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Sunday, January 15

the notebook

thenotebook
i remember the first time i ever watched the notebook. and no, it wasn't with a boy. it was with my sister. i was probably no older than 15 and by the end of the movie, i was almost laughing. the thought that two people one year older than me fell in "love" was amusing. i didn't believe in it. needless to say, i hated the movie and i definitely thought that fairytales and fantasies were a joke. fast forward two years, and i watched it again. i don't know if it was the age difference (although that very well might be the case) but for some reason, i found that i liked it. and maybe a little part of me hoped that fairytales did exist. clearly not to girls like me, however, who was nearly 18 and had never even kissed a boy (a fact i never admitted to anyone). but there was a small sliver of hope inside me that hoped that maybe they exist in the far, far future. and that small bit of me watched the notebook every single time it was on television and even recorded it to my DVR.

not even six months later, i got one. a real live fairytale. i think people tend to undermine teenage relationships (me included) because 99% of the time, they don't last and no one really thinks that a 17 year old can know anything about "love" when they've only known each other for a few months. however, i gained more than just a brief summer 'romance' so to speak and more than a cliche lovey-dovey fairytale. i gained a best friend. a really, really good friend. and that's what my fairytale was. finding someone that i had a crush on who had a crush on me that i loved hanging out with more than anyone. someone i could watch movies with, play video games with, go shopping with, go on errands with, and sit around my house and do what i'd do alone with someone. and maybe a litttttle small piece of me thought that maybe i knew kind of what allie and noah had. a little bit.

i made niklaas watch the notebook on friday night. yeah, okay. cliche. date night. watching the notebook. aside from thinking that he just really needed to see the cutest love story ever told as someone who is a huge hopeless romantic, i really did want to see it again (with him) to enjoy the irony of it. a movie i used to hate because it portrayed romance in such a frilly, obsessive kind of way that i was now watching in a relationship with someone in a more or less similar kind of way.

but when it was over, i looked at him and realized everything i ever thought about romance and relationships was completely wrong because of that movie. it was cute, sure. we have our cute moments, sure. but a better story is a real one. one with ups and downs, falling in and out of love at different times, struggling at moments, and a lot of work. our story. and after a rough period of adjustment and resettling, i realized that i loved the place we were in at that moment. it wasn't a "notebook" kind of happy. it was better. with everything behind us (long distance, two different schedules, starting college together), we could finally just be "us" again. happy. easy. and with a future to be excited about.
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10 comments:

kylee said...

i'm a sucker for fairytale romance. i hope for it constantly. movies make me cry and books make me cry even more. but really, i just want simple love. honest love. the ups and downs, the good and bad, the hard and easy. true love. i want real life true love - not fairytale love. you & your boy are adorable. sure hope you two end up together forever!

Kristen said...

i love this post. and i can totally relate. my boyfriend and i have been through so many ups and downs. we're not perfect and we don't pretend to be. and because of all the things we've been through we have become closer and have an even better relationship because of it. we still have our moments but in the end i wouldn't want to be ANYWHERE else with ANYONE else!!!

Unknown said...

i love the notebook!

<3 steffy
Steffys Pros and Cons

Sophia Chidson said...

so cute, i love the notebook!

rueabbey.blogspot.com

Sophia X

Unknown said...

awww the notebook! best movie ever!
great blog!
:) x

thegirlhassparke said...

Oh this is beautiful and so well written, I too think real life love is better than anything captured in movies.

Kuleigh said...

Thanks for writing this! I think a lot of ladies out there can relate. Real love is much more exciting than the movies. How much fun would it be if life was always perfect? I much prefer it to be perfect through its flaws.

Bethany Kellen of bunnypicnic said...

the boy i've been with, i've been with for nearly 7 years. since we were both 17. and it's been crazy. it's getting to a good point again, but we aren't together. and i remember watching the notebook whenever it was released onto dvd, but i didn't idolize the relationship. i feel like i maybe romanticize it more now than i did then. wanting more of that, less of this. but the real thing is always better.

Unknown said...

Aww this post is just adorable! I'm still with my boyfriend from when I was 17 too. Memories... haha.

Katie Burry said...

Such a cute post! I've never put much stock in fairytales and happily ever afters before, and especially not in teenage romances, but then I met this guy... and he's amazing. Really, really incredible. And even though we're not a couple. I believe in happily ever afters again - even if they do take a lot of work and have their ups and downs. Mostly because I finally believe in nice - really, really sweet and gentlemanly guys still exist outside of books. <3 And they're even better in real life than in books. I mean, have you ever noticed that guys in books are so dashing - but rarely just sweet. Like, the kind that will just, let a girl talk when she needs to, and tell her she's pretty when she feels worthless? Guys like that are so much sweeter than the daring and dashing guys in movies and books. <3