Fifty and Counting...

Until now, I thought about the wedding in terms of months. Six months, five months, four months, three months. Well, I think I actually might now begin to think in terms of days. The wedding is fifty days from right now. Seven weeks from tomorrow. Wow. I can honestly say that I am totally excited. Recently, people have started asking me if I'm getting nervous. Honestly, as of now, I'm not. There were actually a few weeks a month or two ago that I was much more nervous than I am now. It is weird to think out. Even thought I'm totally excited, it's weird to think that in fifty day I begin something that will last for the rest of my life, that will affect everything I ever do again, will change what it means to be Stephen Becker. That's a lot to take in.
Sometimes (and this has happened a lot recently), I'm honestly blown away by how crazy in love I am with Joy. It's unbelievable, scary almost. It's weird that I always want to be in her presence, always want to know what she's thinking, always want her to love me back. I know all this is cliche, and I'm not really sure how to avoid that, but I have recently been reminded over and over again at how much I love her, how ridiculously lucky I am.
Mushiness aside, the wedding plans are coming along. It's true that I often feel like the list is getting longer rather than shorter, but we really are having a fun time doing all this planning together. Invitations are officially out, wedding music has been ordered, center pieces have been bought, the regestries are being utilized, wedding rings have been looked at, and just this week I even got measured for my tux.
Another big highlight in wedding news: Joy and I have signed a lease. We have a pretty descent two-bedroom apartment with a large kitchen, good storage, BIG closets, and even a little wooden balcony. Of course, at this point we have no furniture, but that is on the list of things to take care of. I get really excited when I think about having an apartment. Besides the obvious fact of getting to share a home with my wife, it's also true that I've never really had my own place. It was life with the Beckers for a long time, then college dorms, then another year of Beckers, and for the last six months I've been living with another family in Chicago. I get excited about things that may appear little but are in reality pretty big to me. Getting to hang things wherever I want, getting to be in complete control of the fridge, getting to organize things as I see fit, heck, getting to walk around all over in any state of dress or undress that I want. Really, it's remarkable. I'm sure the responsibilities will hit my utopian world soon enough (especially when I see that rent bill every month), but as of now, I see a whole lot of freedom. (Wow...until this moment, I never once associated marriage with freedom....)
Okay, that's enough about my world. I hope to see you all there in fifty weeks. It's gonna be a party.