Major Announcement!

So I have a not so secret announcement...

I'M MARRIED!!!!

Life has been SO busy the last year that I've barely had time

to step back and actually document the major events 

in my own personal private life
although I blog about family events routinely.

I spend all my time being Mom

that I forget that I'm also Katie too.

I spend all my time accommodating others' needs
and being sensitive towards the various parties that read this blog

that I forget it's also ok to accommodate my needs too.

So let me fill you in...

I've been dating this amazing guy for over a year now.

Ryan Jacob Taylor.

He completes me in every way.

He's the missing puzzle piece to my life.

He found me shattered, broken, bruised and helpless.

I was at the lowest point in my life.

My life support were my little children.

I was clinging on by a thread.

How could someone love me in such a state?

But he did just that.

He loved me more than any man ever has.

He immediately picked me up from the shambles

and began to breathe life back into me.

He healed my shattered heart.

He rebuilt my demolished confidence.

He taught me how to smile genuinely

instead of faking that life's ok.

He literally saved me.

I never knew I could feel happiness again.

I never knew I could trust a man again.

I never knew I could receive honest unconditional love.

But I do now.

On July 12, 2013 he proposed.

I was shocked, giddy, nervous, emotional, scared, ecstatic

and overcome with tears.

I immediately said YES!

It's been a whirlwind ever since.

To say that dating, then being engaged, then planning a wedding

as a single mom with no local family to help is difficult;

is a MAJOR understatement.

It's nearly impossible.

I am a Mom first and foremost.

That's just how it is.

So the exciting parts of  Katie's life took backstage.

I could barely keep up with the kids' needs

let alone my own needs.

The kids always came first.

We always made sure that they were very comfortable with this transition.

 Because we fully knew there were 4 of us joining lives.

Not just 2 of us.

We let them participate in the decisions

and made this a family affair.

However time just kept flying by

and wedding planning was still taking backstage.

Nothing seemed to be working out the way I had hoped.

For every up on this side of life

there was a down on the other side of my life.

Every local venue fell through.

Every decision seemed uncertain.

Then one day it all fell into place.

And I suddenly realized why it had been a struggle.

I had the wrong plans all along.

So we quickly changed it from a fall wedding in Phoenix

to a beach wedding in California.

We rushed out invitations,

scrambled to pull together a wedding

and 6 weeks later on 11-23-13 we did it!

We were MARRIED!!

To say it's been a fairy tale isn't quite true.

Nothing about our situation is conventional.

But it's 

OUR 

Happily Ever After.

So stay tuned for more blog entries about Katie.

It's long overdue!