One of these exciting things was that my very dear and lifetime friend (and it's almost been a lifetime since we've been friends since kindergarten :) ) got married!! Through years of school, traveling the world together, one long, very fun road trip, tennis matches played with those calories burned being cancelled out by a slurpee almost every time, and so many great memories of just hanging out and being us, Heidi got married!! We have shared so much together and we could not be more excited that she has found an awesome guy to share the rest of her life with. She stood by us on our wedding day and although miles have now separated us, whenever we see each other we pick up where we left off each and every time :). I just love this girl! Heidi and I became were great friends from the start, but Brandon also grew up together with us so they were friends as well. They joked that she was the sister he never had and that he was the brother she never wanted. All in good fun of course :). We always joked (and Brandon always gave her a hard time) that she would be married by the age of 40 and she always denied it, but here it was, December 9th, her wedding day :).
To go back a little, we found out she was engaged this summer when they met with Brandon and I for lunch. I even looked for the ring on her finger when they walked in :). It was time and we were so excited for them. They went on to tell us that it was going to be a small wedding...in Maui!! We were excited that Brandon and I were invited!! As the months passed we tried to see how we could work things out with taking our girls, but then decided that it would be too much travel for such a short amount of time. Then we tried to see how Brandon could take the time off. Since he has to request his leave a year in advance the time during Heidi's wedding was taken by other coworkers and nothing else could be done. So we had come to the realization that we were going to miss her wedding :(.
In passing I was telling our friend Charmaine about this wedding and that we weren't going to be able to go. She turned and said that if I wanted to go she would totally go with me. I thought at first she was just saying that but she later told me that she and her husband were both on board with her coming with me if I wanted. So I thought about it for a couple of weeks and finally decided that we should go. Who couldn't use some time away, right? :) We got an awesome deal on the flights and hotel and the trip was set!
We left on Sunday, December 8th bright and early to catch a flight from Oakland. I picked Charmaine up and gave her husband some thank-you-for-letting-your-wife come-with-me-and-here is-something-to-get-you-through caramel treats and we were off. You know you're with a great friend when you talk through the entire plane flight making the flight feel pretty short :). We got to our car rental place in Hawaii and they upgraded our car to a Chevy Tahoe! Then we arrived at our hotel and they upgraded us to an ocean front room!! Some pretty nice perks for this fun girls weekend away :). And by the way, this hotel was really quite the treat for both of us! We stayed at the beautiful Grand Wailea Hotel.
It was a little weird to see Christmas decorations in such a tropical place :).
Sunday we settled in a bit and then got a bite to eat before I met up with Heidi and her fiancé Josh. We caught up on our lives a little and talked about the big day.
Later that night Charmaine and I went to a nice dinner at Roy's which was really good. By the end of that day we were pretty spent.
Monday came and Charmaine and I had some time in the morning to grab some breakfast and have some time together before I headed off to the wedding site to help Heidi get ready.
The wedding was at an estate on the south side of the island. I drove down to the house and it was beautiful! Right on the ocean! Super cool spot for a wedding :). When I walked towards the house and everyone was outside. Turns out the air conditioning in the place wasn't working and it was pretty warm and humid in there. Not the conditions a bride wants to get ready in the day of her wedding! So we piled the girls in the Tahoe and drove back to Heidi's hotel room where her hair and makeup was done. Sigh of relief. There's always a hiccup in every wedding right? :)
With Heidi's hair and makeup done all she needed was her dress. We drove back to the estate where we all quickly got dressed including the beautiful bride and getting her into her gorgeous dress.
The ceremony started a little late, but we were on Hawaii time :).
Heidi was walked down by her dad while the pastor played a beautiful melody on the conch shell. It was perfect :).
The ceremony was simple and represented Heidi and Josh well. During the ceremony we each got a lei and a hug from the bride or groom.
After the ceremony the two love birds took some family and friend pictures and then some sunset pictures of which I am so excited to see!
I wish I could say we basked in the sun for days afterward, but we were headed back home the next day. Short and sweet. Heidi's family has always treated me like family and I couldn't have felt more loved and appreciated the whole time I was there. I am SO thankful I had the opportunity to go and couldn't have asked for a better time with my travel companion. It was such a nice, kiddo free break for these two mommas whose kids still aren't great sleepers :). THANK YOU, THANK YOU Brandon and my mom for taking care of the home front while I was gone!! It meant so much to me to be there :).
We just couldn't be happier for Josh and Heidi!! Congratulations again you two! Here's to the rest of your lives together!!
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