It's fitting that as I write this there are tons of fireworks going off outside our house right now. :)
At long last, Nick and I are finally married!
I had planned on writing this right after the wedding. But with family in town, spontaneous trip to Disneyland, Thanksgiving, an overseas flight to Germany that was delayed and sidetracked due to snow, jet lag, 3 days of catching up on sleep, migraines, holidays, snow, snow, migraines and snow, I was a tad delayed in getting to our blog. But finally, here I am.
2010, or as we will forever know it, the year of the wedding, is dwindling to a close. It's been quite a year for us, but we are thankful that the last few months have been crazy fun and memorable and that we can say 2010 went out with a bang.
Our wedding turned out to be more amazing that we could have ever imagined it to be, even with the buckets of rain that poured down all day! I remember Genesis and I looking out the window when we woke up on our wedding morning and thinking, "Wow...that is a lot of rain." Cut to all of us singing Alanis Morisette's famous hook, "It's like ray-ee-aaaaiiiin....on your weddin' day..." loud all morning while we were getting hair and make up done.
And actually, we stopped singing that and started singing along to The Sound of Music since it was playing while we were getting ready! For those who don't know, The Sound of Music was my grandmother's favorite movie and we used to watch it with her all the time. Years later we still watch it and sing along to it, and I wanted to honor her memory and the memories of my family that morning with our favorite musical. And besides, who doesn't love a good sing-along?
The rain made the day so much more fun. All the girls trying to get in and out of the limo, running into the church, jumping over puddles trying to avoid getting wet feet. I can't wait to see the video of all of us running through Balboa Park when it REALLY started to pour! Our photographer was really inspired by the rain and was able to capture beautiful and unique photos that we only would have been able to get with the weather that day.
There are so many things I want to say about the wedding. But it all boils down to the fact that it just really, really helped us to realize how much we love our friends and family. I was so touched that so many people came in from all over to spend that weekend with us. And I absolutely love how many new friendships and connections have stemmed from our wedding! Being away from everyone for the past few years really heightened just how much I missed everyone. So to be in a room filled with so much love, beauty, inspiration, and joy...I can't even put into words what I felt and still feel. My heart was simply overflowing with love.
When I gave my little thank you speech, I wanted to thank more people for all they did to help with our wedding, especially my bridesmaids, but my fear of public speaking got the better of me that night, as did my emotions. So here is my special thanks to some of the most phenomenal women in my life:
To my cousin Lisa: Where do I begin? Thank you for being a sister to me. Thank you for letting me follow you around when I was a kid and thank you for continuing to be an inspiration to me now. Whenever I attempt to become a writer, activist, or a strong voice in something I believe in and I start to doubt myself, I simply ask, "What would Lisa do?" I miss the days when I would hang out with you in Benicia and then drive in your Honda to UC Davis. I wish we had more time together these days, but I'm thankful for the time that we do have. Thank you for being there on my wedding day, and thank you for the emergency kit, snacks, and water that helped us all throughout the day!
To my cousin-in-law Krista: It's been a blast getting to know you better over the past year and a half. Thank you so much for effortlessly jumping into our group and being there for our wedding. You mean so much to Nick and I and I'm thankful you were there to represent his side of the family that day. And we were so happy that you would drive down from Vegas to be there for our wedding events and bridesmaids shopping trips! Your dedication and love was and is a truly a blessing, and we are both thankful to have a wonderful person like you to call family.
To Rachel: Thank you for the crazy night of fun that I will always remember and cherish, despite all the alcohol! That night ranks up there as one of the most memorable and fun, so thank you for taking the time to put it all together for me. You could have just made it a simple party, but instead you went to the extra mile and made it totally luxurious and VIP, and it was just the perfect way to let off some stress and steam before the wedding! You are a gem of a friend and I am thankful for you in my life.
To Jen: If it weren't for you, the flower girls wouldn't have looked as fab as they did! Haha thank you SO much for helping me out with the flower girl dresses. It was so hard to plan a wedding from overseas, but it was great to know that I had friends like you to call on for help.You've been such a loyal friend over the years and I am so happy and blessed to have you in my life.
To Quyen: Thank God you had your wedding before I did because you prepared me for all the stress that I didn't know I would go through! I was so thankful that I had you to call on to cry with, vent to, laugh with and bitch with. Thank you for being my ear of support and my shoulder to cry on when things got a little too crazy. And of course, thanks for the beautiful hankies! Did any of the bridesmaids actually use them? Haha!
To Janel: To my fellow skinny bitch in training and member of Club 24, I'm most thankful that you were my workout buddy throughout all the wedding madness! Some of the best times I had in SD the past few months were our gym and smoothie outings. I wish so much that I was still there so we could keep working out together (with Frankie, of course!)- it was the best motivation and so much fun. And thanks a bunch for being there to help with the bridesmaids stuff like centerpieces and cake tasting!
To Genesis: My heart still breaks over the fact that you couldn't stand on my side at the wedding. But, I suppose we should have expected that from an Italian Catholic church that dared to say no to my mother when she explained why you belonged on MY side. For what it's worth, we all knew what side you should have been on! I can't even begin to start to say thank you for all you have done for me, both as my Man of Honor and best friend. So I'll simply say that I am thankful for absolutely everything you have done and for everything that you are. To Oprah, Glitter, and Gaga....
To Anabel: Our dream wedding never would have happened without you! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, A THOUSAND TIMES THANK YOU for everything you have done for us! Everything from coordinating the limos, organizing our rehearsal dinner, and even measuring my parents' backyard to figure out what size tables we needed for our engagement party! And that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of all you have done for us. Planning a wedding from overseas was hard, but it was infinitely easier with you there leading the way for us. We owe you the world and so much more. Thank you for being a friend, traveled down the road and back again, your heart is true you're a pal and a confidant. ;)
Still, there is so much I want to say. 41 days later, we are still glowing from all the fun we had on our wedding weekend. I keep saying that I wish we could rewind back and do it all over again, but my husband has reminded me that we should just be thankful and happy that we were so lucky to have a great wedding and that we have so many wonderful people in our lives. And yes, I am happy and thankful. But I'm also still antsy for the next big fun event to celebrate, whatever it might be! ;)
Thank you again to everyone who was a part of our wedding. You are so special and priceless to us and you helped us to create the perfect beginning to our new life together. To sum up the wedding in my husband's words when I asked him what he thought of the wedding, "It was awesome."
And now, I leave you with the song that has become the theme song to our wedding...
