Always a bridesmaid...thankfully.
Hey, I forgot to tell you guys…I’m going to be a bridesmaid! My very dear friends Laura and Brad are getting married sometime this summer/fall and we’re already well into the initial stages of planning.
Laura and I have only known each other for two years but we’ve become good friends in that time. Despite being a friendly person in general, I don’t make true friends easily. In case I never mentioned it before, I’m quite the introvert and homebody. This means I need a lot of alone time and it takes a certain type of person to understand my reclusive nature and not be offended when I don’t want to hang out. Only Laura has managed to get me to leave my house on a Sunday which is, to me, the most sacred of all days: Pajama Day.
It’s funny how quickly all my bridesmaid skills came back once Laura asked me to be in her wedding. When my friend Karrie got engaged five years ago, I put a lot of work into wedding research. It was necessary because up until that point, I hadn’t ever really thought about weddings. Since her wedding I haven’t really thought about weddings.
But upon hearing the news of Laura’s engagement, the proper response clicked into my brain without a second thought…the bride must be wished happiness and the groom congratulations. Did you all know that? I know traditions and etiquette like that are no longer useful (nor were they probably ever useful) but I think it’s sort of fun nonetheless.
Now that my bridesmaid programming has been activated, I’m getting excited for the planning. I’m definitely not a wedding sort of person but I like to throw parties and plan events and help my friends do the same. It’s going to be a lot of work but also a lot of fun.
And just in case you were curious, here’s a picture of me after Karrie’s wedding 3.5 years ago.
That’s my boyfriend Ian! Oh to be 24 again...24 was a good year.
Laura and I have only known each other for two years but we’ve become good friends in that time. Despite being a friendly person in general, I don’t make true friends easily. In case I never mentioned it before, I’m quite the introvert and homebody. This means I need a lot of alone time and it takes a certain type of person to understand my reclusive nature and not be offended when I don’t want to hang out. Only Laura has managed to get me to leave my house on a Sunday which is, to me, the most sacred of all days: Pajama Day.
It’s funny how quickly all my bridesmaid skills came back once Laura asked me to be in her wedding. When my friend Karrie got engaged five years ago, I put a lot of work into wedding research. It was necessary because up until that point, I hadn’t ever really thought about weddings. Since her wedding I haven’t really thought about weddings.
But upon hearing the news of Laura’s engagement, the proper response clicked into my brain without a second thought…the bride must be wished happiness and the groom congratulations. Did you all know that? I know traditions and etiquette like that are no longer useful (nor were they probably ever useful) but I think it’s sort of fun nonetheless.
Now that my bridesmaid programming has been activated, I’m getting excited for the planning. I’m definitely not a wedding sort of person but I like to throw parties and plan events and help my friends do the same. It’s going to be a lot of work but also a lot of fun.
And just in case you were curious, here’s a picture of me after Karrie’s wedding 3.5 years ago.
That’s my boyfriend Ian! Oh to be 24 again...24 was a good year.
What an adorable picture! Is that weird coming from someone you don't know at all? I hope not.
ReplyDeleteI think we're pretty close in age, too. I'll be 28 next month. Are you 27?
Thanks! Don't worry, it's flattering, not weird.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm 27. My birthday is in July. All of my "real life" friends are older than me so I get pretty excited when I meet someone online who's my age. It's interesting to compare lives...to see what my life could be like if things had happened differently. Like, you have a kid! I could have a kid! That's just blows my mind!
Oh my gosh, it's craaaazy when I think of how my life worked out. The having a kid part was definitely not planned, but ended up being the best thing to ever happen to me. But I still wouldn't recommend pregnancy to 22 year olds.
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing, but in reverse. I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn't gotten pregnant so young...how my career would be. But things are so good that I don't look back too often.
It makes me so happy to hear stories like this. I mean, not the part about 22 year olds getting pregnant but the part where it was the best thing to ever happen to you. I really do envy happy families even though I never plan to have one of my own. There's just something so warm and wonderful about it all.
ReplyDeleteI look back on my life and the one thing I know I did right was to figure out who I really was before I had to make the choice about becoming a parent. After years of thinking things through (and thankfully never having a "surprise" situation), I've come to the decision that I don't want to have children. It's the right choice for me and I feel such peace now that I've decided.
I do sometimes imagine what it would be like to have children (I think it helps reaffirm my choice) and it's mind blowing to realize I could have a 10-year-old right now. Yikes!
There are other paths my life could have taken but like you, I'm too happy to think about it all that often. That's such a nice feeling, isn't it?
Older person weighing in - (20 years older than you - holy cow!), but like Allison, I had a child fairly young (I was 26, my then husband was 28) and though I sometimes think about what my life would have been like if I hadn't had children (I would have definitely moved across the country for instance, and who knows what might have happened after that?); I too can't even begin to wish for something other than the life I've lived.
ReplyDeleteI only wish I'd discovered quilting earlier. I just found it last spring and so wish I'd spent the last 20 years quilting in addition to everything else I had going on. I am so.in.love. with this craft (and that is SO weird to me), but it's also amazing to find such a huge passion relatively late in life.
It'll make my "mature" years more interesting now that I've had to give up shoe collecting. ;)
Oh no, not the shoe collection! :) I think you made the right choice, though. Of course, I prefer quilts to shoes so I'm biased.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of reasons why I don't want children but having unlimited amounts of free time in which to grown and learn with my art is definitely one of them. I see people do it all the time (I read several blogs by creative women with kids...small children even!) so I know it can be done. But I'm just not wired that way. :)
I look forward to doing so many things in my "mature" years and I look forward to seeing what you do in yours. Although..."mature" doesn't seem right...you're younger than my mother after all.
I really like your layout here on blogspot. It's nice. How happy for Laura and Brad! I hope that it is a beautiful wedding. :D
ReplyDeleteI really like that you're honest and mature enough to say that you don't want kids. I've noticed that when I hear people say that, the immediate reaction from others is usually something like, "Oh, you'll change your mind!" or "But you'd be such a good parent!"
ReplyDeleteBut jeez. That's a huge and personal decision. And it really isn't for everyone. And I sincerely appreciate the people who don't have kids just because of social pressure to be just like everyone else.
Plus, people like you make great aunties who are so much fun.