One year and counting

What a great weekend! It felt like summer, and we spent most of it outside, doing yard work, gardening, eating popsicles, and dining on barbecued veggie burgers. Besides the weather, we were celebrating Shannon finding a new, more rewarding job (working at a new needle exchange program for injection drug users). At times like this, it’s clear why we like living here.

Shannon and I marked our first anniversary in February. It had been an eventful year, not the least because we’d relocated over 600 km away from the city we both grew up in. I’m pretty happy that things have gotten this far, and I’m excited to see where this relationship will take us next. We’ve talked about the possibility of moving in together at some point, which would be nice, but neither of us are in a rush. (It took my sister six years of dating the man who would become her husband before they lived together, but we might not wait quite that long.)

We first met in the fall of 1995 through a mutual friend, Molly. At the time I was in my first term at the University of Waterloo and Shannon was in her last year of high school. I attended her school’s graduation prom and we’ve more or less been in the same circle of friends ever since, although it wasn’t until sometime in the fall of 2003 that we started spending time alone together, and we began dating the following spring. People who know me well have often teased me for taking so long to start dating the few people I’ve gone out with, but this relationship definitely sets the record! Shannon can be shy herself at times, though, so fortunately she can relate to this tendency of mine.

It is, of course, just great being in love, and it makes me happy every day. I sometimes fear that we make a kinda dorky couple, but it generally doesn’t really bother me. Shannon understands me better than most people I’ve gotten to know over the years, but likes me anyways, and that’s pretty special. I hope we have many more happy anniversaries. :)