The Secrets I’ve Been Keeping

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First I want to apologize for not posting anything on my blog in so long. I hit a wall a few months ago, and I had a hard time writing because I couldn’t write about the things I really wanted to. I still needed to keep them secret. But I’m finally ready to spill. A few months ago I told you how I met Andy and fell in love. I’m still sometimes hit with a rush of amazement that we actually met, and I feel so lucky that it happened. But I didn’t tell you the whole story.

When Andy and I first started talking, I didn’t tell many people about my crush because I thought, this is crazy, he lives in Germany! I especially didn’t want to tell my coworkers because I didn’t know what might happen with Andy, and I didn’t want work to worry about what might happen with my extreme long distance relationship. Plus we didn’t even meet each other in person until we had known each other for 4 months. What if we didn’t click in person?

But we did click. The little bit of weirdness we experienced at finally being in each other’s physical presence disappeared in the time it took to walk from the train station to the hotel in Prague. Then it just felt natural to be around him. I visited him at New Year’s a month later in Freiburg where he lives, and by the end of that weekend, we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.

Just as I was finally telling everyone about meeting and falling in love with Andy, we got engaged and I made the decision to move to Germany! But at the same time, my company went through some majorly chaotic shake-ups and I didn’t want to add to it by telling them my plans. Plus I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to give several months notice no matter what the reason for leaving is. So I spent the past few months planning for all the various changes that are about to occur in my life, all in stressful secrecy. Of course my friends and family knew, but that huge chunk of time spent at work every day having to hide the most important events of my life was more stressful than I ever could’ve imagined.

my engagement ring from Andy

With the wedding only a few weeks away (June 5th!) I decided it was time to finally break the news. A few days ago I told my managers that I’m getting married and moving to Germany. They were understandably surprised but pretty understanding and happy for me. So now I’m working out my last few weeks until May 27, which will be my last day of work. I still haven’t completely digested the whole thing. I’ve been out of college and at a full time job for almost 9 years, so the idea of not having a job for awhile it really strange.

My flight to Germany, the one that’s a move instead of a visit, is July 8th. I will spend almost 3 months with Andy, getting settled and taking Germany classes. Then at the end of August I’m meeting up with Jaime and hopefully some other bloggers in Buñol, Spain (outside of Valencia) for La Tomatina, a huge tomato fight that takes place on the last Wednesday of every August. Then at the end of September, I’m leaving to travel for about 4 months. More details on that later.

I’m so happy to finally be able to share this with everyone! Thank you to those of you who’ve known and supported and encouraged me these past few months. I am so looking forward to this next stage of my life, no matter how scary it is. Andy is the man I’ve been looking and hoping for my whole life, and I can’t wait to explore the world with him one piece at a time.

Update: Check out the wedding photos here!