What was the best moment of your 2005?

Warning: Readers allergic to mushy posts may experience dizziness, drowsiness, and the urge to say "oh, barf" upon reading the following entry:

Reading an email from my European-adventuring Sweetie is like drinking a fine wine; I’m taking in every word, savoring every description of the fun she is having and the people she is partying with. Her letters are tipsy, quickly moving from scene to scene in a laughing, passionate voice. I have to go back and read them again just to catch everything. She promises to fill us all in and share pictures when she gets back, and from what I can tell so far, she’s having the time of her life.

You’re supposed to blog with what you’re feeling the day you write, yes? Well, I’m feeling crazy for this girl.

She’s a downtown city-girl. I escaped the prairies. When she was serving as a medic in the reserves, I was serving pizza and beer in a restaurant. We both started businesses, but hers actually turns a profit. She can handle a sailboat, I managed to fall off a catamaran… twice in the same day. She rows competitively. I’m pretty good at steering a canoe. She’s a social butterfly, I’m just starting to meet new people here. She looks sexy on her Suzuki SV650, as she whips around the Sea-to-Sky curves. I once popped a sweet wheelie on my banana-seat Schwinn. She makes a great martini. I, I can, um, drink a great martini. All this and somehow she still fancies me.

Do you get what I am trying to say? No? Well, today I feel like the luckiest boy in the world, and I’ll be damned if I ever take her for granted. My best friend once said of his relationship he’s had for many years now, “I look at her, and she loves me, and it all still leaves me a little bit in awe.”

My feelings exactly.

When I look back at all the good fortunes I’ve had this year, finally meeting Tanya is the cherry on top. After our first dance, later in the night our first kiss, I felt those frantic butterflies in my chest; a mixture of nervousness, a desire to learn who this girl is, to make her happy, and actual oh-my-god-for-real happiness.

When you look back on your year, what was your favorite moment?

Happy New Year, Tanya! Happy New Year to all you super-cool readers!