A Celebration of Love

When I first decided to start keeping a blog (again!) I thought it would be easy to come up with topics to write about on a semi-regular basis.  But, the truth is my life is really pretty boring.  Grad school doesn't leave me with much time to do anything too exciting.  I go to work, go to school, spend time with my man, and do procrastinate and stress about my homework. When I get a little time, we work on wedding plans but that's really about it.  (Consider this my apology for such long breaks between posts.)

Sooooo....
When something awesome happens, I'm going to tell you all about it.

This weekend my college roommate and one of my dearest friends GOT MARRIED and I was honored to stand by her side on her special day.  It was a beautiful ceremony and such a fun reception!

Anne and I met during our freshman year in college when we joined the same sorority.  We lived together in college and for the first year after we graduated (the first year of both of our relationships with our partners.)  The same week that Chuck and I began dating, Anne met Travis.  We shared the joys and challenges of developing new relationships together.  Our engagements even overlapped by 6 months and we were able to share our wedding planning tips.  And, in less than 5 months, Anne will return the favor and stand by me at my own wedding.  I consider myself so blessed to have been able to watch Anne and Travis' relationship develop from strangers to spouses!!!

A million congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs.  I can't wait to share newlywed stories.

While I'm on the topic of celebrating love love love- I have to take some time to give a MAJOR shout out to my husband-to-be for keeping me sane this week.  He has cleaned, cooked, and literally served me all my meals while I stressed my booty off because of school this week.  What a man!

Keedy-Ranspach Weight Loss Challenge

Our first two weeks of living together have started with a bang! We are currently 13 days into our own family fitness challenge!!

Two years of seeing each other most frequently only on the weekends, led to treating each weekend night together as a date night, which translated to a lot of dinners out and takeout.  As wonderful as it has been to make each day together special, it also means a little extra around the waistline.  This is on top of me no longer having a built in schedule of dance classes/practices/rehearsals to keep me in shape without much additional effort. With a wedding on the horizon, it's time to get back into shape.

I have to say, I have been impressed by both of us and our dedication to our new lifestyle changes.  Living together has greatly eased the transition into our new healthier life.  For one, I have a live-in accountability partner, workout buddy, and teammate! (And a really good one at that.)  Second, we have more opportunities to cook healthy meals together.  (Ok, Chuck cooks while I watch help.) And as much as I'm not a fan of cooking, I am a BIG fan of spending time together in the kitchen every evening, because it usually leads to dancing.  That time bonding together is one of my favorite parts of each day.  Did I mention that Chuck's a damn good cook? Win win.

So far we are both feeling good and seeing results.  I have found myself looking forward to my daily workouts and especially looking forward to our evening walks together.  I'm excited to see where this new plan takes us and to look smoking hot on our wedding day. ;)

Life is good, friends. Life is good.

A Week of Celebrations

The past week or so has been so eventful and full of blessings. Here are a few of the exciting events that have occurred since my last post...

•  I finished my second (and most stressful yet) semester of my MSW program.  I have had one full week of "summer vacation" and will be back in the classroom tomorrow.  By this time next year, I will have completed my master's degree! 

• Chuck completed his bachelor's degree!!!! He officially graduated yesterday in a beautiful, sunny outdoor ceremony and is exploring the job opportunities available to him. Be thinking about/praying for us as we make some decisions in that department this week. (More on that in the future.) 

• Chuck has moved in with me!!  We are now both roommates and lifemates. =) After 2 years of traveling between our respective homes in different cities, often only seeing each other on weekends, I do not intend to take this blessing for granted.  Having a partner to share my home and days with, someone to come home to in the evenings, fills me with joy and makes our upcoming marriage feel that much more real.  I am so glad to have my partner under the same roof as myself.  We are more able than ever to support each other, hold each other accountable, and love each other... and we will surely be saving boatloads on gas expenses now that we've eliminated our weekly +30 minute commute to see each other. 

• Most importantly, in celebration of these life events, both of our families (6 parents, 3 siblings, and 2 siblings-in-law/spirit) visited this weekend to help move and to attend Chuck's graduation ceremony.  In the 2 years that we have been together, this was the first time that our families were able to meet. Yet, what is often a stressful experience in the lives of couples, was not so for us, because we knew our families would love each other as much as we love them all.  And we were right! Everyone got along perfectly and it was incredible to start our life living together surrounded by SO MUCH LOVE and support. 

I truly cannot express how blessed we feel to have such incredible people to cheer us on as we start this journey together and become our own tiny 2-person-2-pet family.