We Did It!

Rehearsing for the Big Day

I'm so sorry for the long delay in posting, and I regret that for now I'll just have to give you a taste of blog posts soon to come. The whole wedding celebration was absolutely wonderful--more fun, special, meaningful, lovely, and memorable than I ever could have imagined. From Girls' Night Out on Thursday through our brunch on Sunday, Tomkin and I both had an incredible time being surrounded by family members and friends, many of whom had to travel through snowy weather to get here. We felt so blessed, especially on Saturday, April 12, when we got to stand up in front of our loved ones and join our lives together. It was truly magical. We followed up the wedding celebration with a fun and relaxing honeymoon in Northfield--just what we needed. Now this week we've been diving back into work, running all those errands we had put off, spending time with the dogs (they really missed us!), and--of course--writing thank-you cards. We're still waiting to get our professional photos back. I took a bunch myself (or had other people take shots with my camera), so I'll try to post more of those soon. In the meantime, I'll cheat a little and send you to Carrie's Flickr Page and Jake's Flickr Photo Stream. They got some awesome shots. Tomkin's officiating a wedding this weekend (we have the rehearsal dinner tonight), and we're going to an art crawl tomorrow and having lunch with my dad and Sandy on Sunday. But I promise I'll try to post more wedding info and photos soon!

Last Few Days of Singlehood

Partying with friends on Saturday night

Tomkin and I had a pretty low-key weekend, which was nice since next weekend will be crazy. (Only four days until the wedding!!!) Saturday we ran errands, and that night we went to a party at Shawn and Lucas's house, which was fun. I feel like everyone's ready to start busting out and partying together again after the long, cold winter. Sunday was cool and rainy, so we stayed home and got more wedding stuff done. We're still fighting colds, so we've been trying to rest up as much as possible. Yesterday we both worked really hard--we're trying to get as much done as we can before we take time off for the wedding and honeymoon. The pizza and the movie were Super Good!

Last night Tomkin picked up "Superbad," and we made pizza and snuggled with the dogs on the couch while we watched the movie. That was SO nice. We needed a break from work and from wedding talk and tasks. And the movie was hilarious! Today I got a full-body exfoliation and a facial from my aunt Carol, who works at Spalon Montage. Wow, was that a treat. So nice and relaxing. I feel like now the Week of the Wedding is truly underway! Ready for an afternoon of bliss at Spalon Montage

The weather has taken a somewhat unfortunate turn, but I'm trying to stay optimistic. It's been cold and gray; I'm just hoping it doesn't snow again. Right now the weekend forecast shows possible rain and snow with temps around 40. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will at least be pleasant out (no snow, please!!!). Tomorrow is our last workday before the wedding; we've both got a lot of work to finish up. Tomkin and I are having a quiet evening alone tomorrow, and then guests will start arriving on Thursday. Basically we'll be partying for four days--I can't wait! It'll be so fun to have friends and family members here to celebrate our wedding with us. We're leaving next Tuesday for a four-day honeymoon in Northfield (home of Carleton College, where we met). Our awesome friend Ben is going to house/dog-sit while we're gone. I might try to post again before the weekend...but chances are this is it until after the honeymoon. Thanks to everyone who has offered words of advice and support and excitement. We appreciate all the love and good wishes. This really is an amazing and wonderful time, and I'm excited beyond words that I get to marry the man of my dreams in just four days! I'll blog all about it soon!

House for Rent--Read All About It!

I mentioned in a previous blog post that Tomkin was recently interviewed by someone from MPR about us trying to rent out our house for the Republican National Convention. The story apparently aired on the radio on Thursday (we didn't hear it, but one of Tomkin's friends called to say he did), and the print story also appeared that day. You can read the article here; look for the quotes from Tom Coleman. And, hey, the house is still available for rent! Find all the details here.

One Week to Go!

It's still kind of hard for me to believe that Tomkin and I are getting married one week from today. In fact, by this time next week, we'll be husband and wife. Wow! We are definitely ready. I've been reading so many wedding books and focusing on so many wedding details, I'm just ready to have the party and get married! Unfortunately, we've been fighting colds this week, but we're trying to rest up so we'll be in top form for next weekend's celebration. We had a pretty low-key week--lunch with Tomkin's folks on Wednesday, dinner with Pete at the Birchwood Cafe on Thursday, and lots of walks with the dogs. We're keeping busy with work and with last-minute wedding stuff. Our housekeeper was here for 6-1/2 hours yesterday getting the house into tip-top shape. All of the major wedding stuff is done now; we've just got minor stuff to take care of this week. I expect we'll stay plenty busy, though. (I apologize if I owe you a phone call or e-mail! At this point, I probably won't get back to you until after the honeymoon.) I'm having a spa day on Tuesday, and our first guests arrive on Thursday. I'll try to post again a couple times before all the festivities begin. One week!!!

Spring Is Here!!!

Yes, it seems as though spring has finally sprung. Temperatures have risen into the 60s, we're starting to see robins (two for me so far), the snow is melting, and people are emerging from their winter dens. It's wonderful! We saw our neighbor Shawn out on his motorcycle yesterday, had dinner on the front porch last night, and today we dusted off the convertible for running errands. Tomkin put fresh mulch on the lawn and set up our outdoor furniture. I even noticed some little green shoots starting to push through the mud. There's a feeling of newness and freshness in the air and a spirit-lifting change-of-seasons energy. It couldn't come at a better time!

Punch for Lunch

Last Tuesday I had lunch with Becca at Punch Pizza. Man, was that good! I'd never been there before. De-LISH! It was awesome to hang out with Becca and hear about her recent travels, what baby names they're thinking of (you just know they're going to have a fourth son...), and what else she's been up to. Of course we also chatted about wedding stuff and upcoming plans. The time flew by--we talked for almost three hours!

Words of Wedding Wisdom

I liked this article in today's StarTribune.

And the snow is starting to melt! Hurray!