I have firmly believed that everything happens for some reason. The good, the bad. Every now and then, though, fate shows itself to you and you hang on and enjoy the ride.

Tyler and I met online in February 2008. I was still living at home in Laurel, MS and Tyler was living in Boone, NC. After seeing his profile was online, I had to message him to tell him I thought his username was hilarious ("stealyourface" - how can you NOT comment on this?) I had no idea that his username was from a Grateful Dead album (and full disclosure, he corrected me that this is not a song as I originally put, but rather an album - good grief), but this pretty much set the tone for our entire relationship. Within a week, we were talking for literally hours upon hours everyday. Falling asleep on the phone, having "dates" by pressing play at exactly the same time, reading books and poems to one another. Within the month, he was telling me he was in love with me, and I told him we needed to slow it down. We hadn't even met yet. I was only trying to do things the "right" way. How can you be in love with someone you've never technically met? Tyler knew better than me, and thank God for that, because that didn't slow him down.

By March 2008, he had come to meet me for the first time. Initially, it was awkward. Imagine telling a "stranger" all sorts of intimate details about your life, and then meeting them. The awkwardness faded quickly, and it was as if I had always known him. A feeling that I had prior to physically meeting him, but solidified once we held hands.

My family had no idea Tyler existed at this point because I knew it wouldn't end well. In April 2008, I told my family everything and they immediately said they had to meet him. They loved him. It was such a relief - he fit right in from the start like he always belonged.

I drove to meet Tyler's family and see his hometown in May 2008. At the end of my visit, Tyler gave me his favorite childhood stuffed animal, By George, an adorably well-loved monkey. I held that little monkey all the way home as I cried, not knowing the next time we would see each other again.

In July 2008, we went to Disney World together and formed a bond that not everyone tends to understand. Our individual love for Disney World only intensified by experiencing everything together, and it became a vacation staple for us. After this trip, we knew we couldn't be long-distance anymore and Tyler made the brave decision to pack up his life and move to Hattiesburg to be with me.

Marriage has never been an "if" for us, but rather a "when", and 5 days after our 10 year anniversary, Tyler asked me a question we had both been excited to hear. It didn't go exactly as he planned, but as a couple we don't do "perfect". Perfect doesn't lead to 10 years together. It's the imperfections that make us, and even though it didn't go 100% as planned, it was still perfectly imperfect to me.