happily ever after?

I'm at a point in my life where I have friends who are running the gamut of relationship milestones. I have friends who are dating (online and otherwise), friends who are happily coupled, friends who are getting married, friends who are newly married, friends who are unhappily coupled, and friends who are breaking up. All of these people are in different places in their relationships, but it is safe to say that they will each at some point (if they haven't already) experience disappointment. Some of the disappointments are small, others become deal breakers.

All in all, however, everyone is doomed to get to a point where some of the shine wears off newly-found love and we have to accept that most things don't end in "happily ever after" and that relationships take work. Sometimes the work isn't worth it, sometimes it is. I am one of the happily coupled people amongst my friend base, but I'm also a realist. The man and I have had our share of ups and downs, and we are in a pretty steady upward trend right now. All I know is that both he and I are happy with one another and are willing to do whatever we must to stay together. We have similar goals and we are realistic: we know that our relationship isn't always going to be all sunshine and rainbows.

I came across this article/photo project that features princesses from a number of Disney stories. The photos show what our favorite fairy tales look like when "The '...happily ever after' is replaced with a realistic outcome and addresses current issues." I've decided to post my favorite:

Go here to check out the rest.