wait, that's what I look like... now!

let the hilarity ensue.

and I want to find a way to be friends with Sarah Haskins - check out her Target Women: Jewelry. I got an ab workout from laughing.

Sarah Haskins = my new exercise.

xoxo
colleen

from refusal to reluctance to... let's party!

so, most who know me know that marriage wasn't really on the agenda.

I made a decision in high school (based on what, I still haven't figured out) that marriage wasn't for me, and stuck with it. despite the examples of loving marriages in my life; despite the fact that in college, I met a dude who (symbolically) checked off the many deal-breaker standards on my list; despite the fact that apparently, it goes against all of the estrogen in my body to not want to marry and have the wedding of my dreams - I just couldn't reconcile the idea in my mind.

meanwhile, the aforementioned dude - you may know him as rodrigo - and I started to build a life together. we supported each other, graduated school, moved to a new city. it took me a while to come to terms with the fact that I was part of an "us," but once I did, I stood back, appreciated this amazing man in my life, and started to ponder the notion of marriage.

it started this way: after attending the weddings of friends and family, we would inevitably discuss elements of the ceremony, of the party, of the music, of the decorations, etc. in order to defend my anti-marriage stance, I would frame hypotheticals this way: "I don't want to get married, but when we get married, we should definitely play lots of Motown at our reception."

then it became this: "when we get married, way, way in the future, we should have cupcakes instead of cake."

and then I realized: marriage is not turning over one's independence. marriage is not suddenly transforming into someone you don't want to be. for rodrigo and me, marriage is basically telling everyone:

this great thing that we have, that we've had for a while now - we're making it official. and more importantly, we're making it official and then celebrating, surrounded by the friends and family that supported us throughout our lives, and made us realize how lucky we are.

although, we'll have to find different wording for the invitations, I'm sure, because that's a bit wordy...

so, who's ready to party??

xoxo
colleen