Pink Scrubs: 4 Year Anniversary!

S and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary last Monday (January 30, 2012)! In one sense, I can't believe it has already been 4 years because it has just gone by so quickly, but in another way, its kind of crazy how much we have done and been through in our relationship in these years.

S and I started dating in January 2008. I had just found out that I would be studying abroad in the Netherlands for 6 months, so we had a slow beginning. I didn't want to get in anything "long-term" because I was just going to be leaving for Europe months later. Well, something I have learned is that you don't pick when/who you fall in love with...It just happens. As I left for Europe, S and I decided to see what happens. We were still in a new relationship, so if the long-distance got tough, it could end. However, the fact that being in Europe still made me want to skype him everyday, rather then going out to meet Dutch men, it became clear that there was something special between us. When I came back to the United States, we spent the next couple months together constantly... We were basically attached at the hip. Then, in early spring, S received his acceptance to Medical School to Michigan State University. While I was overjoyed that he was accepted to a medical school program and that he would be living out his dreams of becoming a physician, it wasn't soon after that I realized what this meant. We would be forced in that same spot again--either choosing to be long distance or choosing to end our relationship. Since we survived a few months of me being across the whole world, it would be easy for me to just be across the country right? The only difference now, was that instead of 6 months...the length of this distance was now just a question mark. So much was unknown. I was planning on applying to medical school too and...lets face it...there was little chance of me getting into the same medical school (especially at an out-of-state school, which is even harder to get in if you aren't a Michigan resident). The chances were slim to none, but we hoped that we could figure out a way to get through it together. Then, a year and a half after he left for Michigan, I got the phone call that changed everything, my admissions to MSU. Finally! The period to the question mark that was haunting our relationship. It was finally a solution! Now, I know we still have a lot of unknowns in our future. Applications to residency programs are right around the corner, and we may be right back to our original problem of being accross the country again, but I know that we have made it through this before and I finally am sure that we can do it again. I am so thankful for my relationship and how I have been able to live out my own goals and dreams without some of the hardships of our relationship making me sacrifice any of these goals.

So, instead of just celebrating 4 years together, I am celebrating the journey that S and I have had to take over the last 4 years to get to this point. We have had to work a lot harder than a lot of couples to keep what we have going, but it has made everything so worth it! I truly value every second we spend together and feel so lucky every day for where I am now with my life and with my relationship! :)

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of S and I over the last 4 years: