Love: Five Year Edition

Today marks FIVE YEARS with my wonderful, handsome fiancé, Cadet Lovemuffin.

We've had five years of amazing memories, and I can't wait to make even more with him.

This is our year. FINALLY, it is our year. In just over three months, we will finally be married and going on our six week honeymoon!

Because of our anniversary, I wanted to share five things I love about Dan, one for each year we've been together:

1. He is determined, driven, and hard-working. He takes everything in his life seriously, and he always gives his 100%.

2. He is creative and fun. Seriously, he plans the best dates for us and is excellent at surprising me with fun new activities. (I mean, he proposed to me during a surprise hot air balloon flight. He's got it.)

3. He is willing to do almost anything. See the picture above? That's right - he wasn't even ashamed to help paint those signs and hold them proudly while we took engagement photos.

4. He is a leader. Really, he is a very charismatic person in general, but he's one of those people that you just look up to naturally. He makes wise choices, and I couldn't think of a better person to build a life with.

5. He is my best friend. We can talk for 10+ hours on a road trip and not run out of things to say. We can also sit in the same room and not say a word but still feel together. I love that about our relationship, and I will forever call him my best friend.

• How long have you been with your significant other?
• What do you do to celebrate your anniversary?
• What do you love most about him/her?

Life Lately

I haven't made any personal posts lately, so I thought I'd do that this morning.

Instead of another recipe (but just wait -- more are coming!) or book review, I decided to share what's been going on lately. This is not an all-inclusive list, but it's just some things I felt like sharing with my wonderful readers. 
1. I had a three day weekend, and it was much needed. We had parent/teacher conferences at school on Wednesday night and Thursday morning last week, so we all got Friday off. Sleeping in was wonderful, and I feel slightly recharged (but I think Thanksgiving break in about a month will really do the trick). 
2. My sports teams are doing really well this year, which is a nice change. My baseball team, the Kansas City Royals, barely missed the playoffs, but they had their BEST SEASON in several years. It was so much fun to cheer them on. My favorite college team, the University of Missouri Tigers, are 7-1 this football season, which is only their second in the SEC. They are holding their own and doing EXTREMELY well. My absolute favorite team of all time, though? The Kansas City Chiefs. And they are 8-0 for the first time in TEN years. This is pure excitement on my end. It's so much more fun being a fan to a winning team... but win or lose, I've always been faithful to my Missouri sports. 
3. I got to see one of my best friends ever this weekend! Lizzie came out to Colorado to see her husband for a quick weekend while he's at training, and we were able to see each other twice, which was so wonderful. It's really hard having a long distance best friendship... we talk every single night, sometimes for hours, and it was great to see her in person and have Jack Quinn's together one more time. 

4. Reality is setting in that Cadet Lovemuffin graduates from the Air Force Academy in just 212 days. He has been working his butt off for over four years now for this, and I can't believe that the end is finally approaching (but it could still be quicker, and I'd be okay with that). I will only be his fiancée for 214 more days; after that, I will be his wife, and I could not be ANY HAPPIER about that. This has been a really long road, but I am so ready for this part of our journey to conclude. He was supposed to find out his Air Force AFSC (job) a couple weeks ago, but that has been delayed due to the government shutdown (yes, I know it's over; no, he still doesn't know when he'll find out). Keep him in your thoughts as he waits to find out because this is a HUGE deal!