Getting Married

I'm getting married next weekend. It seems so surreal. John and I both feel the same way--all of the work we've been doing to get it in order, and now it's finally happening. We're both incredibly excited. We just applied for our marriage license (he contemplated changing his name, I considered briefly keeping my maiden name and tacking his last name on...but "Kristen Elizabeth McCullough Young" gets a little long) and should have it by Tuesday. We've been running ourselves ragged trying to get things in order, finalizing things (we had a bit of a kink in the process when we had to change the venue of the wedding since my parents, after 8 years, finally sold their house), and making sure we haven't forgotten anything. Family I haven't seen in years will be traveling to see us, something I'm looking forward to most of all. His mom is coming up, so I'll finally be meeting her. Hope it goes well. My sister-in-law has been an angel, taking care of almost all the decorating. We'll have amazing southern food. The caterer is southern herself, so John's excited to see if her southern mac n cheese is done like it should be. We're excited to spend time with family and friends, and sharing our happiness with them.

But what I'm hoping for most of all is that after the wedding, people will stop trying to convince me to not get married. I'm not sure where strangers get off by taking one look at my engagement ring and immediately giving me the top ten reason why marriage ruins a person's life. Good thing I have too many reasons why marriage can be successful to actually listen to these naysayers. For one, my parents have been the perfect example of how marriage can work. Each others best friend, they have been married for about 27 years. Yes, they've had their hard times, but not once in my life have I doubted their love for each other. Just by watching them, they've taught me how to compromise, when to step back from a situation, that communication is key, and that the most important thing in a relationship: keep showing up.

So to all you naysayers: I'm not marrying your significant other who has caused you so much pain. I'm marrying the man of my dreams. The man who rubs my legs after 12 hours of standing at work, who brings me roses when picking me up at 1AM from a closing shift because my car broke down. The man who kissed me despite being covered in salt and grease, making me feel beautiful despite smelling like a fry vat. The man who holds me when I have a migraine and loves hanging out with my parents. I'm marrying a man who I can confide in, share dreams with, and bounce ideas off of. He makes me laugh, and is going to take me traveling. We've even started craving the same foods, desire to watch the same movies. We talk about books; analyze plot lines and discuss characters. He's passionate and caring, and loves me with all his heart.
He introduced me to sushi on our first date, and it's been exciting, yet comforting ever since. I'm not afraid to be myself with him, and there's nothing I have to change to fit with him, we fit each other just fine, like puzzle pieces. I know we'll have our hard times, and that I'll want to lock him out of the bedroom at some point. Even my mom has done that to my dad. But the point is that we get through it. Being in love isn't about getting along all the time. It's about knowing that getting through the rough stuff is always worth it. John drives me crazy some times, just like I drive him mad. But we deal with it. We go on. Because all I want is to see him happy, even if it takes me a few minutes or hours of stewing and thinking to get over whatever has me riled up.

So, I'm getting married next weekend. I'll have a shorter name, and another ring on my finger. Everyone will know that I'm going to devote the rest of my life to this man. Most of all, I'll be in a beautifully ridiculous dress staring at my handsome man in a tux and I'll get to spend time with my friends and family and eat some awesome food. My man was made for a tux, you should have seen him at his fitting. Yum.

Questionable Education

I've been having a bit of an interesting mid-education crisis. I've been given the chance to really examine my decisions--what I want to go into, do I really want to endure the education program, what second major (or minor) should I take on that is more, as a college professor put it, more practical that I can endure and still pay the bills? The chance to which I am referring is my soon-transfer to the sunny, hot, and beautiful, Savannah, Georgia.

I've been receiving looks to this news (looks ranging from: 'why would you ever want to leave here' to 'wow, that's adventurous of you'), so I'd better quickly explain why the big cross-country move away from everything and everyone I know.

Mostly, we're going for school. Who knew that school in Georgia could be as cheap for a state university as it is to attend a community college in my home town in Minnesota? It helps that my boyfriend has been telling me about the South for so long now that I can't help but wish I could experience it, even just for a little while.

Secondly, I just need to go. Go somewhere that I haven't been before, experience a culture so unlike my own (though we are in the same country, it amazes me how different we Yanks are from our Southern friends), and just do something crazy. Not a whole lot of opportunity for crazy-ness in Northern Minnesota.

And of course, to escape the snow. We've been following the weather in Georgia through the winter. Granted, our winter has not been the typical oh-my-god-I-might-die-if-I-stand-out-here-for-more-than-two-minutes-winter, but when we hit 10 degrees, Georgia had an average temperature of 50.

So, we're going to Georgia. Southern accent and Paula Deen, here I come.

Anyway, the mid-education crisis. I've been talking to a professor at my college about my education decisions. I'm having a hard time deciding if I should go into the education program at all. This professor tells me that I don't need to if I want to teach college level students, but I will if I want to teach high school. It doesn't help that all I hear about the education programs (regardless of location) is how useless it all is. Whether or not that is true remains to be seen. I'm sure that there is something useful in those classes, but what I'd like to know most of all, is if I've chosen the right age group. I'm starting to think more and more of attempting college/university level teaching, but I'm having a hard time weighing pros and cons between that and high school. All I know is my experience in high school--that it was awesome. What I've seen in college, is that it is more hectic, less personal, but more giving with what I can and can not say--and teach. I know I want to teach, but to what age level?

Even getting away from the education side of things, I've got to figure out a second major (or a minor). That's going to depend on the university I end up at (I've been accepted to every place I've applied to throughout Georgia, so location doesn't matter), but mostly, what is considered practical? I would love to go into publishing (I think), or mass communications (maybe) or even editing (perhaps). But do I really? Are these areas in which I can find a decent job if teaching falls through? My professor even suggested something technical with writing (like programming weblogs/wikis), but I've never been very keen on the technological aspect of writing (at least enough to know how it all works). So what about business? Could I open a bookstore with that knowledge? Again, is that even practical? How much more math would I need to go into (if it involves Calculus, forget it. Sorry, Froiland)?

Too many questions, and I'm not even sure how to go about getting answers. If anyone has some answers, don't hesitate to comment.

Child Left Behind

Ha, if only.