Since my last post I've had quite a few monumental events occur in my life. Number 1, I got the job I interviewed for and started December 1st. Pay and benefit-wise it is pretty much a lateral move, but it's nice to work at a place where sweat pants aren't acceptable business attire. Not that I have a problem with sweatpants (that's right, I'm wearing them right now!), it's just that sometimes you really do need to look a tiny bit better than the homeless person you are serving.
Number 2, I got engaged! Yep, and I'm not even knocked up! Ok, that was wrong, but it was a really huge surprise and I couldn't be happier about it. Well, maybe if someone gave us $20,000 to fund the thing, then, I could probably scrounge up a little more happiness. D and I had been discussing marriage for a while, but for some reason I had it in my mind that he wouldn't propose until springtime. Not sure why I picked spring, but it's arbitrary anyway when you've already told each other that you want to get married.
A silly part of my excitement with getting married is the name change. Once married I will be Katie O'Malley. It has quite a ring to it, no? AND, just google it. I'll finally be one of the masses. I'll share my name with the current First Lady of Maryland! In a way, I love my current, distinctive, Italian last name, but it makes internet anonymity a little difficult when you are the only person in the world with your name. Plus, when I tell people my name, about 90% will know how to say it and spell it right off the bat. I've been at my new job for nearly a month now and my last name is still spelled wrong in some places. "O'Malley" should make my life much easier.
Number 3 sounds minor, but it's a big step for me. I finally have a laptop. D got it for me for Christmas and I love it. I don't have the internet at my place, but he's letting me borrow his mobile broadband thingy so now I'm able to waste hours upon hours on surfing the web in my free time. It's like I'm a real, 21st century girl now!
Number 4 is actually related to Number 2, but it's almost so huge that it deserves its own spot. For our wedding, we've decided to do it all in Florida. Lately we've been specifically thinking Key West. I know it's far for people to travel, but as long as the most important family members and friends can make it I'll be happy. When I think of getting married on the beach at sunset I can't imagine anything more beautiful.
Honestly, there's just no way that we could afford to do the big, traditional wedding here in St. Louis. At least not the way we'd like to do it. An intimate, relaxed wedding sounds much less hectic to me, even if it is out of state. Most of my friends and family are supportive, but I have encountered some criticism already. A relative said I should just have it here so that more people can come and we'll get more presents. Don't get me wrong, I love presents, but that's not quite what I'm centering my marriage around.
So, I'm going to try my hardest to keep this thing from turning into a wedding blog, but I'm not making any promises!
Tomorrow is New Years Eve, so I hope everyone out there has a good one and a great 2009 full of weight loss and financial success!
