Done and Got Hitched

After months of neglecting our blog in order to plan and prepare the most glorious wedding in the history of mankind, we're back online, folks! We're married, we're happy, and we are, without doubt, the luckiest people in the world. Not only do we have each other and the girls, but we have an amazing set of family and friends whose generosity and labor of love allowed us to have a wedding that was more glorious and epic than we'd even imagined it would be.

Neither Mike nor I imagined we'd feel different after the wedding. We thought it would just be a really fun party and a damn good reason for a reunion. It was both of things, but it was also a turning point in our lives that we still can't describe. As you all know, Mike and I have been together for nearly five years and have lived together for over 3 of those years. We never doubted our relationship, and, because of that, we didn't think marriage would be a big step in any way, but it was. Maybe it's because we have a new level of understanding how much love surrounds us, because, since marriage, we haven't been sweating the small stuff. Mike will tell you it has increased his capacity to love, and he'll also tell you that I now have wife powers. For real. We're, like, superheroes now. We're invincible. Love truly does conquer all. And I'm not kidding.

It first started to sink in and feel real when Chris and Joanna pulled into our driveway. They were our first guests to arrive, and we hadn't seen them in three years. This reunion was long overdue. Their arrival was a celebration in itself, but it also lent way to realizing that, within the next 48 hours, most of our favorite people in the world would be coming to town. When we live 2,000 miles away from many of those people, it gives a girl butterflies like no other to see those old friends arrive on the doorstep of her little home to take part in her little love story.

The days were packed. Stress came and went, but laughter superseded. If you were here, you saw it: the cooler full of wild blackberries Chris and Joanna helped us pick so that we could have real shortcake with real berries and real whipped cream as our wedding day dessert, the evening in the kitchen rehearsing "You are My Sunshine" before my dad arrived in town, the squeals Merri and Trudy let out when they were reunited with my folks, the mother-daughter bonding while Mama Sheryl and I made heart-shaped shortcakes together, the smile on Chris's face as he got to know The Johnfather, the tiger-jokes while my dad led a team of family and friends through rigging a system that would float 60 paper lanterns above our backyard, the EC crew arriving with a bucket of flowers they'd selected from Pike's Place Market, Beau bringing over dozens of dahlias he and Jessa had grown together, Uncle Dan and Mama Sheryl laboring in the kitchen, about a dozen friends and family members taping together enough LED lights and batteries to light 90 paper lanterns, Jake arranging my bridal bouquet, friends and family running errands without hesitating, Mama Sheryl and Mama Joan tying home-made adornments to the wine-bottle water carafes, Jonas and Mary stopping by the night before to go on a walk with us and get to know us before photographing our epic day, Ashley and Carly styling my hair, my mom putting on the jewelery she'd made for me, Jake helping Mike calm any nerves as he got dressed, the "first look" when Mike and I fell in love all over again, Merri and Trudy wearing flowers and feathers on their collars, Mike and I waiting behind a curtain with the dogs while Ashley and Carly and Jake updated us on the arrival of guests at the ceremony site, Chris and Joanna and Ben playing "Fistful of Dollars" as we walked down the aisle, Mike walking the dogs down the aisle, my dad walking me down the aisle, 50 warm smiles watching us wed, Ben delivering the most wonderful ceremony in history, the magic trick, the vows, the kiss, the celebration flags, the food, the toasts, sitting at the head table with our parents and looking out on a yard that we've put hours of work into to see it filled with the irreplaceable warmth of our friends, clucking like chickens with Avery, Chris and Jo and Mike serenading my dad, the "first dance" to the song Brad and Jake made for us, Ben mingling with his video camera to create for us what I'm sure will be one of our favorite gifts, the bonfire, Carly's velociraptor, the s'mores, the "He's Nude!" incident, my parents unending selflessness as they helped us clean up the following day, winding down the night after with Ben and Kelli and Carly and Ty, having Carly along when we went on our mini-moon to Orcas Island, and, of course, the many good-byes we didn't want to have to say.

That list covers a good third or so of the highlights. When we get pictures from Jonas, Mary, and Jeff, our delightful photographers, we will certainly share them with you. We set our camera aside for most of the week and let Jonas handle all day-of pics and hope many of you have pics of the days of preparations to share. For now, here are the few we do have from our camera and from my mom. If you have some you'd like to share with us, please e-mail them our way or send us a link to an online album where we can copy them (larger albums like Picasa Web Albums or Flickr are great, but Facebook makes the photos too small to duplicate). If it's possible, you could even link to your online album in the comments section of this post so that your photos can be enjoyed by all of our family and friends. :) Thanks! We love you.

Blackberry Picking with Chris and Joanna

Mutti and The Johnfather Arrive!

Rehearsal

Worker Bees
P.S. We love you all!

The Epic Mountain Ceremony Musicians

The Lovely Brides (2 of 3, anyhow)

Family

Friends

A Couple of Reception Shots

Mutti, The Johnfather, and Mike

Starting Off Our Married Life in Good Company

Next up... photos from our mini-moon to Orcas Island... stay tuned...

Love,

TLC

UPDATE:  Yay for more photos from Jake!  Catch a sneak peek below, or view the entire album by clicking here.