Preeeetty

Oh, how I love my ring!

I mean, clearly, I love my husband-to-be even more, but hot damn do I love this ring! If you had any idea of the irony involved here, it would make your head spin.

Let's talk about vows, shall we?

In my 33 years, I have vowed to:

1. never get married
   
2. never have children
3. never change my last name
4. never wear a diamond engagement ring
5. never have a wedding
   

And now I find myself wearing this ring and dreaming of raising kids. I find myself a mere 10 weeks away from my wedding date, a mere 10 weeks away from committing myself (for the rest of my days on EARTH*, omg!) to my best friend in the world. (The name-change thing is still up in the air. It's hard for this fiercely independent woman to give up her name without somehow feeling that she's giving up her identity, but I'm slowly coming around, I think...)

On our last day of school we went to the Parkwood Inn to celebrate with some work friends (and to say goodbye to two of our principals who will be sorely missed). I acted as designated driver which, in hindsight, might actually not have been the safest option: I kept finding myself totally distracted by the *sparkly* on my ring finger. Cory expressed the concern he had about our impending death on Rt. 76, so I made a sincere effort to keep my eyes on the road.

Maybe he thought I was having a moment of extreme shallowness, but the truth is that I was overwhelmed by what that ring represents for me-- the realization that I totally lucked out and am getting to marry my very best friend in the world. Honestly, I can hardly believe it! I have this man who has gotten to know me through three years of carpooling, three years of morning grumpiness and snow delays and coffee stops, three years of lesson planning and field trips and parent conferences, three years of sordid tales of bad dates and youthful debauchery. And still we somehow found ourselves in love in spite of it all (or perhaps, rather, because of it all?)

The fact that we got to know each other as friends first and held nothing back makes me all the more confident that what we have here is really kind of special, and I don't take that for granted for a minute.

All of our plans are falling into place so effortlessly that I am amazed by the serendipity. We can't wait for you all to come celebrate with us!

xo!
jaimie


*You might remember the episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry and Cheryl David are renewing their vows and bickering over the meaning of Til death do us part. Cory and I have already had this discussion and are in agreement with the answer to that Big Question!