Reid and I are a perfect blend of similarities and total opposites. He is very outdoorsy: he loves camping and hiking, climbing mountains and running around with cold air in his lungs. I love staying indoors, watching endless episodes of TV on my laptop and staying carefully climate controlled. I'm a night owl and Reid is an early bird. But all of these things are rather superficial. Even though our general interests don't align, we still find plenty of hobbies we can share and play in. We go for walks together, we play card games together, and we watch movies together. Cooking is a hobby we both love and one of the joys of our relationship. Reid loves to cook for me and I love that we both approach food with a sense of adventure. And we will always have coffee and tea to share.
However, not all of our differences are spare-time preferences. I am a planner. I like to be prepared and have plans A, B, and C just in case. I like to make allowances for bad weather and other unexpecteds, whether that be extra traffic or running out of half-and-half. Playing with situational sequencing is what I love about writing stories and it has logical applications for real life. Reid is more of a spontaneous spirit, preferring to see where the day takes him. It's hard to ruffle him up, so if something does go wrong, it is easy for him to take it in stride. In this we are opposites. I know that my need for control and his occasional lack of foresight is frustrating for one another at times. But I also believe it is one of the things that makes our relationship strong. We balance each other out and within that balance find happiness.
Despite all of these differences, there is also a lot we see eye-to-eye on. We both agree that life is there to be enjoyed; every day is an adventure, regardless of how "exciting" it might seem to others. Love is a very serious thing, but it fails if you take it too seriously. Our relationship has seen its share of tears, but more than that it has seen lots of laughter. We love to goof off and play around. On our first Valentine's Day we spent the night playing Battleship. We value the environment and living within our means. We believe in good food and good coffee. We like our furniture second hand and our cars reliable. And, obviously, we like each other.
I love that Reid enjoys the outdoors and wants to scale mountains. I love that he is a do-er and gets up early to get stuff done. And I love that on the days when I need to relax and not leave the house, he understands.
Our love isn't crazy epic but that doesn't mean our love is cheap. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Which is why we are in it, happily, joyfully, for the long haul.