I am feeling super accomplished since returning from Sydney to London. Maybe it's having completed the essentials of basic wedding planning - the trifecta of church, reception, photographer - but whatever it is, I'm basking in the glow of being a fully fledged bride-to-be.

That being said, all of this has had me thinking about how nontraditional we are.

I don't see Jase and I as a run of the mill couple. We have always floated through our lives and our relationship at our own unique pace, which doesn't always fit with the normal, traditional way of doing things. As I've gotten older, I care less and less about fitting in to other people's perceptions of what should happen and when - but it's still hard not to compare sometimes. Such is life.

We met while fairly young, with me having just turned 18 and having just started my first year of university. Because of that, we dated comfortably - for years. By the time we had started looking to the future and the possibility of working abroad, it was fairly obvious that we were in it for the long haul; but this little adventure would bring about quite a few new hurdles our way.

For a start, Jase ended up getting a work opportunity that was too good to pass up, which saw him leave Sydney five months earlier than we had anticipated. Being in a long distance relationship is tough; my kudos go to all couples who persevere through them. I learnt a lot about myself in that time we spent on different continents, but it also made me realise the good things that we had - and to appreciate everything we had going for us.

Anyone who knows me could probably tell you just how much I was craving an engagement ring over the past couple of years. Jase and I had the usual bumps in the road, but were as strong as ever - having survived the months apart, the moving in/cohabitation stage, and each of us finding our own feet and routine in our new life here in the United Kingdom.

I was annoying. (Trust me, I know. I was there, hearing every whinging word that came out of my mouth and cringing at what a GIRL I was being. Poor Jase.)

I wasn't being high maintenance and wanting to get hitched straight away - I just wanted the next step to happen. I'm so glad that the boy managed to keep his engagement plan a secret, because I loved it even more not knowing it was coming.

Unlike most newly engaged females, I had no great plans for the actual wedding once the ring was on my finger. I say 'most' very lightly, as I don't like to generalise - it's just that our situation was once again a little different than most. We both knew we would get married back in Sydney, and since we had no plans to leave London at the time, planning was put on hold. The Internet is great when it comes to planning, but it's not the same as being there in person and getting a real feel for a location - so we waited. That's just what worked for us, a nice long engagement that we could celebrate while still on our European adventure.

I love the kind of couple we are. It makes me incredibly happy that we are both individuals who can give the other the space they need to be themselves. When the boy needs to be flexible with contract locations, we work it out. When I want to be independent and have girly travelling time with friends, we work it out. Whenever random things are thrown at us, we work it out. It's just what we do.

So now it's real. And it's real because... we have a date! An actual, set in stone, money-deposited, honest-to-goodness date.

11-6-11.

The best is yet to come!