Sometimes I feel like Buddy the Elf when he says, “I’m in
love and I don’t care who knows it!” Do you know the scene I’m talking about?
The scene where Buddy is so completely in love that he wants to shout it from
the rooftops. That’s how I feel. I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it!
Seriously.
Falling and being in love is different than I ever imagined
it to be…it’s so much better! Love isn’t always the “fairytale” kind of
love…although sometimes it does feel that way! Love is a conscious choice, it
is sacrifice, it is communication, learning together, and growing together. Love
is humility. Love brings out ugly
things in you, you wish you could hide. Love is forgiveness. Love highlights
your greatest strengths. Love is a teacher. It is quiet prayers and gentle
hugs. It is work and it is pleasure. It is crying together and laughing
together. Love is gentleness and kindness. It is patience. Love is finding
imperfections perfect. Love is always changing. It is content in silence and in
noise. It is making memories. Love is intentional. It is selfless. Love never
stops growing. It is forehead kisses. It is showing up with flowers when you’re
sick. It is writing love notes just because. It is a beautiful mix of
giddiness, reality, and fantasy. While I have heard the verse at too many
weddings to count, Love truly is…patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It
does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love
never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) I have just begun to experiences the
beautiful joys of being in love and still have so much to learn.
Today, Darin and I celebrate our Year and a Half
Anniversary. Now, before you begin rolling your eyes (if you haven’t already), we
believe in celebrating every day. From our first day on, we have celebrated our
month-anniversaries just for fun. Just to celebrate love and thank the Lord for
the precious gift that it is. So with that, I have no apologies for whatever
sappy words may follow…
And the Reminiscing Begins…
A Year and a Half. 548 Days that I have had the amazing and
humbling honor of calling Darin Mirante my boyfriend. Goodness, I remember our
first date so vividly. August 1, 2012 I was a nervous wreck. Ha! Oooh, I still
get butterflies thinking back to that day.
After our long and honestly agonizing year long journey
leading to our first date (part of our story is told here) combined with the
fact that I had never…yes never been out on a date before, I was a ball full of
giddy and anxious nerves. So much so that I decided that I would attempt to
paint away my nerves…and I’m not a painter. Ha! Obviously that was an epic
failure. Right on time, Darin showed up and knocked on the door. {Insert Emilee
taking a deep breath and wiping palms on dress} I opened the door to the most
adorably handsome man holding a card and a single stemmed pink Gerber Daisy.
{Swoon} I think I probably said something awkward about my painting as I
gathered my things and we began our adventure. My sweet boy had planned the
most precious date, down to the last detail. We drove to Downtown Cincinnati to
a super yummy Italian restaurant close to Fountain Square. When we arrived,
Sweet Boy pulled out another card and another Gerber Daisy. I mean, seriously!
When we got to the restaurant, we were literally the only ones there…so we were
especially pampered and I was especially nervous. Ha! I remember there was a
painting of Jesus hanging up on the wall and I kept trying to divert attention
off of myself and onto the painting. Like I said, I had never done this before.
After dinner, we walked over to Fountain Square where a Reggae Festival was
going on and began walking toward Graeters, since that is my all-time favorite
kind of ice cream. Being the awkward and nervous person that I was, I told him
that I was so full and just couldn’t eat another bite. Ha! Yeah, I totally shot
down his plan. Silly girl.
After our super yummy dinner and walk around Fountain
Square, we drove to another surprise location…Eden Park. Which actually had
been the exact place where we “passed the baton” during the Flying Pig Relay we
did the year before. Anywayyy…when we arrived at the park, Sweet One presented
me with another precious card and Gerber Daisy. He seriously spoiled me rotten.
