tack så mycket!

We go back to the States in less than two weeks.  Can you say crazy?!  When did that happen?  My goal, as piddly as it may be, has always been to get our wedding thank you notes written and addressed so we could just plop them in the mail when we returned to normally priced postage. I am pleased to report that I have been writing them fairly steadily, but the addressing leaves a lot to be desired.  As in...I haven't started it.

I just reached the end of my note list (Mr. F is nowhere near done with his.  I won this competition, but no, I'm not keeping track) leaving me with nothing but the addresses.  And then I realized how tedious this process is going to be.  In the nearly six months we have been married, a great many things have happened besides our own numberless moves everywhere.  For the sake of my own sanity, I needed to share the great many changes that have transpired from my end of the thank you list alone to make addressing more complicated.

At least three people on my list have passed away since our wedding in March.  At least.  There may be more.  Two of these three are my grandmothers.  One of these two made my wedding dress and provided the bulk of the decorations for our reception.  She died the day after her birthday.  She never got her thank you note.

My other grandmother's gift arrived in two parts.  Her health began deteriorating rapidly just days before our wedding preventing her attendance.  When I made it back to Florida after Nana's funeral, a giant box was waiting for me in the foyer.  It was a quilt from Grandpa J and L's home in Oregon.  She remembered my fondness of the coral pink quilt and wanted me to have it as I began to set up house.  As if it needed to be mentioned, I sat on the floor wrapped in the quilt surrounded by everything I still had to pack for Germany and cried violently.  Two grandmothers in three weeks.  Really?  Is that necessary?

The second part of her gift arrived while we have been abroad and I'm looking forward to seeing it in person.  An oval serving bowl in our china pattern.  Luckily, I can still write to Grandpa and thank him.  That's been done.

Personally, I don't want to know if anyone else has died.  I don't think I could handle that for a little while.  The other changes to the mailing list are far more joyous, luckily.  Many of my friends have moved since our nuptials took place. Several to Texas and others to places I'll find out as I send them emails.  A few have gotten married, some have had babies, and at least one is now expecting.  A couple have just moved across town.

I've really enjoyed writing these notes actually.  I have such fond memories of our wedding and the people to whom these letters are being written.  It's mind boggling to me that we have been married for nearly six months already, let alone that we have been in Europe for roughly three.  It seems like so little time has passed by, but so much has happened.

In honor of the occasion, here are a few images of our life the past few months.