“All marriages have a time limit if you enter them for the wrong reasons. Marriage doesn't get easier...it only gets harder. If you marry someone hoping it will improve things, you might as well set your timer the second you say, 'I do.”

“Sky, if you’re wondering if I have commitment issues, the answer is no. Someday in the far, far, far away future…like post-college future…when I propose to you…which I will be doing one day because you aren’t getting rid of me…I won’t be marrying you with the hope that our marriage will work out. When you become mine, it’ll be a forever thing. I’ve told you before that the only thing that matters to me with you are the forevers, and I mean that.”

“Sometimes life gets in your way. it gets all up in your damn way. But it doesn't get all up in your damn waybecause it wants you to just give up and let it take control. Life doesn't get all up in your damn way because it just wants you to hand it all over and be carried along. Life wants you to fight itLearn how to make it your own. it wants you to grab and axe and hack through the wood. It wants you to get a sledgehammer and break through concrete. It wants you to grab a torch and burn through the metal and steel until you can reach through and grab it. Life wants you to grab all the organized, the alphabetized, the chronological, the sequenced. It wants you to mix it all together, stir it up, blend it.”

“I could go on all night, Lake. I could go on and on and on about all the reasons I’m in love with you. And you know what? Some of them are the things that life has thrown our way. I do love you because you’re the only other person I know who understands my situation. I do love you because both of us know what it’s like to lose your mom and your dad. I do love you because you’re raising your little brother, just like I am. I love you because of what you went through with your mother.I love you because of what we went through with your mother. I love the way you love Kel. I love the way you love Caulder. And I love the way I love Kel. So I’m not about to apologize for loving all these things about you, no matter the reasons or the circumstances behind them. And no, I don’t need days, or weeks, or months to think about why I love you. It’s an easy answer for me. I love you because of you. Because of every single thing about you.”

“I met a girl in a U-Haul.A beautiful girlAnd I fell for her.I fell hard.Unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way.Life definitely got in my way.It got all up in my damn way,Life blocked the door with a stack of wooden 2x4'snailed together and attached to a fifteen inch concrete wallbehind a row of solid steel bars, bolted to a titanium frame thatno matter how hard I shoved against it-Itwouldn'tbudge.Sometimes life doesn't budge.It just gets all up in your damn way.It blocked my plans, my dreams, my desires, my wishes,my wants, my needs.It blocked out that beautiful girlThat I fell so hard for.Life tries to tell you what's best for youWhat should be most important to youWhat should come in firstOr secondOr third.I tried so hard to keep it all organized, alphabetized,stacked in chronological order, everything in its perfect space,its perfect place.I thought that's what life wanted me to do.This is what life needed for me to do.Right?Keep it all in sequence?Sometimes, life gets in your way.It gets all up in your damn way.But it doesn't get all up in your damn way because itwants you to just give up and let it take control. Life doesn't getall up in your damn way because it just wants you to hand it allover and be carried along.Life wants you to fight it.It wants you to grab an axe and hack through the wood.It wants you to get a sledgehammer and break throughthe concrete.It wants you to grab a torch and burn through the metaland steel until you can reach through and grab it.Life wants you to grab all the organized, thealphabetized, the chronological, the sequenced. It wants you tomix it all together,stir it up,blend it.Life doesn't want you to let it tell you that your littlebrother should be the only thing that comes first.Life doesn't want you to let it tell you that your careerand your education should be the only thing that comes insecond.And life definitely doesn't want meTo just let it tell methat the girl I met,The beautiful, strong, amazing, resilient girlThat I fell so hard forShould only come in third.Life knows.Life is trying to tell meThat the girl I love,The girl I fellSo hard for?There's room for her in first.I'm putting her first.”

“Does he treat you with respect at all times? That's the first question. The second question is, if he is the exact same person twenty years from now that he is today, would you still want to marry him? And finally, does he inspire to be a better person? You find someone you can answer yes to all three, then you've found a good man.”

“Are you allowed to get pregnant yet?”I laugh. “Nope. Not this weekend. Besides, you have to kiss a girl before you can knock her up.”“Did someone not have sex education when she was homeschooled?” he says. “Because I could totally knock you up without ever kissing you. Want me to show you?”