To wed or not to wed...There is NO question!

So as many of you know by now, Aaron and I are expecting our second child. And we're very excited, I must add! But of course, the first question out of EVERYONE'S mouth is "Sooo when are you getting married?!" and my response is "HUH? Why would we get married?" The stunned, hurt, shocked, judging glare that stares back at me is priceless, and unanimous across the board! Whatever!

Here's my problem. I've NEVER been the type of girl to think I NEED to get married. I've never had dreams of the white flowing dress and thousands of strategically placed putrid flowers. Sure, I've caught myself having delusional thoughts of my FABULOUS engagement ring, going so far as to even email the exact one I want to Aaron! But the ring aside, I can't really imagine my life changing THAT much by changing my last name and making our relationship "official"....

Official to whom? The church? Do you know that stastics show that Christians have been divorced and REMARRIED more than any other group of faith? The same group who has banned same-sex marriages because it's against God's will...rrrright! Let me take my marriage advice from THOSE people. C'mon! (And I agree with Brad Pitt's stand on same-sex marriage... I'll get married when my brother can marry whomever he wants to!)
Official to my family? Sure, my parents and grandparents are from a different era and therefore have different beliefs. However, statistics also show that my parents' age group has a higher divorce rate than any other age group.

And even though a select group of people are waiting to get married until a later age, they are NOT necessarily waiting to have children. And for good reasons....Who has the energy or the aspiration to chase around two small children when you're in your thirties?

I'm not trying to justify my reasons for having another child, that's not necessary. I'm simply announcing that I have NO intentions of getting married just because we're pregnant again. I like the way things operate at our house now! I like that I still have my individuality and he still has his. I like that I still have the same last name as my mom, brother, sister, and dad. Maybe I'll never let go of that! Bottom line people, stop asking us if we're getting married now or assuming that we NEED to get married now! It's not gonna happen!

****By the way, I got my highly informative statistics from http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htm****