Wesley and I have been together for close to 6 years, and that's a really long for the both of us. We've seen each other at our best and our worst, and we've had our highs and our lows. In our 6 years together we've experienced together more than what most couples do in 20. We've been through a natural disaster, 8 deaths, drug/alcohol abuse, unfaithfulness, and many other things that have only made us stronger as a couple.

We're well beyond the comfort stage in our relationship, heck, we're in the "old married couple" stage, which is great. Now I do admit that sometimes I'm a little jealous of fresh relationships - I miss the butterflies, the PDA, etc. But at the same time, I take comfort in knowing that I know he'll still be around in a month. We both know how much we mean to each other, how important we are in other's lives, without having to prove it.

So now, after all this time, why is everyone in a rush for us to marry? Yes, I'm thrilled I got the ring, but that doesn't mean we have to run right and get hitched in the next 6 months. Ever since I put the ring on my finger, that's all anyone wants to talk about - wedding wedding wedding. I know it's an exciting time for everyone, but it's making me batty.

Wesley is 30 years old and hasn't had a car accident in over 10 years, so you would think his insurance would be cheap, right. Well think again. In short - title and registration in my mom's name + insurance in Wesley's name + mandatory full coverage = really high insurance, $240/month to be exact. Until we can pay the car off ($237/month), get the title transferred to Wesley's name (after we get title from paying off the car), and reduce our coverage, we just can't afford to get married.

Everyone says, "Oh you don't need an expensive wedding", but they haven't seen our bank statements. We have zero spare dollars for a wedding. Any spare money have goes to buying Calvin things for school, or buying gifts for holidays, or anything else that pops up through out the year. Then everyone says, "Oh well you can just get a loan to pay for the wedding", and they can't seem to accept our answer that we don't want to enter into our marriage in debt. I just wish there was some nice way to tell everyone, "Just please back off".

We've been together 6 years without a wedding, so what's another 2 or 3?

We have to go to Mississippi next weekend for Wesley's cousins wedding, and I'm sure I'm going to have to hear all kinds of wedding questions, which I'm dreading.