The first time my boyfriend asked me out, I said no. However, he decided to pursue a friendship with me, and I eventually realized how amazing he was. We started dating May 5th, 2015. It was the summer before his senior year in high school and I was preparing to graduate high school and start community college in February.

The first year we dated was magical. We constantly surprised each other with new parts of our personalities and new bits of information about our histories. I surprised him at band practice with his favorite fresh baked cookies, and he surprised me at dance practice with flowers. We did not have many arguments or problems during the first year we dated. The honeymoon stage lasted very long and I thought that he was unbelievably perfect. Both of us could not believe that we had the privilege to date the other person.

The second year we dated was more difficult. Tyler graduated and started his first year at Grand Canyon University while I finished my Associate's degree in our California hometown.

We saw each other about once every month and a half during the school year. With the ability to go on dates and hang out mostly taken away, we had to really focus on our ability to communicate.

We argued more than ever our second year, partly because of the long distance, but also because our lovey-dovey haze of a new relationship was lifted.

We began to notice aspects of each other that were annoying, difficult to deal with, and unexpected. It took a lot of hard work to make it through our second year, but the fight made us stronger in the long run.

We learned how to solve difficult problems, deal with conflict, and, most importantly, we learned what it means to be devoted in spite of undesirable circumstances.

After we celebrated our second anniversary and entered our third year of dating, everything came together. I transferred to Grand Canyon University, and I was able to see my boyfriend every day of the week. We went on dates and helped each other with homework. We had the benefit of our growth during the second year and the revitalization of our blind, high school love. I knew I could rely on my boyfriend for anything even if we weren’t feeling passionately in love that day.

Celebrating our third anniversary was liberating because we knew that we were committed. We have been through so much over three years, and yet we have remained devoted and in love. While we did not always feel the romance, we know our relationship is strong and worthwhile.

Our relationship is often full of happiness and joy, but sometimes we still argue and conflict still arises. However, we have tools to handle whatever we encounter and we always make an effort to solve every problem that we have.