Hawaii in November

We left Seattle sporting some of our heaviest and warmest layers, which we made every effort to peel off as quickly as possible once we stepped off the plane in Kona. It was a delightful 82 degrees - and about 500 million percent humidity.

But aside from the beastly sweating and sudden climate shock (and Maurice's lava death scares and my being repeatedly stripped by the waves), it was an amazing trip.

I came down to serve my final bridesmaid duties for the year - that of my dear friend and former roommate of nearly 3 years, the fabulous miss Amy Lane. It was such a treat because I was blessed to serve her and her now-husband a lot more than I have at some of the other weddings I was in this year. I got to make the wedding favors, decorate the wedding location, write the bridal party processional song, and perform it for everyone at the wedding! It was also very special because it was a very intimate wedding. By the end of the day, we knew every person by name who came and was a part of putting it together. (I mean, really - there were 19 people in the audience and 10 people lined up next to the bride and groom. Even the photographer was a friend of ours from Seattle. Very intimate!)

The first day there, we got to see the wedding location. And forget how to breathe.

It was stunning.

One of the groom's family friends is a housekeeper for a wealthy couple who own a beautiful 6 million dollar beach-front property in Puako, just outside of Kona. Without even asking, the owner of the house offered to host the wedding in their back yard. It couldn't have been a more perfect space, either - imagine Anthropologie designing and decking out a beach house. Besides that, the hostess was in love with all of us girls. We couldn't get over it for the rest of the trip. We got to see the Lord's providence and blessing on them throughout our entire stay. Everything came together perfectly on the day of the wedding - definitely one of the most beautiful weddings I've attended. And definitely worth keeping an eye on the photographer's website for updates on the photos; hey are sure to be brilliant.

Aside from the wedding, Maurice and I got to have some fun of our own. We went haunting the natives on the beach twice (i say haunting because we were so ghostly white that you could almost see through us - both our shirts and skin matched the sand)! We also got to eat at Bubba-Gump Shrimp (the Forest Gump-themed restaurant) on the beach and experience a little of downtown Kona nightlife. Between being mauled by the waves while boogie-boarding and getting scorched by the sun, we had a blast! My favorite moment? Laughing deliriously while Maurice held me to cover my bare skin after the waves knocked everything off my body - not just my sunglasses!

Maurice also got to go hiking on some lava-bound trails on the south side of the island with a few of the the other guys. He said it was life-changing. The father of the bride said he had the best time of his 55-year life. I'm still content knowing that I missed out on nearly being exploded and incinerated by the lava... to watch the bride get her nails done and take a jet-lag reducing nap. :-P