We walked around the reflection pool, reenacted a little Sound of Music in the
gazebo, and then made our way up to the lookout at the top of the hill. From
there we wandered over to a spot on a hill, where he read some scripture, we
talked about what our relationship would mean and how we both were going in
prayerfully expecting to “go the distance”, and he officially asked me to be
his girlfriend. Again I will say, eeeeep! I remember getting up and saying out
loud, “I have a boyfriend. Whoa! That’s crazy" and then I of course followed that with an awkwardly giddy giggle. Honestly, I’ve never been too
keen on the label “boyfriend,” probably because it has been misused in so many contexts,
BUT in that moment, more than gaining a boyfriend, I gained a best friend,
ministry partner, and a precious love for the rest of my life. Needless to say,
it was an incredibly special night of awkwardly wonderful conversations, sweet
elevator moments, first official public outing, Gerber Daisy goodness, heart
melting cards, and a commitment to love and pursue Darin for the rest of my
days.
Long Distance is NOT For the Faint of Heart…
After that day, we began to fall into a rhythm of doing life
together and preparing for me to go back to school. Ugh, that was awful. Less
than 2 weeks after “officially” being together and I had to leave to go back to
Lexington. Those first few weeks were ROUGH…well if I’m being completely
honest, that whole school year was rough. But all of those sad blubbery details
can be found in another post, this is a happy one! During those 8 months that I
was away at school, we found a less than ideal but as good as we could get it
rhythm, where I would either come up or he would come down most weekends.
Definitely not the way we would have wanted it, but we really made it work and
had some super sweet times. Like…
- Darin surprising me on the first day of school…yup, he drove down way early in the morning to surprise me with flowers, a card, gifts for my sweet housemates, and the greatest gift of all…HIM. Mmm, so precious.
- Spoiling me silly for my 20th Birthday (read about that amazing day here)
- Our Arboretum Dates
- Our Adventures to Columbus, Louisville, and Franklin, IN
- Driving Nearly Every Weekend To and From Louisville to See and Spend Time with Pappy.
- Our First Kiss
- Family Celebrations
- Loving Me Through Losing my Sweet Pappy-O.
- Our First Thanksgiving
- Our Modern Dance Date Night Extravaganzas
- The beginning of our Ugly Sweater Tradition
- Our First “I Love You”
- Our First Christmas
- Lovingly Sending Me Back to School Each Sunday
- Discovering “Our Spots” in Lexington and NKY
- Our First Trip to Wabash
- Our First New Year Together
- Passion 2013
- Loving Me Through the Flu and Other Illnesses
- Our First Valentine’s Day (read about those 2 special days here)
- Our First March Madness Together
- Our Indoor Picnic
- Celebrating Darin’s Birthday
- Our Ring Pop Engagement
- Skydiving
- Deciding to Transfer Home
- Birth of Zoe Russell
- Officially Moving Home
So THAT was a crazy year. It was a time in our relationship
and in my life that I had to fully rely on the Lord’s provision and
faithfulness. I cried almost every day and longed to be home and stop
saying goodbye to the man I was falling in love with more and more every day.
BUT, despite those crazy long weeks and crazy short weekends, we survived and
managed to grow in life and love. We learned SO MUCH about communicating,
surviving long distance, learning to LAUGH at our unfortunate distance, and making
the most of any and all time we had together. Making this list makes me
remember all of the ways Darin so intentionally and selflessly served and loved
me and makes me remember the heartache of leaving him each week. It was a tough
time but we absolutely persevered through it and wouldn’t have changed it
because of all the ways we learned and grew from it. But, I certainly do not
long to have those days back and have found SUCH joy in finding a more natural
and consistent rhythm with my handsome fella.
And Then I Came Home…
Best decision ever. Seriously. It has been so far from easy
and has come with many, many tears (I mean for real, it’s embarrassing
sometimes). Ha! But, I cannot fully express how good it has been for Darin and
I just to be able to do life together. Since coming home, we have had the
absolute joy of doing boring, mundane, and (semi) predictable life
together...and it has been AMAZING. After having our first 8+ months juggling a
long distance relationship, we have such an appreciation for doing normal
things together. My favorite moments with Darin are spent on the couch watching
Parenthood or in a coffee shop, just spending quiet and relaxing time together.
