Young Love

Tomorrow is my 3 year anniversary with my boyfriend Marquiss.....THREE YEARS! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It feels like just yesterday we were on our first date. Since my anniversary is tomorrow I thought it would be appropriate for this week's blog to be all about love and share what I've learned in the past three years.

Homecoming- October 15th 2016

How did my relationship start?

Beach date- August 1st 2015

My relationship started on July 4th 2015, it was the summer after our sophomore year in high school. We had a class together sophmore year and that's how we met, but we first started talking to each other online before talking in person. We had severval months of just talking to each other and some flirting here and there. I definitely had a crush on him the whole time. Once summer rolled around our feelings for each other really grew; he asked me on our first date and we started dating a week later.

Knowing he's the one....

March 6th 2016

Marquiss is the first boyfriend I've ever had. How did I know that he was the one for me? I think that we had an instant connection from the start, I remember on our first date I felt so comfortable with him. He knows how to make me laugh and no matter what we're doing or where we are I am always happier when he is around. I knew he was the one for me because he always showed me respect, love, and care. We could talk for hours and never run out of things to say. I knew he was the one for me because I never felt that way about anyone before I met him.

High-School Sweethearts

Graduation- June 6th 2017

Having Marquiss by my side through my last two years in high school was truly a blessing. We have such sweet memories from homecomings to prom to just seeing him everyday in the hallway. I loved leaving my class and seeing him there waiting for me and he would walk me to my next class. It's the little things that make a high-school relationship so cute. Now our high school days seem so far away!

Monday Mornings- April 17th, 2016

I think we learned a lot from having a high-school relationships. There's a lot of things that can make the relationship harder than it needs to be. It's important to remember that you are both still growing and figuring yourself out as a person. It is so amazing to be able to grow with a person but it also requires a lot of patience. Next, it's so easy to let other's opinions into your relationship in high school because you see the same people everyday. I was guilty of focusing on what other people were doing and saying instead of focusing on what was important: the two of us.

College Couple

Football Game - October 28th 2017

Going to college consists of a lot of changes and this involved changes in our relationship. Instead of seeing each other every day like we did in

high school, I would now see him once or twice a month. We went to school about an hour away from each other which was hard but worth it.

Being in a college relationship requires a lot of trust and patience. College is hard and the classes take up hours of your time! We really had to learn to give each other the space we both needed to succeed while still supporting each other. Sometimes we wouldn't talk all day because we were both just too busy. I think it's important to know that just because your significant other has to focus on other things instead of you doesn't mean that you're not important to them. I think the fact that we were together for two years before going to college made it easier for us to transition to the new changes in our relationships but with a newer relationship I could see how it could be harder.

A lot of couples make the tough decision of deciding whether or not to stay together after high-school. I think that if you really love and care for each other then the relationship is not impossible, like always it just takes good communication, trust, and understanding.

St. Maarten Vacation - June 27th 2017

I think the fact that we were no longer seeing each other everyday made us appreciate the times when we were together even more. It showed me how strong our love was and in my opinion it grew stronger because of the new circumstances. He always made me feel special and feel his love whether he was with me or not. For example, this year Valentine's Day fell on a week-day and it was our first Valentine's not spend with each other so he sent me flowers with a special message right to my dorm! I really appreciate every thing he does for me.

What's my Advice?

Prom 2017 Relationships take a lot of work but I think when you love each other most things come naturally. I think that behind a strong relationship is a strong friendship. When you genuinely care about that person you won't hurt them, you'll support them, and you'll want to see them happy. Here are the things I've learned and that I think are most important in a healthy relationship:

Trust

Starting off with one of the hardest ones! Trusting someone is very hard but it is so important in a relationship. I listed this one first because I think it's something a lot of people struggle with and I understand why, it makes you vulnerable to heartbreak and hurt and it might seem easier to keep a wall up but it would hurt your relationship in the end. Not having trust creates more doubts, more jealousy, more arguments. There have been a lot of times over the past three years where I might have wanted to start an argument or felt jealous and I would literally say to myself "I trust him" and let it go.

The strong trust that I have for my boyfriend didn't form over night, it formed because he never gave me a reason not to trust him, he showed me love, respect, and thus it formed over time.

Ice Skating - January 10th 2016

Communication

Another thing that is so important is effective communication, not yelling and arguing or ignoring each other but actually listening to what your significant other is saying. Again this is something is always being worked on in a relationship. My advice is that if you feel something, say something. Be honest with each other. There may be some tough conversations but its better to have them, your relationship won't grow without them.

17th Birthday - September 19th 2016

Showing Love

I think its so important to always show your love no matter how long you've been together. Even though I know my boyfriend loves me I still love to hear it and for him to show me. He shows me when we texts me good morning every day, buys me flowers spontaneously, makes time out of his day for me, and always finds new and fun dates for us.

Three Years

Mini golf date - May 21st 2018