They say things change when you get married...

But somehow, I always thought it was a change between you and your S.O. Apparently not in my case. Of course I have felt a change between the relationship Bruno and I have. After just celebrating our 1 year anniversary, I cannot believe how fast the year went. I honestly love him more and more everyday and am very happy with where we are. But sometimes, I still cannot believe I'm married. As often as I say the words - husband, married, Mrs. de Lima-Campos - it's still so new to me. I know that will change over time, and become natural, it's already starting to.

So what are these other changes then? The ones that aren't specifically related to our marriage? Well there's 3... and they're kinda huge.

1. Running. Somehow, in the past 6 months, I've become a runner. I actually like running, and have been "competing" in races since December. I use quotations because I've only been running for fun - in the fun races. I started with the Jingle All the Way 10k, moved to the St Patty's Day 8k, ran in the Crystal City 5k... and have a few others coming down the pipe (5k this Saturday for Spinal Research and the Caribbean Sounds 10k in July) My biggest race comes at the end of September - The Ragnar Relay. This race is 193 miles, from Cumberland, MD to Washington, DC taking place over a period of 24 hours. 193 miles?? No fear, we have 12 people on the team, each running (3) different legs of varying mileage. It will be a lot of hard work, but a lot of fun. There's that word again... when did I ever decide that running was fun?? It was a change...

2. Babies. I've never really WANTED a baby... ok, well yes, I've always wanted a baby, but I always pushed that to "Oh later down the road. Not right now!" And somehow, in the past 6 months, that has changed. All of the sudden, I am ready. Well, I think I am. I guess I'm more ready for the thought of a child now as opposed to down the road. It may be because I've always had some sort of timeline in my head, or because I have an awesome husband who will make a great dad, or because a lot of my friends are having babies, or maybe I'm just ready. But I go back and forth on it... my heart says I'm ready, but my mind says I'm not. I'm not ready to change our guestroom into a baby's room. I'm not ready to stop playing softball for 9+ months. I'm not ready to stop drinking for 9+ months. I'm not ready to give up snowboarding for 9+ months. But still... the feeling is there. Sure, I'd rather us live in a nice house with lots of room for a family. But that's not happening anytime soon, so we will work with what we have. Now don't get too excited, we are not having a baby for a while, but it will happen in the near future... at least before we head to Brasil in 2014! Haha.

3. Church. Yep, Church. I've been going. Consistently. And I've enjoyed it. This may be the biggest change of all. A few weeks ago I passed a new church on the way to Karen's house - The Vine. I don't know if it was the grape vines that intrigued me, but I mentioned it to Karen when I got to her place and she had been interested in the same church. So we scoped it out. It's a contemporary Methodist church and although there is a band and singing (not such a fan of the Christian music), it's not as overwhelming as others I've experience. What I get most out of these services is that the pastor, who reminds me of my brother, really relates the Bible to everyday life. Growing up Catholic, I went to church every Sunday, following through the motions and never really getting anything from the services. After going to college, I sort of dropped out of the church, feeling that if I wasn't interested in going, then I shouldn't go. And it's been that way since then... but now it's starting to turn around. I always wanted to get back into church, but really didn't know if I would find one that would actually keep me interested. Bruno and I spoke about going to church with our future children because we did want them to have some sort of religious education/understanding during their childhood. I wouldn't want to force them to go, but at the same time, I think they should have something. I also didn't want to just drop them off for Mass and pick them up in an hour. Anyhow, so far, I am really liking this church. I haven't gotten the urge to reach out and "Spread the word of the Lord" but to me, the Bible is like poetry. I don't understand it unless it is broken down, bit by bit, into words and ideas I can understand and relate to. Catholicism never did that for me. I tried a few different Catholic churches, but just couldn't get into it. This church, The Vine, breaks down the Bible and makes it interesting. Pastor Todd is funny, and relaxed, and the entire environment is just nice. It's a new, small church, so that's quite a change from the huge old church I grew up in. I don't know if this will be the church for me, for us, but so far, I'm pretty happy with it. And believe me, that is really really weird to say.