What a difference a year makes

One year ago today, it was a normal day. I worked, I goofed off on the internet, I probably emailed my friend J (we generally do email back and forth every day), I likely did some daydreaming/planning for the Italy trip I had coming up in a few weeks, I probably bitched about the cold weather. But that evening I did a less usual thing ... I went on a date. If you had told me as I was getting ready to go out that I was about to completely change the course of my life, I'd have laughed at you. I wasn't even really thinking of it as a date -- I was meeting an old friend, someone I knew for a brief time a lifetime ago, for coffee.

Who would have thunk that a year later here we'd be? Living together, planning a future together. I can't imagine my life without him in it now, and I'm grateful for everything we've shared over the last year, and looking forward to everything we will share in the years to come.

So the lesson learned? Be open to every opportunity. Smile and be friendly to everyone you meet. Because you never know when five years down the road someone might see your picture on a dating website and think to him or herself "I remember that person -- she was cool" and ask if you want to get a coffee and catch up. And it'll turn out that that person was the one you were waiting for after all.

Happy anniversary, honey.