Three years ago today, I met my future husband.

After joining an online dating site, I’d been out on a few dates — but hadn’t felt that connection with anyone. Everyone was nice, respectable . . . and just not the one. Spencer was my third date that week, and the one I was most looking forward to — mostly because I could tell, from our cheeky (though limited) online profiles, that he was someone with whom I could have a real conversation. Someone with shared interests. Someone who seemed kind, and funny, and interesting.

And he was really cute.

The date went well, needless to say. I remember babbling about it on Twitter immediately beforehand, then feeling shy to share how great he was after. We went on a dozen dates over the next few weeks, then made it “Facebook official” shortly thereafter. He joined my photography club, started hanging with my friends and family, and was simply knitted into the fabric of my life. I met his parents that summer; we took our first trip to New York in August. And that’s that.

It’s funny to be celebrating our “dating-aversary” this year — now that we’re engaged, I mean. It feels different. We have other anniversaries now, too: like the day we got engaged. And, come November, our wedding day. Here’s an interesting question: post-wedding or post-commitment, do you and your significant other still celebrate the day you met? Or when you made your relationship “official”? Do you remember the date?

All for research purposes.

For our second anniversary last March, we took a trip to historic Fredericksburg, Va., to see the sights, sip milkshakes and wander around in the damp spring air. This year will be decidedly more low-key and, with our new healthy eating, won’t include any awesome desserts like our last celebration. (Le sigh.)

But we do have our official engagement photo session scheduled for Saturday! So pumped. I found a new dress for the occasion, and I’ll let you in on a secret: I snagged it for a meager $6. It was marked $20, and even that seemed like a steal. But $6?! I could have screamed. I almost did. Or I may have . . . I don’t know. Kind of blacked out there for a second.

Bargains have that affect on me.