Three Years

Three years ago today I married the most amazing person I've ever met. I find it funny when people ask Brent and me how long we've been married. Three years seems so trivial after all of the challenges and adventures we've been through together.

Back when we met on Catalina Island in the summer of 2002 neither of us were even sure if we were looking for a committed relationship, despite the fact that my dad easily picked up on the fact that I was in love just by the tone of my voice heard over a bad phone connection. Later that fall over garlic fries and an amazing microbrew of some sort shared in Nelson, British Colombia, we made the first big leap toward a commitment to one another. Brent threw it out there that he was headed to Vail, Colorado, for the winter and I casually tossed out the idea that Vail wasn't all that different from Tahoe, my planned destination, so I might as well see what Vail had to offer. Our relationship survived those first few years because we had enough common interests and ideas that our paths could travel in parallel and still allow us to fulfill our own individual needs for travel and adventure (the fact that we were pretty dang in love helped too).

Seriously, how could I not fall in love with this guy? (In case you're
curious, that's a robotic mechanical shark used for research).

As time pushed us forward we began to think a little less about ourselves and a little more about us. At the end of 2004 we made plans to travel around Southeast Asia together for up to a year. We both worked hard to make it happen and our lives became deeply intertwined in both the practical and the whimsical sense. International travel is a great way to test a relationship, and at the two and a half year mark, this trip pushed our relationship to the limits. I can still clearly remember choking back tears as I sat in an overgrown baseball field of some sort on a hot, dusty day in Thailand thinking I was packing my bags and heading back to the States alone. It was a very challenging trip at times, and we certainly saw the worst of each other; we also learned how to communicate and how to be each others' sole source of support. We came back with an intense understanding of one another. The fiery, passionate love we kindled on the island had turned into something much deeper.

New Years. Koh Chang, Thailand. 2005.

During our travels in Southeast Asia we started planning a future together. No, we had no intention of getting married, but we did decide that it was time to settle down a bit and try staying in one spot while we worked to start our careers. We moved to Santa Barbara and adjusted to the more traditional trials of life - paying rent, splitting up household chores, and keeping a relationship healthy despite the stress of grad school and a new career in green building. One thing led to another and our views regarding marriage slowly shifted (mine a little more quickly than Brent's). Brent proposed in the spring of 2008. We were married on Catalina Island that September.

Over the the nine years I've known Brent our relationship has changed dramatically. It's still a work in progress, but it is strong and oh so worth the work. I can't imagine anyone else on this planet that I would rather choose to take on the next adventure with. I don't know anyone else that would so willingly jump in, had in hand, feet first, with one hundred percent commitment and understanding.

I do! September 20, 2008.

Three (nine?) years later it still makes my heart flutter to say I love you Brent Safranski!