So one of my absolute best friends got married at the beginning of this February! It was so exciting. And, I was a bridesmaid! So off to Utah I went. As much as I wanted Boricua to be there, it just didn't make sense work and budget-wise.
It was a classy and wonderful wedding. I love celebrating love!
I was kind of preoccupied with bridesmaid stuff, but luckily my Grandma took some great photos!
Isn't she lovely?
I loved being around all of these other wonderful women who shared my appreciation for her.
The wedding ceremony itself (a Temple sealing in Salt Lake) was sooooo beautiful. I thought it was so cool that the former President of BYU, who was president when my friend, her husband and I were attending, was the one who performed the ceremony! But the best part of all is knowing that these two have found someone who loves them so very much, and that they have been married for all of time. I honestly used to pray that a guy would come along that would see E for how incredible she was and more (a REALLY special person, not just anyone!) and I know this is so corny but it feels like my prayers were answered! I hope she gets into the grad school of her choice, because then they might do a semester abroad in LONDON!
After the weekend of wedding festivities, I soaked up as much family-time as possible!
I happened to be there when the new Provo temple was having its open house! It was reconstructed (and turned into a Temple) from a beautiful old Tabernacle that was burned to the ground a few years ago. I had been there to hear my grandma sing in choirs, listened to conferences with my BYU Stake, and even played outside as a girl when we went to get TCBY in downtown Provo with my dad. My aunt and uncle had been married just across the street. Needless to say, it's a pretty special place.
I miss my humans!
In the evening, we had the chance to see my cousin performing in a play! And in our family, performances also usually mean going out to eat. :)
It was incredible how at home AND foreign seeing all of these big trucks and mountains felt. I miss family, skiing, river guiding, Mexican food, etc... but I don't miss driving in snow storms!
America (especially the West) feels so sprawling after having lived in London!
Dinner was part eating, part listening to stories, and part photography lesson from my uncle (he's patient - I tend to stick with the safety of autofocus!)
And... my cousin and her peers did a phenomenal job on their play, Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors!"
**note these photos are me manually focusing :D
She played violin, she acted, she danced, and she did a very good job of maintaining her stage presence. We were seated so close to her (it was on-stage seating), but as hard as I tried I didn't get a single smirk out of her! ;)
And the play itself was hilarious.
I might be biased, but I think she was the most beautiful actress there, insie and out. We celebrated, classically, with a treat at the BYU Creamery.
The rest of the week I did more of things I love, which are, running on errands with my grandparents (I know - errands? Fun? It's a tradition. We put on some good music and cruise around Provo and Orem getting stuff done, haha), spending time with my aunt, visiting my two favorite people from Alpine/Highland and their significant others, eating In-n-Out, playing Trivial Pursuit, and just plain being with people I care about.
On my way home, I took advantage of a long layover in L.A. to get some studying done. I was so amazed by the flight - we flew over the Pacific ocean as we made a u-turn after taking off, crossed the entire continent and the Atlantic ocean, and I made it just in time to run to seminar at LSE and give a presentation that had been assigned to me!
More than anything, I was so happy to be back home with my best friend of all. Going back to Utah for the first time since we were married was so surreal - it made me realize that more than anything, I was missing the past. I see that I don't have to miss the times I have spent with the people I love to prove my love to them - I have to make the present count with them in my lives, wherever we are!
