What a break that was, but i’m so excited to be back writing in my diary for you guys! This entry will be dedicated to the story of me and mikey, and I titled it “becoming a Keenum” since we did just get married and I stole his last name <3
We met through our friends during a night out and I swear I hear this story all the time when people are talking about their love story but I genuinely was not looking for any kind of relationship or situationship, basically I didn’t want any attention from the male species that night. I was really excited to finally just focus on myself and work on myself as a whole, when I spent the rest of my dating time finding worth and value inside of relationships. I wanted to feel worthy on my own, I wanted to fully appreciate myself and what I brought to the table before entertaining a relationship after such a toxic relationship. So yes the story goes “I wasn’t looking for anything and there he was” although it wasn’t that simple but the statement still remains true.
With the previous relationship putting me in a reality check state of mind, I decided to finally try to be happy without being in a relationship. I was finally not going to depend on my happiness from someone else but God had other plans. I also want to preface that it is totally fine (in a healthy relationship) to get happiness from a partner but in my case.. it was the opposite. I am so thankful that even though it took me two years, I realized that. I’ve learned that you can absolutely heal and work on loving yourself while being single, but you can also do this while in a relationship as long as this relationship is healthy in all aspects. You need to be in a healthy environment to feel safe and happy on your own, or else it’s really hard to do that internal work. Unfortunately there isn't a book telling you what to do and not do, you learn and figure out along the way through experience and everyone experiences something different. That’s why everyone's story is so special!!!
(Dec 14. 2019) I went out with one of my friends that was meeting up with one of mikey’s friends and spent a while that night just hanging out and enjoying the girls company, definitely on the dance floor (you’ll always find ari on the dance floor) and at some moment of me being one of the only people dancing on the dance floor, mikey approaches me asking if he could buy me a drink and to that I responded “sure if I can go with you” which to this day mikey says he loved. Gotta watch out for yourself ladies. From that moment on we kept in contact and quickly shared our entire life stories with each other, and both obviously felt really safe and comfortable around one another. In those next few weeks I really struggled mentally on if this was right, when I was wanting to be alone but at the same time I knew this was something special beyond what I could understand. Anyone who knows Mikey, even if you’ve just met him, immediately knows how special of a man he is. He's a literal unicorn in the world today. I was gone for about a week after spending a little bit of time with him for the christmas holiday, and I am glad I had that time away to really be present with family and think about what was going on in my head and heart. Alone time is really so important, which I talked about in my last blog post but I just cannot stress enough how good it can be for you to be alone and away from the craziness sometimes. I mean today you’ll find me alone 90% of the time but my point still stands, just do it lol.
I got back home and was still worried to be honest but one day I reached out to him and apologized for not giving him the best communication and told him I would still love to continue getting to know each other and spending time together. Our relationship after this moment.. Could not be held back. We were so in love and I swear I fell more in love with him every single day. No exaggeration there at all. We lived pretty far apart from each other as well as worked pretty far apart but that didn't stop us and yall know it never does when it's the new and in love stage of a relationship.. I would literally drive 45-55 mins in rush hour traffic just to see him at work for maybe an hour sometimes and then drive back home. I wouldn't change a thing though, such sweet little memories. As I sit here typing this, I can't help but thank God for allowing me to continue to put effort into this relationship even though I was skeptical and worried about myself. He knows everything and I wish I would have had more faith in those moments. What a wonderful God we have! So here is your reminder to never listen to anyone on how to handle your relationship, talk to God about it and trust that it will work out or not work out exactly how it’s supposed to. The world these days makes you feel like everyone has to handle things the exact same way, (wait a year to date again and don’t talk to anyone after a breakup) but there isn't a right way.. There is only a way for each individual person, and that is right for you.
The new year passed, and we moved very quickly in our relationship. We were going out on the night of February 1st 2020 and he asked me to be his girlfriend by stating that he wanted to be able to call me his girlfriend when we went out that night.. Of course I said yes because well, that's a great point and why wait? When ya know ya know (; I don’t blame him looking back, what a smart man. (sometimes I wish I could attach like a voice memo on here because when I’m typing sometimes I will literally laugh out loud but just typing lol doesn't do justice). Then a month later on March 1st, we moved in together. I want to avoid using the term “and the rest is history” but it kinda was. We started building our first home together the next year, which was also our first time buying a home. This process was very long and dreadful but we did learn so much from that experience, it took about a year and we moved into that home in February of 2022. At the last stretch of our home being built we lived with his parents and we can never thank them enough, this was such a sweet time of our relationship as well. We typically would go to Florida every year to see my family and just vacation in general, and August 2022 was the month we got engaged while in Florida! We were in Clearwater / St. Pete area and it was wonderful. I had a feeling it was happening on this sunset cruise we went on and it didn’t happen then but we also had a photoshoot so I should have known but I will never ever forget this day and moment. Me and Mikey both love notes, and during the photoshoot he handed me a note to read and in that moment is when I knew.. Notes are definitely our thing, which is something I think I started to love from my childhood. My dad always wrote the best notes, letters, and poems. So now me and Mikey make sure to write little notes once in a while to each other, I just love gifts that are meaningful and thought out and what is better than a note??? We spent Aug 2022 until Oct 2023 engaged and Oct 12, 2023 was wedding day! The day was perfect but also like everyone will tell you, it genuinely goes by so fast and I wish I could just relive it in slow motion.. This was even with a small guest count of under 50 so I cannot imagine a giant wedding. I highly recommend a smaller, more intimate guest count, it was my favorite part because we got to talk with everyone and have slow moments to just sit and take it all in, and most importantly breathe lol. We've been married now for a little over a month and I will just highlight one thing that has changed the last year, year and a half of our relationship that I'm so grateful for - which was becoming closer to God in every aspect of our lives whether that's individually or as a couple. It’s changed absolutely everything for us. We couldn't be strong without him at the center of our relationship, and if you’re a lady reading this then my advice is to find a man that actually puts God above everything. Someone who turns to God in every struggle and every victory of life. He will take care of him, you, and your family in turn. Your husband should put God first, then his wife, then his children. Remember once you start your marriage and dedicate your lives to God, that is the most precious and important part of your life. Having faith in something you can't see or touch can be challenging these days but I promise you'll have days where you think you heard God talk to you, or days where you don't understand how you got through, days where you felt him and that's where your reminder to have faith comes from. Even if you can't always see, hear, or feel him.. He's around and he's listening and watching and most importantly he loves you more than you’ll ever know, he is greater than every single challenge in your life. HAVE FAITH. Not only is this great for someone in a relationship but even if you’re single and you’re wondering what is next in your life.. Get close to God and have faith.
I could definitely make this much longer but you guys get the moral of our love story and I hope that you feel a bit closer to us after this, and if you’re not already - go follow me on socials to get to know us even better, where we treat stories like a vlog most days and I will be more active on youtube here soon. My goal has always been for you guys to feel connected to me and even mikey through my social media even if it’s a slow season like it is right now. There's also a chance we could turn my youtube into a “family” style account soon but TBD and if you made it this far then you know a secret of ours that i've been thinking on for a while. As of today we are working on selling our home and finding a forever home to raise our future family in, so this is another new life experience for us (yay for more learning)
We love you guys and will talk soon in the next entry
♡ Ari
11/18/2023
