It's the Final Countdown (like, in hours, not even days really!)

I can't believe this journey is almost over!  All of these crazy ideas in my head, all of my visions, all of our hard work and discussions...  they're all about to become reality.  And I just seriously can't wrap my head around it!

So so much has been happening lately, all the little loose ends are being tied up, all the project being completed, and all the excitement is about to explode.  One thing we left kind of late in the process, though, was writing our vows.  And it is shaping up to be so different than I expected.

I'm somewhat of a writer.  I feel I can express myself through writing much better than through speaking, and can make my thoughts come across so much better.  Dino is not a writer.  He gets stumped, feels uncreative, and just gets annoyed when trying to put his thoughts into words on paper.  However, I desired the intimate, personal, special vows so many people seem to do lately, where each party writes their own and it's a secret until the ceremony.  I took a basic format, a fill-in-the-blanks setup, and gave one to him and filled out one myself.  I thought it wasn't terribly difficult, composed a few different versions, and planned to edit them all together.  Dino, on the other hand, spent an evening locked up trying to fill it in, and hated every minute.  He scoured the internet for inspiration, managed to get a draft, but felt so little confidence in it and when I walked in to the room, he just looked angry and annoyed.  And then I felt guilty for making him do something he clearly despised.  He was also concerned that my vows to him would be beautiful and so meaningful, and his would seem terrible and flimsy in comparison, even though we planned to have his dad review them ahead of time and make sure they went together okay.

So, the next day, I wasn't surprised when he wanted to compromise and change our plan.  He suggested we write our vows together, say the same vows, and he would write me a letter or card with all his feelings and thoughts in it.  He felt so much pressure from my plan to each write our own, and I hated that, so I readily agreed.  And it's actually been really a good decision.

Together, we wrote the vows, and have been trying to revise them to make them perfect.  We laid in bed writing together, talking about what we want to express, and practicing reading them to each other.  It was seriously amazing.  Far more meaningful and intimate than writing secret vows alone and reading them once to each other.  And though we know what the other will be pledging during the ceremony, it's almost nicer that way because I will be more likely to remember and be present, rather than worrying how my vows will go over and compare to his, and we've made sure to include what was most important to us.

So while I still like the secret, personalized, individual vows, I'm starting to think this compromise is a much better plan, especially for us.  I'm glad we talked it over and we both feel confident about the vows now!