Grateful.

Its been a little over 3 months since our wedding and I just finished my thank you's... thats right, I might be the biggest procrastinator you'll ever know and also a little disorganized (a little?).  I am a little ashamed because I had no good excuse why they didn't get done earlier except that we were busy moving the couple months after the wedding and with everything scattered between Ohio and Texas, it was difficult to remember to sit down and do them.  

However, it had been weighing very heavy on my mind lately, just thinking of having to do it gave me awful anxiety.  I would find myself thinking about it during my Yoga practice, during dog-walks, and before I would fall asleep at night.  So, after feeling myself become agitated and irritable yesterday over little things or nothing at all, I decided it was time to lift this weight off my shoulders so that I could move on and focus on other things in life.

I had started them a few weeks back but had about 150 still to do... and I took yesterday and finished them ALL!  I feel like a HUGE WEIGHT has been lifted off my shoulders.  Yes, my hand felt like it was about to fall off, my neck hurt from looking down the entire day, and my fingers are still tender from pressing them on the pen- but I cannot express the freedom and relief I feel for getting them done.

Ok, so why am I blogging about this experience?  Well, as I wrote the cards and starting kind of re-living our awesome day, I thought it might be appropriate to just give a shout-out via our blog to everyone to made such an important time in our lives so special.  So:


Thank you to my parents for sacrificing so much to give Matt and I such a beautiful wedding.  Your selflessness and generosity was incredible and I couldn't have asked for more.  Thank you for the time and love and creativeness you put into the wedding.  Thank you for not fussing over the small stuff and not being the annoying mother/father standing in on every decision.  I am so grateful, always, that I have (and now Matt has too) a mom and dad that are so supportive and loving and have taught me how to stand on my own two feet and then let me do it, never second-guessing decisions I make.  I don't think I'll ever be able to quite express the gratitude I feel for everything you made happen during that special time in Matt and I's life.  It was perfect.  Thank you for loving Matt like another son and making him feel so comfortable in our family- he loves you so much and is so grateful. Thank you for being the perfect example of lasting love.  We will always strive for the balance you've shown by example in your marriage.

Thank you to Joe and Kim (Matt's parents) for going to graciously with the flow of all the planning and preparing.  Thank you for the time and effort you put into making it such a special day.  Thank you for cooking such an incredible rehearsal dinner for us and providing a space to gather all our out-of-town friends and family.  I am so appreciative for the parents you have been to Matt.  You have raised such a strong, kind, independent, and loving man.  You have shown him what it is to always be faithful and how to express affection.  His heart is always in the right place and you can see that through everything he does.  Thank you for loving and accepting me into the family way back when I was just a teenager...  I have grown to feel supported and loved so much by you both.  We are so grateful for you.

Thank you to the incredible wedding party we hand-picked.  Kelly Bozicevich (maid of honor), Daniel-Ray Herrera (best man)... bridesmaids: Kate Gerken, Samantha Rhew, Lydia Basting, Jordan Ferrell and groomsmen: Ben Kuhl, Jay Jefferis, Daniel Maloney, Zachary Basting.  Your love and support and whole attitude during this special time in our lives was exactly what we needed.  Mostly, thank you all for being such good people and friends from the beginning.  We picked you for a reason, because we have such faith that our friendships with you will continue to grow and evolve and we appreciate everything that you bring to the table.  Each of you have helped shape us into the strong couple that we are and the individuals that we are.  We are so grateful for all of you.

Thank you to all of our family for the love and support you have continued to bless us with throughout the years.  We are so blessed to have such a strong support system filled with loving grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins to enjoy life with and learn from!

Thank you to all of the guests (friends, family!) who made the trip to Ohio for the wedding or cleared their schedules to be able to help us celebrate such a special time in our lives.  To be able to see so much FAMILY and FRIENDS during a time that is so important to us was truly a blessing.  We are so grateful for your presence with us at our wedding- it made for such a dynamic and beautiful event with so much good energy surrounding us. We appreciate all your love and the wonderful gifts each of you so graciously gave.

Thank you to our guests who, although they couldn't be with us, sent their love and congratulations with cards and gifts to our home.  We missed you at the wedding but are so appreciative that you took the time and effort to send a gift and your kind words- thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thank you to all those involved with the planning and preparing process... Fr. Dave Nuss and the St. Mary's staff, Penny Williams from Sandusky Yacht Club and her amazing team of servers, Renea Medina our photographer, Kelly Laine Abrams my makeup artist, Melissa Janisheck our loving aunt and cake-baker, Bryan Thom our DJ, Mandy Stoll our florist, my Uncle Dwight and Aunt Beth (and many other aunts, uncles, friends, and cousins) our rehearsal dinner chefs and servers, and many others that made such a special and gorgeous event happen so smoothly.  I am forever grateful for the stress you took off of me and the effort and heart you put into our lovely wedding.

Gratitude is such an important aspect in our lives with all the hustle and bustle of moving around all the time... I feel it is imperative to express to those who make a positive difference in our lives how thankful we are to have them.  All the above people had an intensely positive effect on Matt and I and I hope they can truly feel how grateful we are towards them.