I was talking to a friend the other day who had some beefs with her current boyfriend and found, for the first time in a long time, I couldn’t relate in the slightest. I had only wonderful things to say about my other half, and, just to brag a little, it feels really awesome. This got me thinking about WHY things have been so good and I quickly realized it has had less to do with changes in us as a couple and more to do with external circumstances. So I thought I’d share some things that have brought my dude and I closer together over the past year:

• We are two of four people in our house. He and I have lived together for almost three years now, but it has only been in the past year we added roommates to the mix. Don’t get me wrong, we have the best roommates in the world, but obviously there are always nitpicky things that bother us both. This has made us realize that when the two of us lived alone, we had a pretty good system down for running our household (well, if you can actually call 450 square feet a “household”). Suddenly, the things that used to bother us about each other have faded away and we have realized how compatible the two of us are at living together.

• I am working a job I love. I made a total career change about eight months ago (from film to childcare – eeps!) which was a complete leap of faith that I was really scared to make. I went to school for film and had been working in the industry for a while, but it just wasn’t making me happy. Now I come home from work elated and full of energy and my overall moods are 110% better, which naturally infuses our relationship with good energy too.

• It’s summer. Lets face it, everything is better in summer. The two of us are constantly either out on patios with friends drinking our faces off or having friends over in our backyard drinking our faces off (YES, YOU READ IT RIGHT, WE HAVE A BACKYARD, WITH GRASS AND EVERYTHING!!!).

• A lot of couples we know are going through rough patches. It seems like lately a lot of relationships around ours are hitting major turbulence. This has makes us look at each other and be thankful we’re not facing any deal-breaking problems. Suddenly it doesn’t seem like such a big issue that he ate all the leftover pasta without asking if I wanted some (although I’m still slightly miffed – there was chicken AND shrimp in that pasta).

These things have me thinking about perspective as well as the importance of venturing outside our relationship bubble to create a rich life. I know this is totally common knowledge and you’ve all heard it 100 times before, but I find for myself sometimes knowing something and then thinking of how it applies to me practically can shine a whole new light on the issue. So, at the risk of sounding very Saturday morning special, I feel like at the moment I am balancing and blending my relationship into my life with great success!

Oh yes, and we’re still fucking like furry bunnies.