After the Wedding

Hello all!
Okay, it has been a complete whirlwind.
Matthew and I were married on August 17th in the Chicago Temple, where we were sealed for time and all eternity. It was everything we could've hoped for and more.

We were greeted outside by friends and family and the whole thing was just amazing.

Then the BEST reception EVER! Seriously, the women in my home ward really came together to make the cultural hall in the church look absolutely beautiful, and I was just blown away. There were so many cute little touches that made it wonderful, from the Norwegian and Argentine flags that were hanging for our missions and the Wisconsin and Michigan state flags hanging for our homes to the beautiful lace covered mason jars that served as our center pieces. And look at this cake! My Aunt Kathy made this cake! (It was funfetti, my favorite :).

And Sister Nishida from the ward made our wedding favors. We found these on pintrest and I don't even know how much time she must've spent on them. But they're pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate, one is a bride and the other is a groom!

So yes. To end the incessant picture posting, I'll just say that it was beautiful and Matt and I couldn't have been happier.

Then it was off to our honeymoon in Door County. We stayed at this darling little bed and breakfast in Sturgeon Bay. The hostess was so nice and even recommended restaurants and local shops we should check out. And we had cherry juice with our breakfast, which was so good that we just had to stop at a shop on our way home to pick some up.

Then we packed up everything we had in my parents' suburban (along with all of my sister's stuff) and headed out to Utah. It was a very long drive and we were happy to finally get back to Provo.
We spent all day Thursday moving in, and we can now say that, aside from a few random things that don't quite have a place yet, we are completely moved in. At first when we moved in we didn't even have a bed, actually, and it took until this afternoon for management to get us anything more than a mattress on the floor. But we now officially have a bed. And today we were able to go get our books and run some errands. So things are finally settling down, which is a relief.

And now Matt wants to take a walk, so I'll end this. But really, let me just say that I woke up this morning and just felt so blessed for everything that's happened in my life to get me to this point. There are so many times that I can see that Heavenly Father was guiding us and arranging things so that we could meet and have the experiences and the preparation necessary for us to be together. I love the title of this blog (which I recently changed. Sorry, I just felt that this one was more appropriate.) because I really do feel that instead of giving us lemons, Life gave us lemonade. And I'm so grateful.