Holy Life Changes, Batman

I was just beginning to mentally process that I had quit my job and was taking another in a city and state 500 miles away when Chuck reached across a table at Trish’s Café in Babylon Village with a diamond ring.

I knew this moment was coming at some point. Hell, being the girl that I am every time Chuck and I did something together I was silently hoping for it. Realistically, I didn’t expect us to get engaged until after the move. It was too much for my brain to process.

I went from being 27 and feeling like a teenager to being 27 and feeling like an adult. It was a little overwhelming, but the happiness that I felt was beyond words.

Sorry, no actual engagement pictures. You'll have to deal with this one.

I knew that this was a step in our relationship that would have never come had we not decided to move down to Raleigh. You can’t get engaged and plan a wedding when you don’t have the funds necessary to move out of your parents’ house. Sure, plenty of couples live in their parents’ basement or attic apartments for a few years to save some money, but that’s not really an option for us.

Converting part of my house into an apartment would cost the equivalent of two years rent for an apartment in North Carolina and Chuck’s basement looks like it could be featured on an episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive. That’s not to mention the tax jump that would happen if our parents made these hypothetical apartments legal.

Moving wasn’t something we wanted to do, but something we had to do if we ever wanted to tie the knot. All the people that aren’t my parents or Chuck’s parents that know about our move believe it’s a great idea. Most of the older people I talk to tell me that after they retire they’re heading off the Island too.

It breaks my heart that I have to do this. Now, I have to plan a Long Island wedding from 500 miles away. Dress shopping, hall viewing and vendor meeting will all be done on rushed weekends before I hop on a flight back to Raleigh.

All this because Long Island is just too expensive.