304

I have to tell you, I'm a little excited. Well, a little more than excited. 304 is the countdown until my wedding day. Yep, I have it down to the day, thanks to http://www.theknot.com/ for a great resource for budgeting, planning, etc... and I find myself checking it every week or so to see if there is anything new or exciting that I need to stay on top of. Giddy, is a word that I would use... or ecstatic. I've been in a few serious relationships, and I have always known that I wanted a great career, an amazing husband and wonderful children. The whole shebang, you know? Well... enter reality. The first two relationships I was in were good while they lasted, but for one reason or another they just weren't right. In that time frame [2002-2007], include a memorable year at Huntington College (now Huntington University), a year back home at Jackson Community College, most of a year at Grand Valley State University, almost a start at Grand Rapids Community College that fell through, two years working in the restaurant biz, a move back home and a restart at Jackson Community College part time, and 6 part time jobs within the same year until I met him. The one.

After my move home in 2007 I was wondering, worried some, that I might be too late to find the right guy, didn't know what I wanted, where I was going, and what I was going to do with my life. By 2008 both of my past two serious relationships I was in I had gotten married. And had kids. Needless to say I felt like 'Good Luck Chuck' on a slightly smaller scale. So I went out with friends, had fun, tried to forget about it all and just figure that something would come along when it was time. Although I hated the wait, I was right.

My friend Kim and I had a few months of living the dynamic duo broke single girl lifestyle near the end of 2007 and into the start of 2008, and one night she had planned a game night... her new guy was coming over and I had wanted to try a new recipe (she is Vegetarian so I had fun experimenting with that) and so she invited a few others to come over and play games. I was standing barefoot in her kitchen when he walked in. I was pleasantly shocked at his appearance, not one that I would peg for Kim, thinking he was her new guy, when I was surprised to find that he wasn't her new guy... he was her friend who had just moved home... single... and good looking... wearing a black button down shirt, belt buckle & cowboy boots. The night progressed after Kim's boyfriend showed up, and Andrew and I really hit it off. At night's end he walked me to my car, asked if he could call me, gave me one of the best hugs I'd ever gotten, and said goodnight.

In case you didn't know...

• he called me the next day :)
• asked me to be his girlfriend 3 weeks later
• told me he loved me shortly after that <3
• started talking about our future sometime that year during the 10 weddings we were invited to
• told his mom I was "marrying his dad" after she was harassing him for acting like his dad about a year later (this embarrassed me a little)
• & asked me to be his wife on my birthday this year, just short of our two year anniversary

Things are falling into place quite nicely, and I couldn't be happier for it <3<3<3
Keep up with us on our wedding website http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/christinahurd&andrewjensen