Usually, my boyfriend helps me pick a topic for my articles, and he usually gets to read it before I publish it too. But, sorry babe, not this one. This one is a surprise. This is a thank you letter to my boyfriend. I think everyone should write a little thank you note for their significant other every once in a while, so here’s mine.

Dear Jesse,

Thank you. Thank you for going out on a limb and trusting this girl you met online, me, and actually taking the time to get to know her. Thank you for making that first of many phone calls to a girl all the way in Iowa. Thank you for the countless “good morning beautiful” texts that I can always count on waking up to. Thank you for sticking around even though I’m a smidgen crazy and weird. Thank you for always being respectful of me in every way, and for saying “yes ma’am” sometimes, opening doors for me, and moving me away from the car when there’s one headed towards us as we’re walking.

Thank you for the many, many laughs over the phone, on text, or on FaceTime. Even when I don’t feel like laughing, you always know how to make me smile and get at least a little laugh out of me. Thank you for always supporting me in everything I do, and for being there when I need to vent to someone or cry to someone about something that happened. Thank you for the “call me” texts when you know I’m not doing anything.

And thank you for making me the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. Thank you for making me feel butterflies again, especially when I first met you in the lobby of the Holiday Inn, my goodness I get butterflies just thinking about it. Thank you for being real and telling me not to eat before our first date because you want me to actually eat real food in front of you. Thank you for remembering and paying attention to the little things, it’s crazy that you can tell if something is wrong just by one text message, and the fact that you got me my favorite flowers on our first date is really sweet. Or the fact that you remember the exact sweatshirt I was wearing when I first snapchatted you is super cute.

Thank you for being mature and being a great communicator, especially when we fight. Thank you for calling me out when I’m not being very nice, or having a negative attitude. Thank you for letting me think I’m right even when I’m not. Thank you for using cute nicknames for me; they make me blush so hard. Thank you for giving me a sense of security even though you're 500 plus miles away. Thank you for making awkward situations less awkward, like when a burp slips out mid-sentence on FaceTime and you shake your phone making seem as if it were an earthquake and making me laugh.

Thank you for being completely honest with me, and trusting me. Thank you for loving the fact that I can be a “girly girl” because I like to get my nails done, and that I can be “one of the guys” because I enjoy fishing, hunting, shooting guns, don't mind getting a little dirty, and just love being outdoors. Thank you for screenshotting all of my silly faces on Snapchat and promising to post them on Facebook. Thank you for helping me pick out what to wear when I don’t know what I should wear. Thank you for teaching me about some “life stuff” like budgeting and all that jazz.

Thank you for the wonderful time I’ve spent with you so far, I can’t wait for all the memories yet to come! Thanks for the heartfelt gifts too! Thank you for introducing me to your parents while I was in Kentucky. And thank you for driving me around all the time, and paying bridge tolls and for the five-and-a-half hour drive to meet my parents. But most importantly, thank you for loving me for who I am. Thank you for loving me without makeup on. Thank you for loving me when I don’t feel like loving myself. Thank you for complimenting me and actually meaning it. Thank you for calling me beautiful and gorgeous and pretty all the time and making me believe it. Thank you for loving me exactly the way I am, the raw Jada. Thank you for loving me not just physically, but for my personality. Before we even felt each other's embrace, we were in love with each other. Thank you for always telling me I’m beautiful in so many ways. Thank you for building up self-confidence that I didn’t have before.

Thank you for being the amazing man you are and continue to be. I love you so much!

Love,

Jada

P.S. There's a lot of stuff I forgot to mention, and thank you for all of that too. xoxo