First Comes Love

Then comes {as the saying goes} marriage. Then there are those of us that don't quite fit the mold; those of us who follow a different rhyme. What comes next for us? After much contemplation, I finally have discovered what is next in our sequence of life, simply living it.

Let me begin by stating my complete adoration for marriage {you can always find me front, center and a complete hysterical mess at weddings}. Whenever I find out of a new union of love taking place among those I know, I am completely overjoyed. To know that two people have found each other and want to spend the rest of forever with a companion they love and trust fills me with absolute joy. A wedding signifies that an unmatched happiness has been found, and everybody deserves to feel such a love.

However, things have played out a bit differently in my life. I first found love, and {as we all know} marriage didn't come next. In fact, a vast array of events happened next {including running away to a foreign country, drinking far too much and a slight latina situation} none of which remotely came close to marriage. All of which, hit spot on for life experience I so desperately was lacking.

As life passed on, as it always does, true love found its way back to me. Wyet and I have spent the past few years making each other more happy than I ever knew possible and loving every note of the beat. Needless to say, all of this love I have been surrounded by has made the topic of marriage ever present in my thoughts. Once Wyet and I moved in together, the idea of getting married seemed so close- like it was meant to be our next big step.

As my wedding pinterest board grew so did my obsession with talking about getting married. Wyet and I have had numerous conversations about where we want to get married, what type of celebration we want to have and the like. Then, suddenly, just as my wedding dream turned into an obsession, my thoughts shifted. I have come to a new understanding that a wedding isn't the ultimate goal, happiness is. And here I sit, thinking of the life I share with the one I love, and I know that my happiness is unparalleled to any other feeling I have ever felt. Though I haven't yet had a dream wedding, I have been able to live my dream.

Please don't mistake my words for a denunciation of marriage because we all know I still practice my Carissa Ingram signature when I doodle, and I think of all of the cute projects I can make with a giant monogram I letter. However, I have let go of thinking I need a marriage to validate my relationship. All I need is my other half.

The truth is, I have no idea when I will get married. Maybe it will happen 6 months from now during a private mountain retreat or maybe in 5 years at a city courthouse. Whenever it happens, I will be happily hysterical and won't be able to tell everyone quick enough. Until then, Wyet and I will continue to be two little love birds, not in a cage.

Rather than finding the perfect photo of us, I decided on this photo because it shows us in a true state of happiness, and much like our relationship, it is wonderfully imperfect.