as i logged on to write this post, i noticed that i had 777 posts. that's a lot of posts!! but then again, i think i've had this blog for almost a year now...whoa.

so my neighbor's daughter is getting married tomorrow. she just graduated from college last summer, and is only 22. the thought of marriage when i was 22 wasn't anywhere near my brain, even tho W and i had started dating by then, and i was pretty sure he was gonna be the man i married, someday. it took me a good few years before deciding i was ready to be a "we" and no longer a "me." but as i was visiting with her mom yesterday, whom i just adore and is the best neighbor ever, i started to relive that excitement, the days leading up to the wedding, all the excitement, stress, anxiety. the big moment when the wedding music played and the doors opened and i stepped out, with my dad next to me, walking down the aisle toward my husband-to-be. all our dearest friends and family there with us to share that special moment. it all went by in such a blur, and i still remember that night, just me and W, laying in bed, exhausted, talking about the day and what we experienced. in some ways i almost envy our neighbor's daughter, and that feeling and excitement that you feel when you start on this journey. i mean, why do we get married? is it just cuz society tells us that's what we're supposed to do? i don't know, but i do know that it was only a couple months after W and i started dating that i realized i wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, and face life's challenges with him by my side. we were married almost 4 years before we welcomed our little boy, and i loved our time together. honestly, if we had gotten married sooner, i would have definitely waited longer before having kids. don't get me wrong, i love my kids and LOVE being a mom, but i loved just being a wife too. we had a lot of fun together, and that time when you're married, before you have kids, if you choose to have them that is, is a time that you can't ever have back once you do have those kids. your life and your relationship changes quite a bit once you have kids. not in a bad way, just different. i'm glad we didn't rush to have kids tho, and that's the one piece of advice i'd give any couple getting married. enjoy your time together, and really KNOW each other before even thinking about having kids.

my friend J and i have both worked in event planning at high-end hotels. she got laid off shortly after her first daughter was born (our kids are exactly 1 month apart) and continued to do wedding planning for friends. she loves planning weddings. she has bridal magazines in her house, and she's been married for 10 years! a little bit before A was born, i jokingly said we should start a wedding planning business. we talked about it casually, and i think we started to realize that this was actually not a bad idea. then she got pregnant and had a baby last fall, and is very consumed with that. but we started talking about it again, and i think it might actually happen. not now of course, but we're definitely talking about it. we'll see if it really does become reality. but i will say, as i watch our neighbors preparing for their daughter's wedding, it made me want to be apart of it (as more than just a guest) and now i'm even more excited about the prospect of becoming a wedding planner (which i vowed i would never be after i left the ritz-carlton, haha).