Relationships are a series of trials that test your patience and your desire for another person. They aren't easy by any means. But when the other person means the world to you, it's easy to decide it's worth the effort and sometimes, the pain, it takes to make a relationship work.

There are a million reasons to thank my boyfriend every day, but I am going to start with something simple.

Thank you for loving me. It's not always an easy task. I am aware of that. Sometimes I am a selfish person, sometimes I let things get the best of me, and I have bad days. Sometimes I can be really unreasonable; sometimes I lack a sense of security in myself. Sometimes I need reassurance. Sometimes I act like I am the only one that matters in the relationship and that I am the only one who has feelings. Truth is, I fall short a lot.

But you love me anyways. You accept my flaws wholeheartedly, and you have never given up on me because of them. You have chosen to endure the pain it requires to love someone who is still learning to love and accept everything about themselves. That's not easy. You put up with my ever-changing attitude and my hard head against settling. You have decided I am worth every little flaw and quirk that are so unique to who I am.

Thank you for always accepting and never judging. Thank you for appreciating how I look and the things I do to try to make other people happy. Thank you for appreciating my talents and abilities. Thank you for appreciating the way I love and understanding how powerful that love can be. Thank you for always understanding love is behind every one of my motives. Thank you for always complimenting my cooking and my singing and always telling me you fall a little bit more in love with me every day. That always means so much to me.

Thank you for the endless amounts of flowers you have bought me because you know I love them so much. Thank you for holding me when I cry and reassuring me that God has a plan for me no matter what happens—that He has a plan for us. Thank you for always having faith in our relationship, when I have been the one that has wanted to give up. You're stubborn in all of the best ways; especially in the sense that you always want to make things work.

Thank you for being brave, and thank you for standing up for yourself. Thank you for being strong—emotionally, physically and mentally. Thank you for always having a can-do attitude and being so laid back and flexible when I can't. Thank you for rolling with the punches and always putting up with my type-A personality.

You deserve the best this world has to offer. I can only hope to be the best for you, and I will do everything in my power to be that for you. You are worth that and so much more.

I love you!