Fiance?

I hate the word. My girlfriend and I have been engaged since Thanksgiving. I have yet to refer to her as my fiance. To me it is a stupid word. It's really hard for me to incorporate it into my vocabulary when i refer to her. I don't mind people knowing that she is going to marry me, but I think it's a ridiculous notion to assign a specific word to her other than girlfriend. Is she not my girlfriend anymore? Did the girlfriend go away and fiance appear?