Two years ago today Kevin and I were getting ready for the biggest party of our lives, and were surrounded by all our favorite, most-loved friends and family members. It was an amazing day, to be sure, and one we look back on with huge smiles.
And so, as I’m feeling quite nostalgic thinking back to that point in our lives, I thought I’d share the story of how Kevin and I fell in love. You know — what got us to that blissful July day in 2011 when we became a little family.
The year was 2010. I had just finished journalism grad school in Chicago and –quite begrudgingly — moved back to Atlanta. I’d desperately wanted to stay in The Windy City but wasn’t able to find a job, so instead I headed home to start an (unpaid — ahem) internship at Paste magazine in Decatur, Georgia.
The internship turned out to be tons of fun: I met wonderful friends, got to write every day, and loved all the great perks of being at a music magazine (artists coming into the office to perform, getting into shows for free, going to Bonnaroo, etc.).
And I also met Kevin Keller.
We met when I started the internship in January, but only started really paying attention to each other in March, after I’d brought in the leftovers of a coconut cake I’d baked for my mom’s birthday. (It was a stupid good, made-from-a-real-coconut cake, just to set the stage accurately.)
Anyway, Kevin emailed me after having a piece of the cake and we started talking about coconuts and then ourselves and our families. It just grew from there.
Of course, being an intern, I was a little hesitant to start dating this guy. (Oh — Kevin was the Multimedia Editor at Paste. I hadn’t mentioned that yet — my bad!) So yeah — he was an employee and I was an intern. It was painfully cliche. And yet, when he asked me out for a drink on Easter Sunday night, I couldn’t say no (and boy am I glad I didn’t!).
With Kevin, I felt a sort of certainty I wasn’t used to. On our third date, I remember watching him as we enjoyed tacos at Taqueria del Sol on Howell Mill Road and thinking in an absolutely definitive way: “I love this guy.”
Things moved fast: we started dating in April of 2010 and were engaged by mid-September of that year, then married on July 3, 2011. Even though things technically were speeding by, they didn’t feel rushed. Everything felt like it happened exactly when and how it was supposed to.
Lucky for me, not much has changed. I still look at Kevin and think: “I love this guy.”
And I can’t wait to keep loving him my whole life.
Thanks for an incredible two years, K-Keller! What do you say we keep at this whole marriage thing?
Aw sucks, Anna. I’m so glad I met you, and I’m so happy to spend the rest of my life with you. Thanks for telling our story.
shucks!…not sucks..