It never gets old. Sometimes I’ll catch myself and get giddy thinking, “Oh my
goodness, we get to have lunch together!” Or “I get to see him tomorrow!” It
still makes me giddy at the realization. But full disclosure- I quickly got
accustomed to the change and now grieve watching him drive away even when I
know I’ll see him the next day. Call me greedy. Ha! Since coming home, we have
continued to make a lot of sweet memories, have continued to learn more about
each other, and have fallen into a natural and wonderful rhythm together. Some
of my favorite moments since coming home have been…
- Weddings Galore
- Rachel and Jeremy’s Wedding
- Park Dates with Reading and Racko
- Our Trip to Disney World with Mom and Dad
- Family Reunion in Pennsylvania
- Darin Becoming the Union Campus Pastor
- Our 333rd Day
- Toronto Mission Trip
- Our First 1st Anniversary
- Gelato Dates
- Lake Pickwick
- Family Celebrations
- Dates to Over the Rhine, Coffee Shops, and Parks
- Loving Me Through the Rough Start of NKU
- Loving Me Through my Mental Breakdown about NKU
- My 21st Birthday Date Night
- Friday Fun Days
- Introduction to Parenthood
- Movie Nights
- Second Thanksgiving (apart)
- Second Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater
- Our First Christmas Together
- Family Game Nights
- Loving Me Through Toe Surgery
- Second Trip to Wabash
- Double Dates with Friends
- Subway/Chipotle and Parenthood…the greatest combination
- Lake Pickwick #2
- New Year 2014
- Loving Me Through My Trip to the ER
- Loving Me Through My Emotional Days
This list seems somewhat anticlimactic compared to the other
list…but I sort of love that. Because in between these “highlights” have been
NORMAL days. Days spent on the couch, busy days where a couple of hours were
all we got, hours spent at Barnes & Noble doing homework and reading, hours
spent running errands, hours and days of doing life. Normal, monotonous,
beautiful life.
Now, as to not paint an unrealistic picture, there have been
and still are days that communicating seems especially difficult, I feel
especially selfish, and many days when I just cry and cry for no real reason at
all. You know that scene in The Holiday when Graham admits, “I’m a major
weeper” (in that wonderful accent of his), well, Confession Time: I, Emilee
Hancock, am a major weeper. Seriously. I cry about being stressed, I cry about
school, about the future, I cry about my insecurities, and then I cry about
crying. I never knew that I was so emotional. You know how I mentioned that
part in my definition of love that it brings out ugly things in you sometimes?
It does. When two imperfect people are in love, you are inevitably going to
disappoint the other person. And while that breaks my heart (and shockingy makes
me cry), it happens. And when it does, it’s an opportunity for growth through
humility and grace. In response to him saying that he loves me, I often say
“I’m so glad you do. I’m sorry I make it hard sometimes.” Our relationship is
far from perfect. But it is really amazing and imperfectly wonderful. I have
loved learning how to love and be loved. It truly has been the greatest joy,
challenge, and blessing I have ever experienced. It has shaped me into a better
person and has made me more aware of areas in my heart and my life that need
work. It has created a desire and passion in me I didn’t know was there. It has
made me increasingly and excruciatingly impatient sometimes wanting to press
fast-forward. Ha! And it has given me the sweetest glimpse and understanding of
the undeserving but so so incredibly beautiful love of Jesus.
I love Darin. I love his heart and how he challenges me
daily. I love that he lets me cry. I love his silly and youthful spirit. I love
his sense of humor. I love his patience. I love his kindness towards me and
towards others. I love how passionate he is. I love his selflessness. I love
that he believes in me. I love his honesty. I love how hard he works. I love
his love for family. I love doing nothing with him and I love doing everything
with him. I love the comfortable silence we can share. I love learning more
about him. I love his “smiling ears.” I love his laugh. I love his hugs. I love
him. I love so many things about him I could write all night long, but more than anything else, I love the
man God has so wonderfully and beautifully created him to be and am honored and humbled to love and
be loved by him.
Happy Year and a Half
Anniversary, Sweet Love. Here’s to many, many more!
