Visiting The Site

Over the weekend I went to visit my grandparents. Our wedding ceremony and reception is going to be held on their property. The day of my grandmother's eightieth surprise birthday party, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the property looked fabulous. I was thinking that if Alex could hurry up and get to Albany we'd just get married right then and there.

It's amazing how soem things just come together. I have seen and heard of brides finding that "perfect" dress or "perfect" song and having a moment. While I am a sucker for sappy romantic movies, I never considered myself to be one of the 'moment' people.... I had a moment. It was rather awestriking (if that's a word).

The grass was a pristeen Florida golf course green; the baby blue sky held carefree wispy clouds, and the sun was out. There was a field of daisy's in bloom just waiting to be plucked for centerpieces. The serene simplicity of it all was breathtaking and caused little excitementflies to flutter around in my chest.

I began to think of why I have wanted to be married on the farm. This was the place I spent a week with just my grandparents every summer. PopPop would work on the farm incessantly planting, mowing, or taking care of something that had been planted. Gram and I would spend the week at the pool, laying out on the grass, or going to the movies when it was poor weather. Even when we moved from house to house the farm was always the same. The blue room always waiting with it's Winnie-the-Pooh sheets for me to sleep in it. The first road trip I made with my license was to the farm. It was great freedom to know I could go whenever I wanted and didn't need a ride for the three hours it took to get there. The farm was an escape from college the week before finals or a place to stay during student teaching.

What better place to make a commitment for the rest of my life than the most stable in my life so far?

The Introduction

I'm engaged! YAY! And it's not so much the fact that I am engaged that I'm excited about, but the idea that Alex and I are making the commitment to get ready to spend the rest of our lives together. (The wedding ceremony is the true commitment). Now comes the next step...planning the wedding.

I am not a planner. For example, my lesson plan book (I'm a teacher) is filled out post-lesson, usually a week or two later. I'm constantly having to remember what I did rather than think of what I'm going to do. Another example, on a trip to Indiana to visit with Alex's parents, he informed me of some events we would be doing and the weather so I would know what to pack, when we would have to leave the house to go to the airport, and when we would be getting back. I did not know anything else, nor was in charge of anything except my own suitcase. It was quite relaxing and didn't bother me in the least that the decisions were left to someone else.

Some of this lack of planning is due to my ability to be extremely flexible. You can't plan for life so why not enjoy it as it comes along. There's also the aspect of decision making. Planning involves making a lot of decisions and I make a great deal of decisions everyday as a teacher. It's a little daunting and overwhelming to add even more to my plate.

Needless to say, when it comes to planning the wedding, I'm definitely dragging my heals. It's not because I'm getting cold feet or that I'm hesitant about marrying Alex, which for some reason people have thought. It's because I don't like planning!

My mom gets it. She joked that if I could walk into the room, put on the dress she's put in the closet, and walk outside down the aisle I would be perfectly happy.

I agree.