Mr. and Mrs. Terry Heinrich!

We're married! Of course we will blog all the details later, but I felt the need to post a little something before heading off to our honeymoon. The weekend and the big day absolutely surpassed every expectation we held. Our parents, bridal party, family, and friends showed us incredible love, and we are still glowing from the big day.

Today, in about an hour, we jet off to Europe for our honeymoon. We feel so blessed that we get to enjoy two weeks exploring such storied destinations. We promise to share pictures and all the adventures when we return!

Meanwhile, thanks for reading, and here's to an incredible adventure in Europe and in marriage.

And here we go...

Here we are, the night before our wedding. I feel a surprising sense of peace and calmness, especially now that the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner wrapped up a few hours ago. Terry's parents hosted a wonderful, fun dinner (albeit emotional), and we loved everyone's toasts. We held the rehearsal at Campo di Bocce, a bocce ball place that doubles as an Italian restaurant. It was perfect for our little party, and everyone loved the bocce ball games!

The last few days were at times stressful, emotional, frustrating, funny, exciting, and difficult. Mostly, I've loved spending so much time with my family and putting all the finishing touches on our projects. Terry and I are so excited to see everything put together tomorrow.

As for the real part - the marriage part - we just can't wait. It's finally here, finally time to relax and enjoy our nuptials. While we've planned every detail from the dress to the meal to the music, the important part will happen right at 5:00, when our pastor invites our family, friends, and God to witness and bless our marriage. I feel so lucky to have such supportive family, such loving friends, such generous in-laws, and such an incredible man in my life. So until after the wedding, thank you for reading, for supporting us, and for hanging in there throughout The Olive Theory!

Here's to an incredible journey together!

All the loose ends

No matter how much time you have to plan, it's crazy when you get down to the final days and realize you're actually getting married. All the planning, all the e-mails, the meetings with vendors, the money, the trips to the venue...it seems impossible that the end result has arrived. Granted, we still have a few days, but I can't help thinking about the fact that it'll all be over soon. It's bittersweet, but mostly sweet. (Plus, with chocolate, bittersweet is WAY better than sweet! In life, you should compare all things to chocolate.)

The last few days have felt like a blur. Terry headed back to LA, I went to the delta with my parents and some friends, Terry worked, I worked on wedding projects like crazy. My future sister-in-law, Ashley, did a trial run on my hair today (I'm so excited! She did an amazing job!), and I've purchased a bunch of new makeup for the day (I'll do my own makeup) with the help of two amazing bridesmaids, Heidi and Jenn. My parents have been a huge help with all the projects; tonight we had a program-assembly party, and tomorrow we'll organize and assemble the welcome bags for out-of-towners. Tomorrow also includes several errands, a few appointments, and picking up Terry at the airport (yay!). It will be wonderful to have him here to help with all the details.

Everyone I run into asks how I'm feeling, and honestly, I'm a little overwhelmed. While we have all the big stuff in order, the little details are what will make the wedding ours, and I hope we'll be able to pull it all together the way we're envisioning. I think the toughest parts this week have been:

• the seating chart
• trying not to forget anything for the wedding or honeymoon
• answering the seemingly endless questions that just keep coming
• figuring out everyone's schedule and all the logistics for the whole weekend
• not having Terry around (that silly work thing gets in the way!)

Thankfully, I have the world's most supportive parents, and Terry will be here tomorrow. My bridesmaids have been incredible about asking how they can help and being super generous with their time. And again, we're just really trying to focus on the big picture - that whole marriage thing! Only three days...

It's July!

Rabbit, rabbit! We say that phrase for good luck at the beginning of each month. My family has always done it, and last year I explained the ritual to my students, and they got all excited to do it too. Unfortunately, one of my students had a horrible month when he tried it out, so I'm not sure how fool-proof it is. Regardless, my whole family made sure to say it this morning. Try it at your own risk!

Terry, Scout, and I drove up last night with quite the car full of wedding paraphernalia. Terry heads back down to LA tomorrow for another few days of work, and I'll stay up here to finish the last projects before the big day. Today, we met with our DJ to finalize the reception schedule, our florist to confirm the flower details, and my seamstress for my final dress fitting. Obviously Terry didn't join for the last part, but my mom did, which was so fun. Now the dress is at the bridal shop, J'aime Bridal, where I purchased it, for some steam action.

Tonight I made (started, rather) the final to-do list for the next week. It's a full page so far - finish the programs, assemble the place cards, confirm the honeymoon reservations - wish us luck! Rabbit, rabbit!