Date Night

Oh, how I love date nights! I love it when Sam comes home from work, and I get back from Mom's after a couple hours of wedding talk, and we have absolutely no plans for the night - the night after days & days of busi-ness and a weekend ahead of more packed schedules. We actually get to hang out just the two of us and spend time talking - NOT about wedding planning! It's nice to just go get some dinner and talk about work, our families, our friends, our goals for the future, our housing project, just anything! We can solve the problems of the world together, it feels like, as we just chit-chat and enjoy each other's company. I love being able to just hold Sam's hand throughout a movie and then spend the entire evening thereafter analyzing the plot and the characters, thinking through the storyline, and saying what we liked and disliked about it.

I kind of can't wait until this wedding planning is over. I am psyched for the actual event, but the planning bit is overkill. For a year now, we have been planning and thinking, thinking and planning. I'm just done at this point! I can't wait for the over-analyzing of the planning to be completed so we can actually enjoy the evening and all the memories. I will miss all the extra time Mom and I have spent together and my sister and me, but it's been yet another experience that we can all add to our list of things we did together, that we planned on our own and pulled through together. Sam and I are just ready to move on from this planning process - enjoy the event, hang out with friends and family, and then finally be married and enjoy just hanging out with each other.

In a recent talk with a long-time family friend who married in May, I found my feelings were shared and therefore validated. This friend said she is kind of glad that the wedding was actually over. You never hear brides admit that they are glad the day is said, done, and gone! It was nice to hear I'm not alone. I know I'll look back on that weekend and miss my friends and family who came in town just for us, or those who dedicated their whole weekend or even just a long night to celebrating with us. I know I'll cherish the tenderness of a romantic first dance or the way Sam will look at me that day. I know I'll never forget the way he looked or the feeling of being loved by so many people in one room. But, I'm just ready to be Sam's wife and for him to be my husband and for us to figure out this whole newlywed life. Also, in talking with this friend, I was reminded of the way I want to think about the whole weekend: at the end of the night, no matter what goes wrong or not to my expectation, Sam and I will be married. And, the next morning, none of it will matter but the memories with my loved ones and Sam. We will be married, the ceremony will go on, and the little things just don't matter!

That's just how powerful date night can be!