A Tale of Two Lovers

Hello to all of you lovely chickadees! I'm Annie from Blonde Glambition. I currently live in the Land of Aloha, otherwise known as Hawaii. I'm a Army wife, Air Force brat, college student, and cuppycake enthusiast...well, more like food enthusiast! Thanks to Melissa for this opportunity to share my story, and to all you for reading it!

Love is in the air. Valentine's Day is upon us, and needless to say my mind drifts to that of my lover, aka my hubby. We've been married for nearly 9 years now, and it's quite rare that we get the chance to spend significant days and/or holidays together. That is life in the Army for you…haha. You won't hear me complain though as him and I both love our chosen lifestyle.



When I look back on the past nine years of our relationship, I'm amazed by the simple fact that our bond is stronger than either one of us could have ever imagined. As we're now on on our fourth combat deployment, we've had to both put forth that extra bit of effort to remain connected. It's not an easy feat to continue growing/evolving as individuals and as a couple simultaneously in the midst of geographical separations, but it's also not impossible.

I remember our first Valentine's Day together. We had only been dating for 3 1/2 months, and little did either one of us know that we would be married a month later. It was that day that I realized just how thoughtful my lover was, and that his feelings for me were the kind that love stories described. He bought this book for me called, "All About Us." Many of you have probably seen it, as it's still sold in stores. Inside it has a slew of questions and fill in the blank sections so that you can personalize the book's contents so that it tells the story of your love. My lover's answers and comments in the book gave me the chance to see myself and our relationship through his eyes. I was completely smitten. Well, to be completely honest, I was smitten from the very beginning. After our third date, I told my closest friend at the time that he was "the one." His openness, honesty, and vulnerability that Valentine's Day only solidified our relationship further, and I still have the book to this day.

In the nine years that we've been together, we have spent over half of that time apart due to military duty. It's a sacrifice that we willingly make and greatly credit for our strong bond. Our extended physical absences from one another have pushed us to be more active and creative in the manner in which we stay connected. Our idea of romance is not necessarily that of others, but it's worked for us so far. Our biggest thing is effort, albeit sometimes challenging when we get caught up in everyday life. Any amount of effort, small or big, is better than nothing though. Pair that with our brutal honesty towards one another (we don't beat around the bush when it comes to the ups and downs in our relationship), and I'd say we found a pretty good recipe to help us stay connected.

When he is away, we have dance sessions on Skype (he loves to pass the funk my way), we send each other silly pics and drawings, I cover his care packages with love notes (I even used to paint his boxes back before flat rate boxes existed), and he calls me just to tell me he misses me when I least expect it.

When he's home, I make him spicy meals from scratch (he loves spicy food) and leave little notes for him to find by his uniform in the mornings. I also love to bake, however my kitchen usually ends up covered in pans, bowls, utensils, and icing by the nights end. My lover, without hesitation, comes to the kitchen when I'm done and tells me to go relax while he cleans everything up for me. Now for me that, along with the foot rub he bestows upon me when he's done, is the ultimate in romantic gestures. Goodness…does that make us sound like an old married couple or what? Haha! Even if it does, I don't care because I married a man that not only encourages me to be who I am, but he supports all of my endeavors, is always up for any idea I have (no matter how crazy it may sound), plus he has this magical ability to make me smile and giggle when I get too up tight about things no matter how far away he may be.

I didn't know it was possible to love this deeply until I met my lover. Who would've known that getting married at 18 would be the best decision I ever made?!?! Life's not always easy, especially in the military, but I'm thankful for all of the challenges, deployments, training cycles, and long work days because it has taught us to make the most of every moment that we have together. Our love and our life together is a fabulous gift; a wild adventure that I wouldn't trade for the world.