I don't know about you, but I've always had assumptions regarding how my life would pan out. I didn't plan it all out or anything... I just always thought at certain ages I'd be here or there, having accomplished this or that, while preparing myself for one thing or another.

But, I've come to find that, often, Life doesn't follow my assumptions. It didn't follow my assumptions when I got sick a few years ago. It didn't follow my assumptions when I realized I needed to go to grad school. And it certainly didn't follow my assumptions when I got done with grad school.

REWIND: A few months ago. I knew where I stood -- and it wasn't where I'd assumed I'd be at that point. I was over-educated (soon to be in serious debt), virtually unemployed, and I weighed twenty pounds more than I wanted to. But I came to terms with those facts and accepted that they may not change for a while. I also, truth be told, harbored the fantasy that upon receiving my masters degree (or, perhaps, just days before), I would be plucked like a daisy amidst a meadow of daisies by a powerful agent and/or studio head to be their newly-anointed screenwriting prodigy.

Of course, this did not happen. Not even close.

ENTER: discouragement, doubt, and another five pounds.

EXIT: a bit of self-esteem, confidence, and the feist (is "feist" a word?) that typically accompanies a redhead. I had learned the hard way that there wouldn't be a fairytale beginning to my career; I would have to wade through the fungus-filled marsh of realization before I could ever come out on the successful side of this vocation. And to be perfectly honest, I wasn't happy about it. Not at all. So here I was -- an unemployed, cynical, redheaded weeble-wobble of a girl. Not a pretty picture, kids.

ENTER: "Mr. Right", "Prince Charming", "The One I'd Been Waiting For", or whatever you'd like to call him. I just call him Jason (aka Non).

All my life I'd assumed that before I could find Love (the kind with the capital "L"), I'd have to be at the top of my game -- successful and svelte. Yet, here he was, falling in love with me during what I perceive as a real low point in my life. I was dumbfounded. Somehow I always thought I'd see it coming, that I'd at least EXPECT it. But man, this true love thing really sneaked up on me.

And now, one week from this moment I will be sleeping next to him, preparing to wake up and drive a Uhaul up the 101 to our new place. Our Place. And that, my friends, will be the beginning of the rest of my life. The life that I've always wanted but didn't expect until much, much later. The life that took me by surprise. The life that gave the finger to all my assumptions. I'm still an unemployed, soon-to-be-in-debt, rounder-than-I-wanna-be red head, but I look forward to renewing my place as an active participant in my future's outcome (complete with my self-esteem, confidence, and feist intact), as I walk hand in hand with the man of my dreams.

And I've never been happier.