There's Some Big News

  "As I look back on my life, I realize that every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being redirected to something better." (Steve Maraboli)

 

Hello, my lovely friends!  

    It seems like every week I have some crazy bad news for you all involving my mom, but not this week. She’s still dealing with the same pain, but we’re honestly just not going to talk about that today. We need a break from the heavy stuff, so let's focus on our weekend adventures instead.

 

First off, let’s talk about the play we saw, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”. I have some thoughts, and definitely a few issues with it. I went into it knowing absolutely nothing other than the fact that it was Harry Potter, so obviously I expected some magic. And I will say, the special effects and the magic in the show were completely amazing. There were things they did right in front of our eyes where I still have no earthly idea how they pulled it off. The dementors alone were incredible. Just for the visual effects, the show is worth seeing once. Notice I said only once.

 

The biggest issue was that the story just moved way too fast. If you blinked or missed a line, you were completely lost. My mom was totally lost. They shoved so much information into the first ten minutes that it was impossible to keep up with the pacing. I feel like it would be really tough for kids or older adults to follow along. The second half of the play was definitely better and the storyline started making a lot more sense, but it takes a while to get there. Just a heads up for anyone thinking about going, this is a full-on play with absolutely no singing or musical numbers. The magic was great, but the rest of it was just sort of meh for me. I’m glad I went, but I definitely won’t see it again if it comes back to town.

 

     Now onto the big news of the blog, which some of you might have already pieced together if you were paying close attention to Facebook the other day. Yes, he actually posted about it, so the secret is officially out. 

    Mike has been out here to visit twice now, we have been together for over two years, and he has fully secured the absolute highest stamp of approval from both my mom and my sister. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, he is officially loading up and starting the long road trip to move out here to live with us permanently. Looking a little further down the road, there are definite marriage plans for later on this year. We have been casually talking about it for the last year or so, but since October, we really sat down and got completely serious about making it happen.

The real turning point happened after he came out to stay with me while my mom was in the hospital. We had a really long, serious talk because he knew deep down that I was never going to leave her side, and leaving this area just wasn't an option for me. His mom is actually in a very similar situation right now, so we were able to talk through all of that together and really understand each other's perspectives. In all honesty, I have never felt a magnetic pull to another person the way I do with him. Even during the moments when we don't see eye to eye or disagree on things, at the end of the day, I still just can't imagine my life without him in it.

 

    It feels so incredibly surreal to type this out, but last night we finally watched our very last movie apart. We’ve been talking about this day for what feels like forever, and now we are literally twenty-four hours away from him packing up the car and starting his road trip here. He already has the whole route planned out and everything, which means if all goes well, he should be pulling into the driveway sometime late Friday afternoon.

 

So yeah, that is my massive, life-altering news for the week. It is a total mix of extreme excitement and complete terror all at the same time, but deep down I know it’s a really wonderful thing. I’m mostly just trying to process the fact that the long-distance countdown is officially over. Next time we have a movie night, we'll actually be sharing the same couch and the same bowl of popcorn, and I honestly can't wait.

 

 So glad you could make it. Whether you’re starting your day or winding it down, I hope it’s a great one. Until we cross paths again—take care!