One year, and so much has changed

Ok. First off, I know it's been a SUPER long time since I've written anything. Like everyone who starts a blog, I had high hopes that I was going to turn this into my own personal outlet for anything I wanted to talk about, with specific attention paid to my upcoming nuptials.

Well, that didn't quite happen the way I thought it would!! ;-)

It's not that there wasn't a lot to talk about with regard to the wedding, it was just that I didn't feel like writing about it. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was going to be giving away all the details about the wedding. I really didn't like that. So, I decided to stop writing because I wanted people to have that sense of excitement, and of surprise, when the day finally rolls around.

On that note, let me give a summary of the past year without giving too many details away.

Today is Sunday, March 4th, 2012. I asked Devon to marry me on March 5th, 2011. So, we're basically exactly one year from the proposal, leap day included. What's going on? What have we done? What do we have left?

In other words: What's changed?

Well, as I type this, I'm listening to my new favorite band Volbeat. Friggin amazing music. Intense lyrics. They're from Denmark, so when they sing in English, there's a pretty heavy accent that accompanies it. When I actually look up the lyrics, I get the full depth of all of their songs.....and it's beautiful. But anyway....

I'm typing, and Devon is putting together the invitations that we're going to be sending out very shortly. All I have to say is that they're much better in person than I could have imagined from the pictures. We ordered them from Etsy, like we've ordered pretty much all of the decorations that we'll be using. Neither of us are very crafty. Not to mention the fact that neither of us has a whole lot of time to do things like that.

That's the other thing that's changed. Our jobs. I'm now a Supervisor in the Overhead Line Department at work. Devon is in charge of her own people at the college. Sometimes it can suck in our positions, mainly due to the work load and the various headaches that come with being in positions of authority. But, we actually kind of thrive in environments like that. It hasn't been easy, but we're doing it.

Back to the wedding though, we did make a pretty big decision about our officiant. It was spur of the moment, but we haven't regretted it since. We were at the beautiful wedding of a few friends of ours, Tara (Noyes) & John Newcombe, when we were talking amongst ourselves about how their officiant, a man of the cloth, kept things kind of light and funny. It was awesome and we wanted someone like that.

However, neither of us is religious, so we thought to ourselves, "What are we going to do?" The answer hit us like a sack of bricks: We would get one of our friends to marry us!!!! But who??

There was really only one choice: Justin Ausanka. He is one of my closest friends, Devon loves him, and he's been nothing but supportive of us. While we may not agree on some issues (politics), there's a bond there that just can't be denied.

So, we asked him at the Noyes-Newcombe wedding and we were blown away by his reaction. He had tears in his eyes when he said yes. That's how much he loves us and how much we love him back. We couldn't picture anybody else marrying us and that's the way it SHOULD be!!

We also have some AMAZING people who are going to do readings at the wedding: John Skrzypczak and Jessica Ortiz. These two are so important to us that it was a no-brainer to ask them. On top of that, they do have some great readings to do. And, if you know us, the readings are going to be just as ridiculous as we can be!!!

That's pretty much all I want to divulge about the plans right now. Like I said, I want there to be some surprise. However, there is one other thing I want to bring up...

It's been one year since I've made the most important decision of my life. I asked Devon, who I cannot imagine my life without, to marry me. Since I can't imagine my life without her, I wanted to make sure she didn't have to live her life without me. So, the day after I asked her, I decided to change my lifestyle completely.

I stopped eating junk food at every opportunity. I started living healthier. In one year, I've lost 80 pounds. I still have another 20-30 that I'd like to lose, but I've never felt better in my entire life. My body has changed completely. My fitness has become something I never thought I would have. I'm slimmer (not skinny, because I don't want to be :), stronger, faster, and have much more endurance. I've dropped clothing sizes like you read about.

However, the best confirmation I could have gotten happened to me twice this week. The first time, my new doctor told me that the weight I've lost in the time I've lost it was the best way to do it. He said that what I've done is sustainable and fantastic!

The second time, I was walking through the mall today when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I almost didn't recognize myself. I'm not used to liking pictures of myself, or even my own reflection. But, this time, I thought I looked hot! Seriously. That's never really happened before.

Asking Devon to marry me was the best thing to happen in my life.

Liking myself has been a very close second.

THAT is what it's supposed to feel like when everything starts to come together. I just can't wait another 82 days until this marriage "thing" happens!!

TC