for an hour and a half.  My shift was from 12-5 and his was from 3:30-7:30.  So starting around 3:00, my eyes were glued to my watch waiting for 3:30 to get there.  Ugh!  But he came in a few minutes early!  Yay!  Specifically because he wanted to say, "Hey...um...I can't wait until Friday to hang out with you again.  Do you want to get some ice cream when my shift is over?"  Do I?!  Oh if I wasn't sold already, the fact that he said EXACTLY what I was hoping and dreaming he would say sealed the deal, man.  So I went home and changed and met him back on campus at 7:30.  We got ice cream and walked around campus.  We talked and talked.  In 7 1/2 years we STILL haven't run out of things to talk about! And he mustered up the courage to hold my hand that night.  Fireworks I tell ya.  Fireworks...

Then Friday came.  I can't even remember what I wore, but Jonathan does.  We went to Victoria's (a little Italian place on Campus Corner in Norman).  We sat at a corner table.  He was clearly nervous this time.  He "tested the waters" with me by ordering a glass of red wine (he was 21 already...I wasn't).  Obviously, I wasn't offended!  He visibly relaxed after a half hour or so.  About halfway through dinner he spotted a cockroach crawling up the wall behind me and jumped out of his chair, smashed the crap out of it, scooped me up, and told the waitress we were moving to a different table.  My hero! ;)  We talked and talked.  He then took me to a little park in Norman to look at stars.  And again, we talked and talked.  And then we went back to my apartment to watch Ray (which, for the record, was a TERRIBLE date movie...).  We snuggled up on a giant bean bag and watched the whole thing...even the credits.  And then he propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at me and said, "I think you're so beautiful."  Heart beats faster...butterflies in full flutter mode.  Do I fall, do a run?  Ladies and gentlemen, clearly, I fell.  He put his hand on my face so tenderly and kissed me.  The. Best. First. Kiss. In. History.  I'm serious.  Perfect.  And all of our pasts melted away.  It was only him and me.  Nothing before US mattered anymore...

That whole summer the song "You and Me" by Lifehouse seemed to constantly be playing.  It was like a soundtrack to our summer love.  "And it's you and me, and all other people and I don't know why...I can't keep my eyes off of you...".  It was so true.  I remember NOTHING about that summer other than him and me.  I know other things happened, but I really can't remember them very clearly.  He was just dropped into my life at the exactly perfect time.  He was my other half...my missing pieces.  I was finally whole!  Logic out the window.  In to take it's place was such a tremendous and consuming love that logic had no room!  

I tell Jonathan all the time that even though it's been 7 1/2 years, I still think he's hilarious.  I think he's gorgeous, and smart, and perfect for me.  I'm not even tired of him yet!  I hear people say sometimes that they wish they were back in that "honeymoon" stage.  That stage like the summer of 2005 where you can't get enough of each other.  You can't keep your eyes (or your hands!) off of each other.  You're completely enthralled!  I can't say that I don't miss those days.  But I CAN say that I do still get butterflies when he grabs my hand or wraps his arms around me or kisses me.  I do!  Incredible what a perfect match God made!  But on this, our 7th Valentine's Day together, I wouldn't go back in time for anything.  I could never have painted this picture for us.  We're spending Valentine's Day this year on a gorgeous island.  We're having dinner overlooking the ocean.  We'll toast to 7 1/2 years together and an eternity ahead of us.  We'll toast to what a perfect love we've found in each other.  And he'll tell me "I think you're beautiful."  And he'll kiss me just as tenderly as he did that very first time.  And I'll be sold all over again...

Here's to the next thousand years babe!