Have you ever said "I love you" first?

When I started dating Alex, I knew I loved him early on. I'm usually pretty guarded, but since I was so enamored, those three words lingered dangerously on the tip of my tongue. So, after just a couple weeks, as we were falling asleep, I couldn't help nervously whispering, "I think I'm falling in love with you." His reply? "I think I'm already there."

HURRAY AND THANK GOD.

Obviously, however, it doesn't always go so smoothly. In past relationships, I've said "I love you," and the other person just said, "Thank you"—or vice versa. Ouch. Then you have to just sit there with a big I-love-you elephant in the room for the rest of the night.

It's nerve wracking because, as Seinfeld says, "if you don't get that return, that's a pretty big Matzo ball hanging out there."
Have you ever been the first to say I love you, or do you prefer to wait?

(Top photo of us by Max Wanger, back when we were newly engaged and just babies!)