Today marks 7 years since John Paul and I had our first date!

We’ve had lots going on this past year from announcing our pregnancy to deciding to move.

Not only did we have our first date 7 years ago today, we also got engaged 5 years ago today so I thought it might be fun to look back at all we have done together!

I know most people don’t really celebrate their first date anniversary, but I always remember this day each year it comes around. It’s also special because it’s the day we got engaged too so I think it just holds extra meaning!

I haven’t shared much of our life before the blog on here so I wanted to take a stroll down memory lane and share some of our favorite memories together over these past 7 years! 7 is one of my lucky numbers so maybe that means this is going to be an extra amazing year for us :)

THE FIRST DATE

Our first date was at Benjamin’s in Newport, RI on 7/18/12. I will never forget pulling up in my old and beat up BMW and seeing John Paul standing outside the restaurant waiting for me to find parking. We had a great time and just got some apps and drinks! We continued the night by grabbing another drink at The Black Pearl.

At the time, I was 22 and he was 24, we were babies!! So young and innocent, but both driven and knew what we wanted!

DATING

We dated for a bit and then become official boyfriend and girlfriend in October. While dating we did tons of fun things! We were living in RI so we were always up to something on the weekend. I remember our family and friends always commenting that we were constantly doing things.

We went to Boston a lot for all different sports games. We went to NH, Maine, CT, NYC, Atlantic City, Washington DC, NJ, Disney, and more! We loved exploring and going to different restaurants together. So many priceless memories. I think that doing all that traveling early on in our relationship helped us to be more adaptable and to really learn about each other.

THE MOVE

In March of 2014, we made the move to Buffalo, NY from RI. I had gotten a new job out here and John Paul was going to transfer to the office located in Buffalo. He went to college in Buffalo and grew up in Rochester, NY which is about an hour away so he was familiar with the area.

We got a cute little apartment and started this new adventure in Buffalo. Before we had moved, we looked at engagement rings in RI. Not knowing when or where he would propose, but it was a fun experience!

OUR ENGAGEMENT

We had planned a trip to the 1000 Islands for our 2 year anniversary and were going to stay at a really cute bed and breakfast. We planned to do some fun touristy things and just relax for the weekend.

I was hoping we were going to get engaged this weekend as I really wanted to get engaged on our 2 year anniversary. I love dates and numbers so I thought it would be so cool to be engaged on the same day we had our first date.

I’m not going to lie here, I was a complete misery the first day of our trip. I was really thinking we weren’t going to get engaged that weekend and I was so bummed. John Paul will tell you that I was not a very fun person to be around, LOL!

Little did I know, he had plans to propose that night! We had dinner, walked down to the little dock area and he proposed right there in front of the water! It was beautiful and perfect!!!

As you could imagine, my whole attitude quickly changed and we had the best weekend ever celebrating and getting excited for our future!

OUR WEDDING

After we got engaged, we quickly started planning our wedding. I really wanted to get married the following year on 7/18/15, but all the venues we loved weren’t available for that date. We booked our dream venue for 8/1/15.

The whole wedding planning process was so much fun for us! We had little to no stress and just enjoyed the process. I am a huge planner so I had all the details figured out and had a vision for how I wanted our wedding to look and feel.

The day was absolutely perfect! The morning of the wedding all my bridesmaids and I got ready together at my parent’s house and we had our hair and makeup done. The weather was beautiful that morning too! We had a crazy rain storm during our ceremony which inside luckily at the church I grew up going to, but we could hear all the thunder and rain. It was so strange because as soon as the ceremony was over, there was not a cloud in the sky and the grass didn’t even feel wet. I like to think it was my Grandmother’s way of saying she was there and was giving her blessing!

The reception was a blast! We had an amazing DJ, the food was delicious, the speeches were incredible, the dancing was so fun, and the decor was beautiful! It went by so quick, but it was a dream come true day!

HONEYMOON

Right after our wedding, we went to Cape Cod and spent a few days there just relaxing and soaking in all the wedding bliss!

We planned our honeymoon for that November to Turks and Caicos. WHAT A DREAM! Such a gorgeous island with yummy food, beautiful beaches, and friendly people. We had the best time.

We stayed at The Beach House right on Grace Bay Beach and it was amazing! They reserve you a spot on the beach which doesn’t even have that many people on it. You can take a free shuttle to their sister resorts on the island to explore their offerings. The restaurants were delicious, but we did venture off to some other places to try out their food too.

We had great weather except for 1 day when it was raining in the afternoon, but we were able to enjoy our patio that overlooked the beach and just relax.

I cannot recommend The Beach House enough if you are looking for a beautiful place to stay in Turks and Caicos.

LIFE AFTER THE WEDDING

We shortly bought our current house after getting married in March 2016. Read that story HERE. We updated it a lot and made it our own!

We traveled and visited more places like Chicago, Presque Isle, Charleston, and Texas. We had lots of fun being married and enjoying each other before starting a family.

Dominic was born in 2017, read his birth story HERE and we got a mini goldendoodle, Freddy that same year!

Life has certainly been a whirlwind since getting married, but in the best way possible! We are now looking forward to welcoming our 2nd baby in August and in the process of moving to Rochester, NY to be close to family.

We are older and wiser now and I think our relationship has strengthened even more through all of the ups and downs these past 7 years.

Happy 7 years since our first date, 5 years since we got engaged and ALMOST 4 years of marriage, John Paul! So lucky to be your wife, have you as our children’s Daddy and walk through life with you! Grateful that you balance out my creative and out of the box ideas with your practical and realistic ways. Thankful that we can both appreciate each other’s differences and let one another pursue those different dreams while cheering each other on! We have grown and changed from 7 years ago, but our love and respect for each other has always been a constant. I love you!

Also—thank you for your last name which I have based my business around ;)

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XO
-LA

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