It is okay for your boyfriend to be your best friend, despite what others may think.

They're your partner. Your partner in crime. Your partner in grocery shopping, binge-watching, and other normal things that you do.

I frequently refer to my boyfriend as my best friend and don't care about the eye rolls from my single friends, because at the end of the day the friendship I have with him is different than the friendship I cherish with my girls.

With my girlfriends, I'm loud and opinionated and we talk about the people in our classes, the makeup we just bought at Ulta, if we should go out that weekend or stay in, how we feel about a certain professor, etc. Our conversations are about anything and everything. We get each other because we're girls and we understand each others' thought processes.

With your man, it's a little different. Although he took to me pretty fast, I wasn't as intrigued by him until I found out that he could make me laugh and is the least judgemental person on the planet. Over the course of about six months, we spent time together, got to know one another, and eventually started going on dates.

He learned all about me. How sensitive I am, what my ugly laugh sounds like, what I crave in the middle of the night, etc. And I learned how much he loves his niece, how generous he is to anyone in need, and how he hates vegetables.

After this, I felt like he really knew me. So when he turned to me one day and asked me to be his girlfriend, I naturally said yes and forgot to tell my friends until a week later because we were basically boyfriend and girlfriend for months before this day.

I could talk to him about anything and he would speak to me with an open mind, no matter the subject... which is just one of the many reasons he's freaking awesome. He's also an amazing listener which is one important trait on my long list of boyfriend qualifications due to the excessive amount of time I spend talking.

He's handsome, smart, caring, thoughtful, and everything you could want in a guy.

His acts of kindness have been big, like taking me for amazing Italian food and then surprising me with candles, roses, candy, and an amazing makeup palette that he mentally noted after I mentioned once in a conversation. (Yes, this past Valentines Day was the best one I've ever had).

Or they can be small. Like bringing me food all the way across town because he knows I've been stressing over an event I have to work and haven't eaten all day.

Both of which I equally appreciated.

He is the most patient man I've ever been with. Also, the only one I'm comfortable referring to as a man because he has proven to me that he is not only a man but a good man.

So yes, he is my best friend. No, he is not my entire life or my only friend and yes I can somehow breathe without him. However, I am crazy in love and wouldn't want to be with anyone else.