Steph and I were talking over dinner the other night, commenting that the following day was the anniversary of our first date--20 months. And she makes the comment that it has been, "what, 600 days since we first met?" I thought, no, not 600 days. That's a large number! So I pulled out my iPhone, and opened up AppBox Pro. Sure enough, it was 609 days. Wow.

Yes, I know, I'm a mathematician. There's no difference between 20 months and 609 days. (The anniversary was technically 610 days.) But somehow, 20 months seems a lot shorter than 609 days, at least to me it does. 609 days....

When I moved to Philly, the guy driving the moving van told me that I weighed in at 7200 lbs. Huh, I thought. Ok.... Then he said, "You realize that's 3.5 tons." I nearly fell over. How did I acquire so much stuff? 3.5 tons is significantly heavier than 7200 lbs, right?

609 days.... Just for comparison, as of writing this post, I have been alive 14,238 days. That means I have known Steph for 4.3% of my life. Wow!!!!! Ok, I need to stop doing the math right now, because I'm going to freak out....

609 days.... Wow...

That's 609 beautiful, joyous, wonderful, mind blowing days...

609 days....

Bruce

Part of life for every man when moving in with a girl is that he parts with most items in his apartment since, most likely, she already has said items. And they're probably in better condition. And are more modern. And, well, match. To be honest, I refused to purchase much furniture when I moved to Philly for this very reason.

After agreeing to move in together, Steph came to the apartment one night and, like Ceasar, passed judgment over my items. Almost everything received a ney. The futon, the 27" TV that "fell off a truck" of a big-box store in 1999, the dining room table, the bed (dated 1972--I kid you not!), the dressers I refinished by hand, the office table, the huge 21" computer monitor from 1996, the coffee table (circa 1982) my sister gave me for my first apartment. All of these items, plus many more, had to go. I became a power seller on craigslist.

Steph helped organize a garage sale. We put signs up around the neighborhood, and I posted an ad on craigslist. Here was the text of the online ad:

"You know the story. Boy meets girl. Boy falls madly in love with girl. Boy sells all of his worldly possessions and moves in with girl.

Garage sale on ...."

Steph never saw the post. So during the sale, people show up saying, "Oh, you're the girl" and "That was the sweetest post." Finally, she turns to me and demands to know the contents of the post. :)

She tends to focus on "boy sells..." part, whereas I focus on "boy falls madely in love..." part.

At least I made a few dollars. Many items, however, were donated to Good Will. And a few were finally gotten rid of, such as various traffic signs liberated during my youth....

Mind you, the brewery is presently in storage. That I was not willing to part with.
Bruce

Steph and I had been dating for a almost a year. At some point, we made the decision to move in together. Part of this conversation is her telling me, "Naturally, this means that we're taking our relationship to the next level."

I think this is a strange statement. We've been dating seriously and exclusively for a long time now. Of course I'm serious. "Naturally," I say, "I'm in complete agreement." I think the statement means that we're super-serious.

About a week goes by, and I've already started moving stuff and selling stuff. Steph looks at me one day and says, "By serious I mean a shiny thing on my finger." Oh. OH. OHH!!!!! THAT KIND OF SERIOUS!!! Duh, Bruce, what else could she mean????

I then thought about her statement for a few seconds, and realized that I was perfectly ok with this leveling of "next level." (So that's what she meant....)

Of course, I still was on the hook for a formal proposal, but that's another post.
Bruce

Hi there.

My name is Bruce, and my fiancé's name is Steph. We are engaged, and this blog will keep our friends and family (and anyone else who wants to read the blog) up to date on the trials, tribulations, joys, and heartaches associated with us planning our wedding.

In the interest of being careful, we will not disclose full names of ourselves, family, or friends. We will also not post the names of the locations we visit (except, of course, the ones we choose to use). Thanks for reading and enjoy!