David and I met in 2005 (at work). I can still recall that Monday in March when he entered the Collateral Loan Processing department. Comments started almost immediately. Co-workers of mine saying things like, “You two look alike. Almost similar to brother and sister.” Weird (I thought). Others said, “Oh my goodness, you two would make such a cute couple.” Pump the breaks a little bit. You are all crazy! Well maybe not so crazy. After approximately 6 months of working together and spending happy hour together (almost every day of the week) we both knew it was time to take the next step. One night David was walking me to my car and when he went to say goodnight (without a kiss again) I decided to take matters into my own hands. It happened. Right there in the parking lot at the Block of Orange, I gave him one big LONG kiss. It was official. We were now an item.

He lived in Lakewood and I lived in Yorba Linda. I recall him making the drive all the way to YL just to go for a simple jog or pick me up only to turn around and take us all the way back to his place to watch a movie. We spent almost everyday together from that kiss forward.

We did everything the right way in our 20’s. Went to college, partied like college students (naturally), traveled out of the country 5 times, and most importantly bought a house. Yep, we bought a house (okay it was a 2 bedroom condo) all before 30. Almost immediately after we moved in together people began to ask the marriage question. So when will you two be tying the knot? To be honest, I never knew how to answer that question. I was for marriage “off and on.” Some months I would really be fond of the idea, while other months I was completely opposed to it. During those “off” months it was because so many friends and some family members I knew were separating or divorcing just a short time after marriage. I was so confused by this since most of them were in long term relationships (like David and I) but still crumbled. It scared the “you know what” out of me. Does marriage ruin everything? What the heck changes? Why is everyone separating? I voiced these concerns to David and even said, “I think you and I will be that one couple who have children before marriage. If we even marry at all.” I recall the surprised look on his face and him saying, “Um, no we won’t.” I think my hesitation towards marriage worried him a bit. Which is probably why it took him 3 more years to pop the question.

When the time came that Thanksgiving day in 2013, I have to tell you, I couldn’t have been happier. By this time, all those silly thoughts of us falling apart after marriage had subsided. I mean, we had already been living together for 3 years in a house that we owned together, and we (somewhat) depended on each other financially and didn’t even want to kill each other yet. How much more committed could you possibly get?

So we did it! Almost one year later in October of 2014 we shared the most perfect wedding day with our family and close friends. The day was truly magical. I could and probably will write an entire post solely related to the wedding day itself. Everything seemed just right, exactly as it should be. I recall feeling so anxious but extremely certain about our decision moving forward as a married couple. We were both so incredibly happy.

So when I hear people say they do not want to get married, I smile and now ask them the question why? Most of the time I hear the same fears I once had. I assure them at some point that will change. A time will come when all those fears are put to rest and you are ready to embrace the change. I feel that time comes at different times for everyone and to never force it to come sooner if you are BOTH not on the same page about it. Trust me you don’t want to miss out on that amazing feeling of standing up there in front of all your (hand selected) guests professing your love to one another. That feeling can only be present when you both want to take that step, if you’re both ready.

I’ve been a married woman for almost 2 months now. We have made it two whole months so I guess we are in the clear. Phew! Coming home to our house wasn’t too different since it had been our home for the last 3 years. We jumped right back into our same routine and carried on but now as a married couple. It felt really nice. I now know why marriage is important to me. What it means to me.

Marriage is not going to change the people we are. We are still going to annoy each other the same as we did before, love each other as much as we did before, our dreams and goals for our relationship will not change, the commitment will still be there. What changed is the promise. I felt we both deserved our promise to love one another to be made public. For all who doubted us (because we simply were not married and thought we were not committed because of it), to witness the everlasting love we in fact do have for each other. Marriage is not supposed to change any of that but to promise one another to be the witness to one another’s life until death do you part. How beautiful is that? I think the idea of marriage is so sacred and am so very happy to share my life with my now husband, David.