My best friend got married last weekend. My 3^rd oldest brother and his wife welcomed their first child, Sadie Grace Sprandio. This Sunday, my youngest brother leaves for California for a 5-year PhD program. Zach and I get the keys to our new apartment this afternoon. Oh, and I get married in 85 days.

Um, WHAT!

My best friend’s wedding was great. And I don’t mean the movie with Julia Roberts.

Alexis and her new husband Lucas looked wonderful and over the moon happy. It was a beautiful ceremony and the reception was a lot of fun. It’s a moving experience when you watch a person get married, let alone a person you have known your entire life. I was the maid of honor. As I stood up there watching her process up the aisle, memories of our childhood flashed in my mind. We have been through every milestone of life together and there we were at her wedding. We had talked about what our weddings would be like since we were little. I felt like I needed to pinch myself to help myself realize that it was actually happening.

I looked over at Lucas. He had the sweetest smile on his face. It was an excited, confident smile. I like to look at the groom at a wedding when the bride is processing up. Lucas looked so sweet, so vulnerable yet strong at the same time. It was endearing. That moment solidified everything. The way they looked at each other, you could literally see the love. The evening went as planned and we danced and sang and celebrated. It was a magical evening for the guests and I’m sure it was just as magical for Alexis and Lucas. I gave a speech and in my speech I mentioned how Alexis and I have been friends for over 20 years. Later in the evening, a few people came up to me and gushed about how lucky we are to have each other, how rare it is to keep a friend that long. It made us realize how good we have it. In 85 days, she gets to stand up front and watch me process up an aisle and look at my groom. It’s crazy how we are getting married 3 months apart. It’s like something out of a movie.

The day before Alexis got married, my family received a special gift. I am lucky enough to announce that I am once again an aunt. Sadie Grace Sprandio was born Friday September 4, 2015. She was 7lbs, 15oz and 21 inches long. She is beautiful. I was unable to be there the day she was born because I was in Michigan for Alexis’s wedding. I was bummed I could not be there, but consider myself lucky that I had two major, happy life events occurring in one weekend! I was able to meet Sadie this past Monday. No matter how many new babies are born into the family, it never gets less amazing. It’s a joy just to watch her, even if she’s only sleeping. Her sweet little face brings such happiness to my heart. She has so much ahead of her, countless exciting adventures in her future. Babies bring such hope, joy, and promise back into our lives. Their sweet innocence and peacefulness is inspiring.

The new baby is only one of the current family changes.

This Sunday, my baby brother is moving away. My brother Shane is making a revolutionary move in the history of our family. He is moving across the country to Santa Barbara, California. The rest of us all work and live in the Philadelphia area and probably will forever. I thought I was being revolutionary when I dated and now am going to marry a man who is originally from Massachusetts. Everyone else has married local. But Shane, being the Renaissance man that he is, takes the cake with his big move to California. Shane is going to attend the University of California Santa Barbara to work on his PhD in history. It’s a five-year program. With most things, I don’t think it will really sink in until he leaves.

Shane and I have had an interesting relationship. When we were younger, I bossed him around terribly. I’ll admit it. I was a tyrant. But bless his heart, he did everything I told him to and he was constantly by my side. We had so much fun together. We were a duo. Whether we were playing with Barbie or Army Men, it was Shane and I together, “the little ones.” My mom called the three older boys “the boys” and Shane and I were “the little ones.”

We have stayed close as we’ve gotten older, but in a different way. I can still be a little bit of a tyrant to him, but it’s only because I am protective over him. I think he understands that, at least I hope he does. When we go out with friends, we often extend an invite to each other. He’s friends with most of my friends. Often times when I go out, they ask, “is Shane coming too?” We can go anywhere together and we have fun. We have lived together almost our entire lives. When living together, there are always those moments when we end up watching TV together for a while. I’ll miss those moments. We can sit in silence or we can talk about random stuff and laugh together at whatever silly show we’re watching. It’s nothing forced, it’s just us being us. It’s definitely going to be weird not having him around and bittersweet to see him go. I hope we can remain close and I think maybe distance could bring us closer. It will be an effort now to keep in touch and I know we will both make the effort required. I am so incredibly proud of him. He is doing what I wish I had the courage to do, chasing a dream no matter how far it will take him and start a new beginning on his own. He’s intelligent and confident and I know he’ll succeed. I can’t wait to see where this journey takes him. I also can’t wait to visit him. Santa Barbara looks AMAZING.

Since Shane was young, a friend of our family has called him “Shane, never had a bad day in my life, Sprandio.” It’s the truth. Shane is a pretty chill guy. He takes things as they come and marches to the beat of his own drum. Now he’s going to never have a bad day in his life out in beautiful, sunny California. This big move may not seem that important to some, but to a family who has remained so close, it’s a different and difficult adjustment. Five years is a long time, but time does go fast and who knows if he’ll decide to stay there forever. The great thing about family is, no matter what he chooses to do, if it makes him happy, we will support him 100%.

Speaking of moving, Zach and I pick up our keys today for our new apartment! We’re going to start moving furniture etc. in the next few weeks. It’s all becoming more real as we inch closer to December 4^th, 85 days and counting. I keep thinking, am I really ready for this?! Am I that grown up already? I mean, my mom still does my laundry! I’ll be living at home until we are married. Come that day, I will officially be the last Sprandio to leave the nest, even though a Sprandio never really flies too far from the nest….well, except Shane. It’ll be the first time in 34 years that my parents have the house to themselves again.

I think this has been one of the wildest/most exciting years of my life. It’s been hard to keep my feet under me and my head on straight, but I think I’m taking it all in stride.

Life really doesn’t wait until you are ready. It goes, and all you can do is jump in and move with the current.