Andre + Vicka’s Honolulu Wedding
Vicka and Andre might be one of the nicest couples I have ever met. The first day I met them, we decided to grab coffee and discuss the details of their wedding. This turned into hours of chatting about their long distance relationship, my transition moving to Hawaii, how much we love frozen yogurt, discovering that we are neighbors (yes, they live right down the street), and the firm decision that we should all hang out the very next day for drinks and more laughs. Since then, they have invited Bobby and I over for game nights, tennis matches, and even recycling debates in their hot tub. Needless to say, they have quickly become two of my favorite people. Looking at these photos makes me especially happy because these aren’t just photos of clients… these are photos of my friends.
I was thrilled when Vicka and Andre agreed to do a first-look before the ceremony. We explored Chinatown and happened upon a parade. It turned out to be one of my favorite photographs:
The ceremony was sweet and intimate with their parents and siblings. Oh yeah, and it was on a sailboat!
Flash Back Friday: February 2010, South Korea
Yesterday, I found some posts on my old blog from a trip I took to South Korea back in 2010. They made me smile. Here is one of them:
One night we slept in the apartment of a boy we’d never met. He had moved back to the states but left all of his things there. This made me feel like he was going to walk in at any minute and demand I put his journal down. This thought was the only thing that kept me from reading every single page. There were boxers on the floor, a beer bottle on the bathroom counter, and a creepy portrait of Jesus on the wall right as you walk in the apartment. “If Jesus looked like that, I don’t think I would be a Christian.”
In Seoul, we stayed in a hostel. 3 bunk beds. There were 5 of us and we thought it very unlikely a 6th person would join us. We were wrong. A nice woman from Japan was there to greet us. Well, sort of greet us-she didn’t speak English. At all. We didn’t speak Japanese. At all. This didn’t stop her from telling us all about her day. We stared as she made sounds we’d never heard. Then smiled and nodded our heads agreeingly like you do when you don’t understand someone. We never got her name, so we just called her “Japan”. Japan was somewhere between 22 and 54 years old. I really couldn’t tell.
One night i woke to what i thought was someone speaking in tongues and I have never been more confused in my life. It took me a minute, but my brain cleared and I realized that we were not reliving the day of Pentecost. No, it was just Japan talking in her sleep. What was she saying? Was it about us? Does she walk in her sleep too? What if she tries to get in my bed? Does she KILL in her sleep? Did you see that episode of CSI? My neck was sweating. My heart was pounding. I lay wide awake on my left side with my right arm prepared to jab Japan in the eye if she came within 2 feet. I stayed in this position for what felt like forever. But sometime, somehow I finally fell asleep. When I woke the next morning I shot my eyes across the room to see her empty bed. Not sure if anyone else was awake, I said “WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT?” Turns out, they too lied awake that night listening to Japan and wondering if the Apostle Paul was in her bed. After much debating, we concluded that no, the Apostle Paul was not in Japan’s bed.
I once read a book that said “time waits for no one.” Okay, really i read it last week on a calendar in a Korean bookstore. It was cheesy and cliche and I liked it. I didn’t buy it. But I did think about it. “Time waits for no one”. I wished I’d met you sooner. I wished you would have tried harder. And I wished we would’ve stood there longer. But I didn’t. You didn’t. We didn’t. And it was February 7th, 2010. And I was here and you were there.
We took a 4 hour bus ride from Incheon to Gwangju. The curtains were mint green and the seats were cherry red. I watched an Asian man fall asleep reading the newspaper. He was well dressed. They were all really well dressed. Men in suits. Women in heels. This made me want to start dressing like an adult. A real live adult!
(insert smooth transition here)
A lot happened over the past 17 days. I am still processing so much. I am still taken by beautiful scenes and sights. I still stare at strangers. But now, when I get caught, I don’t look away. I look them in the eyes and smile-they almost always smile back. I don’t really know what I mean by that. But I do know that we’re all just people here. I, of course, already knew this. But seeing the world-the one that exists outside of my own always puts things into a perfect perspective.
And I don’t want to hear techno for a long time.
If you are interested in more of my SoKo ramblings (and why wouldn’t you be?), click here.
saranghae.
Featured in Mississippi Magazine: The Coleman Wedding
I am so excited to see Ashleigh and Josiah’s wedding published in the new Mississippi Magazine. They were one of my favorite couples to work with and their wedding was so inspiring. Cotton ball bouquets, bagpipes, a brunch reception, and so many very lovely people. To view the full article and read more about the fabulous details of the Coleman wedding, click here.
Here’s to the New Year.
I didn’t eat as many vegetables as I planned on. No one has accused me of being a “better person”. I still watch Jerry Springer when no one is around. I have to lay on the floor in order to button my favorite pair of jeans. I failed miserably at blogging everyday. I was late for 97% of the plans I made. One time I cried at the airport because my luggage weighed too much and then I cried at security because the lady made me take my cardigan off. I haven’t flossed since July…. TMI? I didn’t make a quilt or learn calligraphy. I have yet to master the awkward art of mingling. I have a staring problem. But I’m so aware of it that I overcompensate by never making eye contact. Ever. Oh, and I’m still not rich.
I may not have been the person I promised 2011 that I would be. But this past year was so good to me. I spent my days traveling the world and taking its photograph. I met some strangers along the way who quickly turned into my very dear friends. I learned how to play chess. I laughed really loud. I beat Bobby in Words With Friends ( like 8 times, but who’s counting?). I went to Hawaii for the first time in March. Oh, and then I decided to move there in December. Did I not tell you I moved to Hawaii? No big deal.
As for 2012, I want to make Honolulu feel like home. Free sweet tea, my place- be there. I want to write more, hand written letters and fill the pages of my journal. I want to document everything. I want to remember these days. Because they are so good. And the ones that aren’t, the ones that are heavy and terrible, they are worth remembering also. Because it’s those days, who make me who I am: A normal girl, average build, decent personality, incapable of playing sudoku or driving a stick shift but unwilling to accept anything less than an absolutely breathtaking 2012 (and so on and so on.)
Cheers!
