Personal photo of us in DC in summer '09
I suppose I should start by introducing myself... my name is Jill, and I'm a public health grad student at the University of Pittsburgh. I love to-do lists, anything and everything chocolate, chick flicks, trashy reality TV, all things related to Disney, and of course, my fiance! My guy is a mechanical engineer here in Pittsburgh. But let me take you back to how it allll began...
In 7th grade, I crossed paths with a pretty cute 12-year-old at a student leadership conference (obviously making us the cool kids in class). We went to different schools, so as things go in 7th grade, the lack of a driver's license and the different schools made the few blocks that separated our houses sufficient enough to ensure that we never saw each other, except for a chance meeting here or there. Thankfully, that changed as we were getting ready to enter the big, bad world of high school. We were going to the same school now, giving us umpteen more opportunities and reasons to bump into each other. Case in point: He was on the boys' soccer team, I was on the girls' soccer team, so we got to see each other and we had an instant topic of conversation (for at least 5 minutes, which is a big deal in pre-high school days!!). More importantly, though, were both friends with a guy and girl who were engaged in their own high school relationship, so we became insta-double daters, even though we were only friends, tagging along with the couple. Oh, to be in high school again... long story short, we starting spending a good amount of time together and about 3 weeks into freshman year of high school, we were totes-mcgoats officially boyfriend and girlfriend.
Fast-forward to high school graduation, and we ended up about 400 miles away from each other. I went to college at Notre Dame and he went to the University of Pittsburgh. Turns out long-distance relationships are not exactly the easiest thing for two 19-year-olds to manage, but we quickly got it all figured out and haven't looked back since. We got engaged a few weeks before I graduated, and although we pretty much became LDR experts, no tears were shed as the long-distance part of our relationship came to an end. Finally, after four years apart, we finally managed to end up in the same city! Over the past few months, I've had the lovely privilege of getting used to quite a few things: a new city (and big-city living in general), living in the same zip code as my fiance after spending years apart, and new grad school. Not to mention that whole wedding planning business that I've gladly allowed to take over every moment of my free time, and a good-sized portion of my homework time, too. Truth be told, I've welcomed this wedding planning process with open arms; I'm not one of those girls who put a pillow case-veil on her head starting at the ripe ol' age of 3, but I am the girl who's been soaking up every wedding-related tidbit that comes my way over the past 20 years or so... I'm like one giant matrimonial sponge (or, at least, I try to be!)
Here's a picture of us at the most recent Pitt-Notre Dame football game*
*where my team won, 23-17. neener neener.
So, I'm now planning a wedding that's been 8+ years in the making... let's get ready for some fun!
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