“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life … You give them a piece of you. They didn’t ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn’t your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. ” ~ Neil Gaiman

Two very special people are getting married tomorrow, and I get to marry them. The hard part was not coming up with something to say during the ceremony; that part was remarkably easy. It will be getting through the ceremony without crying. I’m practically crying right now, just thinking about it. And I am NOT a crier.

Ever meet someone and instantly know they will be your friend forever? Sort of like love at first sight, only way more awesome? And realistic? I have two of those people in my life: Mr. Hayato Takahashi and this dude:

It’s impossible to sum up ten years of friendship, so I won’t. Mostly because I really, really have to focus on figuring out how to be a minister. In order to get fully submersed in all things Keller and Alyssa, I wasted so, so much time on Facebook’s “see our friendship feature,” and booooooy am I glad I did. Because I think this says it all:

Back when I had a co-existing-but-separate-from-Keller Alyssa friendship, we would occupy our time with adult events such as Beer and Shot night at the KK (unfortunately, I am referring to the Kollege Klub and not the much classier establishment of Karaoke Kid) where we would shameless dance our asses off, knowing full well we were like, waaaaaay older than the oldest person there, which only made it that much more entertaining. I’ve never seen more awkward dance-offs in my life. I dare any one of you to challenge her. She will crush you.

I’ll be honest. I thought these two would make an excellent couple when I myself was in a fun-loving relationship. But when my fun-loving relationship was demoted (or upgraded, depending on how you view that glass) to a fun-loving friendship, I had a minor panic moment when I realized my two best go-to single friends were now a dynamic duo. Irrational fears. Because all that happened was this:

And this:

And this:

And my personal favorite:

Yes, we’re all just one big happy family, and we’re going to make that official tomorrow. So cheers, to two of my most favorite people in the world. I have so much love for the two of you, I don’t even know where to put it anymore. Thanks for making the past decade amazeballs.

You’re the best.

❤