I was excited when I did my legal name change. But not the day before, or during that day. At the end of the day I was just kind of excited for how well things went and how good I felt to finally get that done.
But that's really kind of it for "excitement". Not even my rhinoplasty or my later FFS made me excited before, during, or after... because all I could think about was the pain and discomfort of post-op recovery.
Sure, there are moments of happiness, more so than before, now that I'm full-time. Like on Labor Day weekend, when I spent the day with my mom at the Chicago Art Institute and Jazz Festival as my authentic self. That was fun. And a happy time.
But I don't know... excitement? Not really. That feeling is extremely rare. In fact, I think I get more excited when I think about getting back to playing World of Warcraft again, LOL.
There isn't really anything exciting about being a woman IMO. 50% of the population is women! Just being a woman isn't really that special or unique. Why get excited about it? But I am glad I am transitioning, because it allows me to live my life more as a normal person without the dysphoria dragging down other parts of my life. And that's important.
editted to add: I was never excited in anticipation of starting HRT either. And I was never excited once I actually started it. It was more like "hmmm, this feels right, I'm glad I took this step"