Tuesday, March 27, 2012

introduction: goodbye savanna huston

I would be lying if I told you I don't miss my old name sometimes. With that name came easy and witty introductions.

I was the "tale of two cities".

Savannah, Georgia
Houston, Texas
duh.

 I actually thought up until adolescence, that I was actually born in Savannah, Georgia. 
Sorry if you were one of the victims of this fiction. 
That information was also a highlight in my introductions, until I needed my birth certificate for something (er, more recently than not) and saw I was actually born in Fort Stewart, Georgia. 
This makes more sense. . .  since my dad was in the army. Whoops. 
Who fed these lies to me? Probably my imagination. 

and not-so- witty introductions . . . 

circa 2001 in Scotland 
[during a 10 day trip to England/Scotland through a high school class program]
Me: My name is Savanna. Savanna Huston.
Male Scottish soccer player - playing soccer in a field with his friends: Sav-a???
Me: Savanna, like Savanna, Georgia? Um... you know, Georgia? the state? In the United States? 

FAIL.
(worked before?! crap.)
Nothing left to talk about after that intro.

Anyways, back to my point (focus, Savanna).

I have a lot of great memories tied to that name.

It's the name I first learned to write.

It's the name I shared with my family.

It's the name I won "best student of the year" (or something like that?) in 7th and 8th grade. (Ian makes fun of this fact, a lot. So what if it was 15 years ago. It's not like I was athlete of the year people. I had to reach for something!)

It's the name I accepted my first professional job.

It's the name I had in 3 states (taxes have been tricky for the last few years if you were wondering).

I was the "tale of four cities"!

From Indianapolis to Bloomington to Pittsburgh to Defiance (2003-current).  I've constructed a map for your convenience. I'm very visual :). 
Some other highlighted locations: Ian's last undergrad year in Adrian, MI, that was a 4 1/2 hour drive from Pittsburgh.  Findlay, OH, where I currently work, one hour southeast of Defiance. Lastly, Catawba Island, OH, east of Toledo, where I met Ian.

I wasn't like most girls that dreamt about their wedding since they were little. I was more focused on my purpose and my career. And Ian was focused on his too. This is why Ian chose the best law school for him . . .in Ohio, and I stayed at Dick's Sporting Goods in Pittsburgh for 3 1/2 years after meeting him.

(Because two stubborn, oldest-children, passionate & focused people can actually make it work, and compromise, eventually.)




I was lucky to find a job in my industry near Defiance in 2010. (I'll explain more about what I do in a later post) I got the job almost a year prior to our wedding date. Ian and I were able to carpool during his last year of law school, from Defiance to my work in Findlay and then to his school in Ada. It was sort of a triangle, but you do what you gotta do!  I was also able to focus more on wedding planning & less on if we were going to be in a long distance marriage.

I actually forgot about the name change thing until a couple months before the wedding.

But, because I have stolen & married the most amazing man on the earth (for me), he was actually OK with me not changing my name if I didn't want to. But to be honest, because of that, I wanted to.

It wasn't an easy road to Weber. But let's be honest, Huston wasn't a piece of cake either. I'm excited about my new name, Savanna Weber. A new name that will bring me lots of new memories and experiences.

A name that I share with many, many, many people in Defiance, OH (hello, big family! I think at the time I got married, I tipped the count to over 100 people including grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and cousins kids & in laws?)

This name also allowed me to go to a Miranda Lambert concert last week with 5 women, very close in age, all with the same wonderful, same last name.

Weber.

2010 - 2011 was a "hot mess" as Ian says, "but in a good way". In addition to what you can see from my lovely visual below, Ian lost a grandmother and grandfather and I lost a grandmother.  Also, after our wedding in August we had a fall full of friend's weddings (in three different states), we hosted my family for Christmas in Defiance... and let's just say puppy training doesn't seem to be ending in the near future.



Who's excited for (what's left) of 2012!? I am!!!



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