two little words

I have once again been captured by the Lochness Monster otherwise known as “my retarded marketing group” that makes me do more work than necessary, but I am coming up for air long enough to yell two little words: I’M ENGAGED! Not only am I engaged, but I am engaged to my most perfect match. Ummm I feel myself becoming uber gushy so earmuff it if you’re not interested in lollipops and rainbows.

After the first time we met, we spent a painstaking 5 months getting to know each other before deciding to take the plunge and see each other in person again. And literally from that first day that we “re-met” we were both echoing with a resounding “uh oh” because neither of us wanted a long distance relationship but there seemed like no other alternative. Neither of us had ever been so instantly connected to someone or so perfectly complemented. So we saw each other again 3 weeks later. And then, oops, the week after that. And then 2 weeks after that. And now we’re engaged!!!! There was more in the middle but that’s the important part :) From the beginning we both knew deep down that we were done looking around, but now it’s in stone…an awesome, beautiful, sparkly stone that makes me turn into the biggest girly girl every time I look down.

First picture, first vacation, second time to meet. Crazy.

For the first few days after the engagement, I was mostly overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the fact that I totally didn’t see it coming even though I had subconsciously been wondering that night why Brian gave a shit about me forgetting my shoes that were meant to go with my dress and about us being on time and about us getting a nice table. I was also overwhelmed by the fact that Brian actually really truthfully wanted to marry me and not just live a common-law existence for 10 years with joint bank accounts and kids with hyphenated names. And I was overwhelmed by the fact that this amazing person that I’d found and wanted to spend the rest of my life with not only shared my desire but couldn’t wait for that to start. We actually will have to wait, because school and cities and jobs and such will be in the way for a while longer, but at least we finally have an end-date on the horizon. Or a beginning date, rather.

Now that my shock has worn off, I've moved on to pure excitement. So watch out. This girl's been obsessed with weddings forever (hello! it's the biggest party you'll ever throw!). And now I have an excuse to totally indulge the little wedding planner inside of me! I definitely want to turn down the "freak" dial during the engagement so that Brian doesn't think that my true colors are as a wedding nazi, especially because there are so many other exciting things to do...like read books about marriage. Ha. Our nightstand already has 3 new books, 1 magazine, and 1 journal. If he's willing to have me after seeing the crazy that I'm now convinced overtakes every sane girl, then I'll promise to make sure it's worth his time. But if you think I'm not making a Knot page, theeeeeeeen you're wrong.

Just engaged, still teary-eyed! Crazy.

da dooce

This will have to be a quickie because in an hour Brian and I are heading to Chicago for the weekend, but I wanted to report that the Dooce reading was everything I hoped for and more! She had a severe Southern twang and told stories between reading excerpts from her website and book, one which was strictly about sex in the wake of lady-parts damage from childbirth...one of the few times when vagina gets funnier when it's repeated 1,607 times in 5 minutes. Everyone should be proud to know that I managed to plug my motormouth when I met her, and we successfully exchanged a nice little dialogue about Memphis without pee visibly dripping down my leg. 

Two particularly interesting things from the reading: 1) The audience was noticeably...how do I say this...homely. What about Dooce strikes a chord in women who hate makeup and hair ties? I hesitate to explore this too much for fear of what it says about me...moving on. 2) I once again fought the urge to CRY when the woman walked onto her little half-ass stage. This same thing happened when I saw Stephanie Klein in person. I have no earthly clue what about a 7-month pregnant ex-Mormon makes my tear ducts go ka-boom, but I had to focus all my energy on breathing in and out so as not to look like a complete ass in front of the hundreds of women (and four men) who were there. Although I guess it wasn't just me; the woman next to me said to her friend "I feel like I'm a kid waiting at the door of a chocolate factory!" First I thought she was a little awkwardly crazy, then I realized she was kind of right, and then I punched her in the face for talking about chocolate in front of me. Amen for the end of Lent on Easter Sunday and the chocolate Jesus I expect to find in an Easter egg! Maybe then my Frosty dreams will stop.