Someone recently passed on an article to me that listed 10 things you must do single before you get married. I thought I would share my response to these intriguing requirements invented by Paidbythword@tofilltheinternetstubes.com. 1. Travel alone: I have been to Spain, England, and Austria by myself. I alone determined how to use a Turkish toilet (a true accomplishment of my singlehood.) I went on lone woman roadtrips to Charlottesville, Chincoteague Island, and Williamsburg when I lived back east. I once spent the night on Antelope Island in my car, because I was so afraid of the bugs getting in my tent, and that turned out to be a very wise idea. I drove across the country by myself, which was mostly awesome except for hour 16 on day 2 which ended on the West edge of Oklahoma City. That was a LONG. DAY. I have seen the sun rise and set across more unique landscapes than I could ever describe in a single post. That being said, I can’t wait to wake up in New Orleans with Dan. Not

Yeah, I get married in 4 days. Just when I get swept up in making details and tying boutonnières and arranging for incoming flights and managing my utterly psychotic caterers, I have a night like last night where time stands still and I have to say good night to Dan 4 different times because the first 3 weren’t sufficient. That’s why you get married. The dress is nice, too.

I'm not generally one to remember or acknowledge an anniversary, but I have a couple that I keep tucked away. Every year they come around and I usually close my eyes, and hold my breath for just a moment, to let the memory into me and keep it in my chest to soak. This particular day, ten years ago, was the day of a horrible horse accident that I was involved in, and essentially ended not just my horse’s career, but my own. I rode the rest of the summer on autopilot, not considering for a moment that this accident would or could end my future with horses. And part of that is true- nothing could ever change how much I love them, how much time I spend riding them in my head, yearning for that oily earthen smell in their coats. But over the course of the next year of my life, I went from being wholly and singly determined to work with horses for a living to virtually walking away from all things equine, and not looking back for a long time. Time healed a lot of wounds, and working in

I had my first wedding disaster nightmare last night. 1. I forgot the rings. 2. The reception place towed our honeymoon getaway car before the ceremony had even started. 3. They lost my music for walking down the aisle 4.  The reception waitress kept interrupting our preparation to try to sell me a commemorative painted log slice with elk on it (they said they felt this one best represented the theme of the wedding, and had already personalized it with mine and Dan’s names) (something like this only with Elk and mountains. yeah.) 5. When I politely asked her to leave so that I could put on my wedding dress, everyone in the room was so mad at me for being rude to the lady with the log that no one would help me put on my wedding dress, and I couldn’t get married. I've never been so happy that no dream I ever had turned out to be a prophecy.