Changes...

Times change...quickly!

Have you ever noticed that nothing you plan out "perfectly" ever seems to work out that way? Things change and often things evolve into something much better than you'd ever seen coming.

I remember being so incredibly excited to graduate high school and move as far away from home as possible. I wanted to create a new life somewhere else--one filled with far more excitement than I'd ever known (yeah, right) and all new friends. I didn't even know if I wanted to be in Alabama, I had the typical assumption that the grass was greener somewhere else. Well... we all know how that worked out. While I loved my time in Mobile, I knew it wasn't a permanent fit for me. I couldn't see my future there and I was scared to say my plans were wrong. I made it all of 10 months away from home and then I was back. Back not only living in my parents house, but also back with the boy I'd known for years and the boy most thought would be the least likely match for me. Times changed before I knew it and surprisingly enough, I was completely okay. This turned out to be the best decision I ever made. Not only was I able to spend much more time with the one I love, but I also was able to explore my career path more extensively. I gained experience that I never would have in Mobile, I met people that would eventually lead me to professional careers, I found a love for Birmingham (yes, I was surprised too) and I developed a deep relationship with my family that can't be matched.

Then there was the post graduation plan. I never imagined that just six months into my first job as a college graduate that I would resign. My plan changed with one phone call. Now, I'm on job number two and I still don't know what I'm doing, but I have learned to not even try to predict what lies ahead.

Now, I say all of that to get to the point that the love, engagement, marriage process is not quite working out like I'd always imagined. It's much more complicated than that, but I'm realizing that I'm glad my plan didn't happen. Instead of having my prince charming come in and sweep me off my feet with a plan for the rest of our lives, Brad and I are rescuing each other. I'm his princess and he's my prince and we're planning our lives together. There is no predetermined plan and we are happy with that. No, I don't have the diamond on my hand yet, but we know that we're going to spend our lives together and we're planning for the future. He has a plan for the engagement process (or so he says) so it's left up to the both of us to decide important things like where we're going to live, how we're going to spend our money and what we want out of a marriage. Before now we hadn't really talked in depth about these things and when we had mentioned them in passing, it was usually a forced and awkward conversation that left me terrified about what was to come. Times have changed... We have meaningful chats about what we want from life and what we expect of each other. We're moving in the right direction and I'm very excited.

I'm anxious to see what other changes lie ahead for me. Some will undoubtedly seem to be for the worse while others will be some of the most exciting parts of my life. While change is scary on the outside, I'm learning that it is quite possibly something I should look forward to and certainly embrace when it comes around. You never know what's lurking around the corner...