Ron and Eleni with Eleni's parents at a recent wedding.

I feel like I say this every year, but how can it possibly be December already? Don’t the holidays just creep up out of nowhere? Maybe it’s because I left my job, moved to Philadelphia, found a new job, and started cohabiting with Ron Burgundy, but the past few months have really flown by. Doesn’t it seem like the older you get, the faster the time goes by? I always heard adults say that when I was growing up, but I never believed it.

So seeing as Ron Burgundy and I had a long-distance relationship for four years, we haven’t spent many holidays together. This is the first holiday season we’ll be able to spend together. But because the news is always on, Ron had to work on Thanksgiving and will have to work on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Oh, the joys of working in the news.

Being the good little fiancée that I am, I stayed in Philadelphia to spend Thanksgiving morning with Ron before he had to work. Thank goodness our friends from college live four blocks from us and invited us to their big, family Thanksgiving dinner; otherwise it probably would’ve been lunch at the Cheesecake Factory for Ron and me. I’m learning how to cook, but an entire Thanksgiving meal really would’ve been pushing it.

I spent the rest of Thanksgiving night lying on the couch in a food coma, reading Vogue, watching The Notebook on ABC Family, and waiting to see Ron on the news at 11. At first, I thought it was strange not to be at home with my family, but it actually felt fine because, well, Ron is my family now, too. It was a big change not to be at home in DC for the holiday, but the change wasn’t alarming or nerve-wracking, as change usually is for me. It was different—but different in a good way. Being in Philadelphia with Ron felt like a new home.

We were lucky enough to have both sets of parents come to our apartment for a post-Thanksgiving dinner Sunday night. My parents actually drove up Saturday morning and stayed with us. We cooked a big dinner (okay, fine, Ron cooked it, but I made Greek salad!), chatted, drank, and had a great time. My mom told me I was an adult now. I told her not to be silly. I suppose she has a point, but still, it’s an unusual feeling. Where, really, is the line between being defined as your parents’ child and being your own adult? (Which, by the way, is a word people pronounce oddly in Pennsylvania; they say “ay-dult” and I’ve always said “uhdult.”)

Originally, Ron and I were not going to exchange Christmas presents (much to my disappointment, but we thought it wiser to save for the honeymoon). Since realizing we’ll have to stay in Philadelphia for the holiday, we’ve decided to stuff each other’s stockings, but with a $50 limit. We’re going to get a tree, put up some decorations, and try to have ourselves a merry little Christmas. It won’t be the type of Christmas we’re both used to, but we’ll be together. And really, isn’t that what it’s all about?

All the holiday planning has definitely put the wedding in perspective. The dresses, the flowers, the food—they’re all wonderful, but the most important part is just being with Ron.

Eleni, a local bride-to-be, writes every Wednesday about planning her wedding, which will be in Washington in the spring. To follow her adventures from the beginning, click here.

If you like reading about Eleni, make sure to check out our other blogging bride-to-be, Lisa Marie, who writes every Friday. Follow her adventures here.