God Bless the Broken Road

I never, ever pictured myself getting married.

I was not the little girl who acted out her wedding. I do remember pretending that I was a priest (?? Must be from all of those hours spent in mass during Catholic school) and Laura Ingalls Wilder, but never a bride.

I never even dated very much. I think I had 2 guys I was "official" with in high school, for a few months per relationship, nothing big. (Oh and they were winners...yeah not really).

In college, I had a ton of guy friends (go Lambda Chi!), but not a boyfriend in sight. I came away from those college years with some great, great friends....but no romantic relationship to speak of.

Before I met Ryan, I was tired of the whole dating situation. I was done with the bar scene, and the town I live in is not big, so there aren't lots of opportunities to meet new people. My best friend and I were not getting along, and I was spending more time with my family and doing what made me happy.

Needless to say, when I met Ryan, I was not expecting anything. I thought he was cute, added him as a friend on Facebook, and proceeded to become great friends with him over about a 6 month period. I quit talking to my best friend altogether (trust me, it was a good thing), and Ryan stepped up and took that place in my life. In April, he went away for spring break, and I missed him. I was talking to my parent's pastor when he mentioned that I had brought up Ryan's name about 5 times in the last 30 minutes. He told me to really re-evaluate how I felt about him. I took a long country drive by myself that day, and lo and behold, realized much I wanted to be with this man.

Ryan took me totally off guard. It wasn't long before Ryan (also a loner in terms of relationships) and I were talking marriage, so I've had a while to get used to the idea. I am thrilled to be his wife and his partner in life. I am still in a state of awe about the whole situation. "This man loves...me? He wants to be with me? He wants to spend the rest of his life with me? I make him happy? I got this unbelievably lucky?" I think that every day!

I hope I always have that sense of awe and wonder that I am with him. I think it makes me cherish him and appreciate him that much more.

How do you feel about getting married? Did you ever see yourself going down that path in life?