Finding Love: Kimbirdy’s Happily Ever After

If you’re new here, welcome! Last week I introduced a new series to my blog and asked readers to submit their stories on how they met their prince charmings to provide hope for those of us who remain single and perhaps rekindle flames for those who already have significant others. Sometimes it’s easy to feel down in the dumps when dating gets you nowhere, but I’d like to shift focus a bit. I want to remember those butterflies, the nerves, and excitement of a new love interest.

In my shortlived life as a blogger, I have met some pretty incredible women. I consider myself extremely lucky that Kimbirdy of Fill Your Well agreed to guest post here today as she has been one of my favorites since I started following her about a year ago when she was just getting married. Not only is she cute as a button, she has such a kind heart and loving way about her. Her story is very romantic with a bit of a twist but I don’t want to give anything else away. Read and fall in love with her yourself.

(If you would like to be featured in the “Finding Love” series, please email me at charlotte@mypixieblog.com. I look forward to hearing from you!)

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i’ve spent a lot of time collecting love stories and if there’s one thing i’ve learned it’s this: every love story is different. there’s no “probably” or “usually.” love is unpredictable and can happen at any given moment in any given way.  my own love story developed over the course of the past 7 years and came in two parts.  

Part 1:

throughout my younger years i always focused on building large groups of friends out of which i would find a suitable bachelor to pursue.  casual dating is so awkward, but when a certain dreamboat is already your friend you have a pretty good sense of whether they’re worth your time.  towards the end of college i found myself newly single after a very long relationship.  i revved the engines, began itemizing my guyfriends, and quickly found one who fit the mold.  i flirted and flirted and amongst all this flirting i began getting to know my crush’s roommate.  now i was not interested in the roommate whatsoever, so i never put up my guard around him. i didn’t care if he found me crying in a tree or saw me randomly in my bikini in the middle of the night.  soon i found myself spending most of my time with this roommate. we had so much fun together and could easily talk about everything.  eventually, the roommate said, “maybe we should date.”  i laughed and quickly replied, “no, i would NEVER date you.  you’re totally not my type AT ALL.”  i went on explaining this so he would have no doubt in his mind that i was not interested.  i felt pretty confident about this conversation and whole-heartedly believed that i did not, and would not ever, have feelings for him.

  
the next morning i woke up with a great start and exclaimed “what have i done?!”  it suddenly dawned on me that what i had with the roommate was exactly what i had always been looking for in a relationship, and subsequently, what i had always been missing.  i also knew that since i had firmly rejected him, i couldn’t rely on my usual flirtation tactics. nope, i would have to put my big girl panties on and tell him straight out.  we went on exactly two dreamy dates before we decided to make it official.  we dated for a year, part of which was long distance, and finally decided that it was just not working.  i was so confused because i thought for sure that everything about him was exactly what i had been needing. yet here we were, going our separate ways. i began casually dating other people, and embracing the young, independent woman within me.

 
Part 2:

fast forward 6 months.  i found myself fresh off the boat in san francisco, clear across the country from everyone i knew.  i didn’t have a job or a place to live, i just had my free spirit and enthusiasm for starting life from scratch.  it was there at that time that the roommate and i reconnected.  it was weird, i’m not gonna lie.  we had both changed a lot in our time apart, and although there were some familiarities in the way we connected, we had pretty much started over at the beginning of our friendship.  we remained friends for the next couple years, seeking elsewhere for our relationships, until we once again had the realization that we were growing deep feelings for each other.  we decided that things were very different from the first time we dated and that we owed it to our new selves to give it another go.  

over the next three years we dated, going on many adventures and supporting each other through the trials of young adulthood {read: grad school}.  just after our three year anniversary he proposed, and 4 months later we were domestically partnered in a beautiful wedding ceremony {we decided not to do a marriage license in support of our many gay, lesbian and transgendered friends and family}.  looking back, it’s crazy to see the length and direction of the path which our love took, but that’s love for you.  like i said, it’s completely unpredictable.  i was sure i never wanted to date him, then after we broke up, i was sure that was the end of the story for us. yet here we are, 7 years later, the roommate i twice thought wouldn’t be mine, now my husband.