ONE incredible YEAR!!!

In this post you will find non-stop sappiness.

You have been adequately warned.

You will also find two stories.

One story in my point of view and the other

story in Toms point of view.

Thanks for following along with us on our journey
with each other over the past year!
Your love and support has been amazing!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TOMILY
yippeeee :) :) :)

Tom's POV

This time last year I was, well I wasn't doing an awful lot really. I’d just started a new job and that was really the most exciting thing happening in my life at the time. Bored surfing the net one night I decided to toy with the idea of a penpal and after signing up to a few websites I was meeting new people from across the world. When I say meeting I mean stalking peoples profiles.... y’know.  I mean this was a big deal for me. One thing you should know about me is I don’t really do social media, like at all. So this was a push for me, I even went as far as to use an alias! But I’m so glad I did what I did because after finally building up the courage to actually message someone 

I started talking to a girl named Emily..

That was a year ago today. And looking back between now and then so much has happened. I started talking to Emily more and more, eventually leaving that penpal website behind. We’ve skyped, texted, sent letters and boxes to each other. We've called as she’s driven back and forth between Texas and Arkansas (sorry about those phone bills David) And it hasn’t stopped there either. As you know during the summer I got to go finally meet Emily and stay with her for a few weeks. And I got to do so many things while I was there. I felt the Texas heat, shot a gun for the first time, surprisingly ate some of the best vegetarian food I’ve ever had and even took a trip with Emily, driving through California taking in the sites like Hollywood, Yosemite and the golden gate bridge. It was a life changing trip.. but not because of any of that, but because I was finally with the girl I’d been thinking about for the past 7 months. Me and Emily hit it off in person just like we had online 

and by the time I left Texas we were closer than ever.

So here we are a year later and what an incredible year it’s been. Emily and I are going strong, missing each other like crazy but we’re still doing are best with skype, texting and we’re even watching shows together these days. Emily’s become such a big part of my life over the past year. She's gone from the girl I was talking to online, to being the girl I see pretty much every day, the girl my family now constantly talks about. She’s my girlfriend and the girl I love and If there’s one thing I want for our next year its to make Emily an even bigger part of my life. And this will be happening because we have some exciting plans! Emily will be here for my first ever thanksgiving In just a little over two weeks now AND she will be back again next year so we can spend some serious time together. This year has been the best year of my life, and I know the next is going to be even better.. 

Because we’ll be spending it together.

 Happy Anniversary,

I love you Emily!

Emily's POV

If you read the blog two days ago then you would have read about my first

online encounter with Thomas. It was cute and sappy and silly and a really really

great start to a relationship that i didn't even know was on the horizon. Actually it's 

funny to think about because i just remember this nice guy taking the time to talk to me,

not even realizing that this one conversation would completely change everything.

When i ask Tom what he was thinking when he started talking to me on that day 

he says i was cute and he thought he'd just say hello and see what happened.

Well i saw his message, creeped on his penpal profile {lolz} and once i realized that this

British stud crumpet wanted to talk to ME i was like...ohhh heeeyyyyyyyyy booyyy ;)

And i started talking back...which turned into a skype date...which turned into another

skype date which turned into us entertaining each other over skype with magic tricks 

and jokes and other silly things. Once a week Skype dates turned into three times a week

skype dates which turned into daily skype dates. All of those hours over skype turned into

plans, plans to get this handsome stud crumpet {that i had only met like 2 months prior}

over to the USA so we could officially meet in the real world. And it's funny because 

like I've said in the past...I'm so awkward around boys...like i am SO INCREDIBLY

AWKWARD!! Awkward to the point that i have indeed cried on the way to a date

because i didn't want to go because of the awkwardness..i mean it's that bad...{True story}

But from day one with Tom i have never felt even a twinge of that awkwardness...

Tom has a way of putting me at ease. He even did this before we were an "item".

The only time i can remember feeling a little awkward was on that first skype date

which is totally expected because skype is like kryptonite to an awkward person.

5 minutes into that first skype date i felt less awkward...still a little awkward

but it had subsided quite a bit. I realized...hey, here's this really handsome guy who

is taking the time out of his day to skype me and get to know me a little bit better.

This realization just made me feel special and made me appreciate him that much more.

Fast Forward to February and we're sending each other valentines boxes through the mail. 

Fast forward to June 17th of this summer and I'm picking him up at the airport in Dallas.

Those three weeks would prove to be a game changer. We were obviously in a very special position

having met online and meeting for the first time only after getting to know each other

through the lens of a webcam. You now have to take that relationship and make it work

in the real world. Lucky for us we had no problem doing that. Ok so the first 48 hours were

a little iffy on my part, not because i wasn't still head over heels for him but because

the transition from webcam to real time was a bit overwhelming. But we got the hang of

things pretty quickly and we were inseparable the entire time he was here. 

Basically like Noah and Allie from the Notebook...wait.....WE ARE TOTALLY

NOAH AND ALLIE FROM THE NOTEBOOK...we're in love...we're currently separated..

we write letters...whoa baby...ok sorry, i got off topic ;) (Can you tell i'm an ENFP?)

All of that being said...his time in Texas brought us even closer..

so close that we decided to book another flight so i could go see him

over Thanksgiving break...which is in 15 days. But you are all aware of that because i don't think 

i've stopped talking about it ;) This is like one big giant fairy tale except for the being

apart thing. But we're working on that. Basically what i'm trying to say with this novel 

of a post is that this guy randomly popped into my life one year ago, and oh how i love

him for it! He has changed my life in so many wonderful ways, ways i didn't even

know needed to be changed...Tom is handsome and British, those things are

very very true and important...but this guy is so much more than an accent and a handsome face.

He is the most caring and loving guy, with the kindest heart. He's also hilarious

which is one of my favorite qualities about him. I probably have a million giggle fits

a day because of stuff he says or does ;) Tom swooped in out of nowhere and continues 

to sweep me off my feet daily. I am so happy to call this guy my boyfriend of a year and 

i am so excited that i get to be with him for a lot longer than that ;)

Happy One Year bug, I love you!!

-Tomily