July 13

For those of you who don't know our little July 13 story, let me tell ya...

On July 13, 2007, I logged into my MySpace account after dropping Miss Sarah Anne off at pre-school. I had a few notifications, two of them being both a message and a friend request from some guy named Mark who was wearing a suit in his profile picture. Hmmmm. I didn't know any Marks, and certainly none of the guys I did know wore suits; but I was curious, so I opened his message and read it. He thought I had a nice smile and was hoping I was having a nice day. I wrote back that I was having a very nice day since I was getting off work a little early and would be getting a manicure in just a few short hours. He wrote back not long after asking how I would be getting my nails done. I replied, "A french manicure". He replied, "Simple and pretty, just like you." That was it. Friend Request Accepted. Ha ha!

Fast forward to July 13, 2009, two years later. After what Mark insists is "forever" and "the most excruciating time", I finally agree to a first date. He was positive I wanted nothing to do with him beyond our platonic friendship. In reality, I was crazy for him and my fears of it not working out hindered my ability to express it, I guess. In other words - I wanted him in my life, even if it meant we would spend our entire lifetime just being friends. I was nervous a relationship would ruin our friendship. Eventually, I felt confident in his persistence and we met up for our first date, where he presented me with the First White Rose. Little did we know that night that the white rose would become such a significant tradition for our relationship. I now receive one single white rose each July 13, and he purchases each rose from the same florist. Here is this year's rose:

Each rose (I now have four) are enjoyed for a bit before I press them, saving them forever. Eventually, I want to display them. They are each marked by the date and how we celebrated:

July 13, 2009 - Our First Date

Uno's Restaurant, Kirkwood Mo.

July 13, 2010 - Our First Anniversary

Cannoli's Restaurant, Florissant Mo.

Snuggled up to Gone With the Wind at home

July 13, 2011 - Our Second Anniversary

The Zoo & The Boathouse, St. Louis Mo.

Saint Charles Cinema for The Zookeeper

July 13, 2012 - Our Third Anniversary

Cannoli's Restaurant, Florissant Mo.

St. Andrew's Cinema for The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Snuggled up to Friday the 13th at home

We couldn't help but watch Friday the 13th since our anniversary this year did fall on Friday, the 13th. Fortunately for us, it was not an unlucky day :)

I was a bit intrigued when I woke up that morning (we both took the day off work) and Mark informed me "What I really wanted to get you for our anniversary didn't work out, but don't worry, I've got you something nice." Hmmmmm. A million little thoughts ran through my head. Of course, the first question I asked was "Well, am I still getting what you really wanted to get me?" "Yes." "When?" "Soon." And that was enough to suffice me :) What I did get for our anniversary was presented to me at the restaurant. A very lovely 6mm genuine amethyst pendant. It is just beautiful. I spent half our meal just moving it in all different angles and admiring the brilliant cut of it. I have no idea how last minute this gift was, since Mark is leaving me absolutely clueless and completely curious about what his first gift was, but whenever Mark picked out this little beauty he definitely scored major points. I love it :) For him I had matching tumblers engraved with our initials and date, to be used as our July 13 glasses when we toast our relationship each year. Okay, so that meant his gift was a little bit for me too, but he loved them just the same and thought it was a great idea. We filled the glasses with Diet Bubba Cola - an inside joke.

With the anniversary this year celebrated and over, we're back to the grindstone with work. Lots and lots of work. Mark and I are really excited about the next few months, and I look forward to blogging all about it!