The first moments and months of a relationship are arguably, the best.
Getting to know someone new... what they love, what they don't like, what makes them laugh and what experiences have made them exactly who they are. It's an exciting experience, because you find out all the idosyncracies that they hold as you start to make them your partner.
You are starting to see what life would be like with them, setting expectations and learning how they react to different situations and emotions.
The first few weeks of Adam and I's courtship were a whirlwind. I was out of town for a few weeks immediately after we met, but Adam would call me from payphones (he didn't have a cell phone!) and leave me sweet voicemails.
But when I got back from my trips, we had the most amazing date of my life, one that I still talk about this to this day.
We met in the stickiest part of summer, and the nights were still warm but bearable. And this night, we decided to go to the winery with some friends. It was Reggae Fest, and it was busy. There weren't even picnic tables or anything to sit, so we purchased a bottle of sweet red wine, collected plastic cups to drink from, and found a spot to sit, and against the backdrop of the sunset and beating of the drums.
Adam and I were always the life of the party. So we were mingling with everyone else and there would be these moments where we would look up at each other, catch each other's eye for just a moment... and we'd smile, or he'd wink at me... and it was the best feeling in the world.
Having someone look at you like you are the most perfect thing he has ever set eyes on is one of the most pure emotions. And throughout our relationship, Adam looked at me like that a lot, through the big milestones, like our wedding day, the birth of our child. But there were moments when he would just look at me with this satisfied smile, like I was still the person he wanted, even after all these years.
The night was beautiful. We danced and drank bottle after bottle of that red wine, we kissed under the stars and laughed and enjoyed each other's company all night.
It was one of those nights where I snapped pictures on my digital camera (hey- it was 2009!) and we got all of these candid photos of us just enjoying the moments.
All of the pictures in this post are from that dreamy night! Looking back on those pictures, I remember how intoxicating that night was, how this fresh start with someone that I couldn't get enough of was such a thrilling opportunity for something beautiful.
The next morning, we had the most wicked wine hangover- ha! We stayed in bed all day, because the headache was so intense. I think we got cheeseburgers and crawled back into bed to watch tv all day.
Every moment was an adventure for us, and I can honestly say that we still had adventures up until the end. Even going to the farmer's market to get fresh pretzels and iced coffee, to pick out cheese and sunflowers and fresh tomatoes, was our favorite way to spend a Saturday morning.
This was the beginning of a million wonderful moments that I had with Adam. It was the dawn of a new era, the Laylan and Adam debut. Who knew at this point that we'd be intricately linked for the rest of our lives?
We didn't... not at the moment.