I'm 17. I'm getting married. I'm completely, totaly, happy about it. No, I'm not pregnant.

Today I was in Wal-Mart, and I ran into an aquaintance of my family. This person is not a close friend, just an aquaintance. She was behind me in the check out line, and noticed my engagement ring. In front of practicly the whole world, she said "I never figured you'd be the type to get knocked up" When I asked her what she ment, she pointed to the ring and said "why else would you be getting married at such a young age?" anyway, we just about had an arguement right there becouse kept insisting that I was ruining my life by "tying myself down" too soon, and that the relationship would never last. I don't feel tied down, I feel set free, but that's another story. This woman is a sexual rights activist, and wouldn't bat an eye at a serious, commited, non-heterosexual relationship.

It bothers me that someone so suposidly openminded could belittle my lifestyle choice so publicly. I mean, what's wrong with the traditional way of doing things if it works for you? I don't tell other people how to live there lives! Why is it that when someone is going to get merried everyone in the world feels it's their God given right to put their two cents in?!

For me, settling down, getting married, and managing a household and family just fits. I don't understand why it's not good enough to just be a wife and mother. I"m working towards getting my RN, and have graduated highschool a year early, so it's not like I'm being lazy. I just don't want a super stressful executive career. So many people have said to me "but don't you want to do something with your life?" Isn't being a wife and mother doing something?

However, that's not an option for me right now, so I'm getting my degree and becoming a teacher instead.