The big -1

Yesterday, it was officially one year exactly until my wedding. We celebrated by going to a friend's birthday gathering and drinking copious amounts of margaritas. It was nice to be out and the weather was great for once and we rode bikes in a group back to our neighborhood and it was just like summer nights I remember from years past. The city was buzzing with people spilling out of various bars and restaurants, the night air was warmish, and  spirits were high. It is nights like this that I am reminded how lucky I am to be here, right now, at this particular time in my life. Knowing that things will be changing pretty significantly in the next year or so, I feel the need to embrace each moment like last night and hold it close. Snuggle it, even.

Here are some big changes coming round the bend:

I will be a married woman (I guess I call myself woman now) in exactly 364 days.
My fiance will be going back to school soon. Which means less time to spend together. Also less time to plan for our wedding.
Our best friend (my fiance's best friend of 10 years and now by proxy and because I love him, one of my best friends as well) is leaving Chicago to go to grad school at Harvard! (Yes he is very smart.) Which means a very big hole in our hearts after this summer.
Possibly we will be forced to move out of our lovely apartment if our landlord can find a buyer this summer.

There are other changes hopefully coming as well that will remain private for now. All in all, as a wise man named Bob once said, "times, they are a-changin'."

I know change is good, and I fully get that cognitively. However I tend to be the type of girl who understands things mentally yet still has very strong emotional responses to it all. That is why my mother always said I was "sensitive." A nice way of noting my emotionality...i.e. I cry. A lot. I am sure I will be just fine until all the changes start happening one by one. And then I will lose it here and there and be a blubbering mess for a day or two until the emotion has been drained out through the tears. It is fine. I can deal with it. It is a good thing that at 30 years old I finally know myself enough to realize how I might react and then prepare for it appropriately. So this will be the summer of lasts and firsts. Bring on the kleenex.