A First & A Last

Christmas 2009.

A First - homeowner, engaged.

A Last - single person.

Crazy. Happy. Nervous. Excited.

Crazy - My friends know, I never really ever thought I'd be in this position. About to get married. But welp, here I am. About to. Crazy.

Happy - This has been a great Christmas. I love family - and we spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house. And by spent, I mean, actually stayed over at their house - packed bags, carted the pack-n-play over and all our presents. And by "we" I mean - Me and Mike and Lovie. Yes, my parents live only 3 miles away, but this is probably the last Christmas I'll be able to do that. So, having Mike and Lovie there on Christmas morning was great. Mike got introduced to our Christmas day traditions - waiting and waiting and waiting and more waiting for the brothers to drag themselves out of bed, opening presents amid mayhem and Jack, eating breakfast and then the disappearing brothers as they mosey back up to bed to sleep until 3pm. Christmas was riddled with tradition and next year I look forward to continuing some (Christmas Eve shopping with my Dad - we've done this every year since I can remember) and making some new ones of our own. As married people.

Nervous - Last Christmas with my last name. Getting married next year (it's still 2009 so I can say that). Lots of big changes are in store. 2009 was the year of change and it's pretty nerve racking. I get nervous with change, the unknown. Lovie was the last time I was this nervous - because I loved him so much that I didn't want to break him. Same with Mike. I love him so much I don't want to break him. And, um, tomorrow - first day of trying on wedding dresses. It's not a big deal and I'm not expecting a lot out of it (80% off sample sale) - but I'm still nervous. Perhaps a better word would be surreal.

Excited - I'm trying on wedding dresses for the first time in my entire life tomorrow. That's pretty super exciting. I'm getting married next November to a man that I love more and more every day even after we argue. And I get to spend the rest of my life with him. That's pretty super exciting. I'm marrying a man next November who has more patience with Lovie than I could ever hope for, who loves him as if he were his own and with all his heart. That's pretty super exciting. I'm marrying my best friend - and I'm pretty super excited about that.

Tradition. Family.

Two ingredients for a truly perfect Christmas.

One Year

So, today is our One Year Anniversary, and boy what a year it's been. Yesterday, was the first time Mike and I met. Since we met on Match.com the "find-out-if-your-a-psycho-or-not" meet and greet happened on our lunch hour at a mexican restaurant called...Mexico. As our lunch date was nearing to a close he asked me on a date for the following night - and I excitedly said yes. And before the year was up I said yes to another very important question - which leads us to this blog.

I feel so lucky that we were able to find each other - even if we had to resort to the internets to do so. Even though we were living in the same city, went to the same Richmond hot-spots and like the same kinds of food - I'm confident we wouldn't have met each other had it not been for good-ole Match.

What's most important to me is how well he gets along with Lovie, my family and friends. As the years have passed and boyfriends have come and gone - those three groups of people are the ones who mean the most to me and their approval was critical. He passed their test with flying colors.

Today is also the five year anniversary of my cousin Michael's passing. Today is a mixture of emotions - sad for obvious reasons and happy for other obvious reasons. But I feel very strongly that Michael played a part in helping me find Mike. He's my guardian angel and from the birth of Lovie to my now engagement - he's been there every step of the way to make sure all went according to His plan.

I feel blessed to have both Michael's in my life - protecting and guiding every step of the way.