Wedding, Hawaii, and Baseball, Mon

EDIT: I'm now realizing that I already posted about Alesa's wedding, but apparently it was just so much fun that it's showing up in two blogs. The good news? More pictures.


Oh hey y'all.

One of my best friends Alesa got married on May 16^th in Knoxville. Tommy got to come with me and we both had a blast. Got boxed out during that bouquet toss, so hold on to your pants, people. (Looking at pictures now has me realizing that I didn't even lift my arms. My bad).

That's me on the far left. Oops.

I’ve always said Tommy and I’s relationship reminds me of Alesa and Kevin, mainly in the way that I’m chatty and have basically no boundaries and Tommy just patiently lets me babble.

All of that to say, it was such a wonderful time being home and spending time with my favorite Knoxville people.

Trying not to trip

Dream team back together. Love you guys.

#romantic

Mom came to visit for about two days before I left for Hawaii, and we basically just had girl time. We actually got to go see a cool Bible exhibit called Passages, which, ironically, had a bunch of replicas of things my mom, had just seen in person in Israel. #KellyWins I always wish I had more time with her, but I had Hawaii to look forward to, so that made leaving her easier than usual. Or at least that’s what I told myself.

Oh, Hawaii. I went on vacation to Maui with the Knapp family and it was SO much fun. It was my first time there, so I was determined to get into the culture and act like a local, which basically means I bought a Hawaiian shirt and hair flower at Walgreens and wore them all week.

I also decided my mantra for the week would be a combination of  “Island time, mon” and “Hawaii, mon”, which is distinctly Jamaican. The Knapps were alternately amused and alarmed at my commitment to my mantras.

#HawaiiMon

We went on zip lining, jet skiing, surfing, and snow cone eating adventures that resulted in a very happy Annie. Zip lining was really cool, especially since all the other zip lining I’ve done on vacations didn’t involve views of the Pacific Ocean and guides who should have their own comedy show.

For those of you who haven’t been to Hawaii, the beach and water actually reminded me a lot of Florida. But there’s more grass near the beach and you’re laying on cabanas on the beach looking at two other islands. And wearing Hawaiian shirts and shell necklaces is semi-acceptable. Aka Hawaii is fun.

Jet skiing - the water looks deceptively calm here

This wasn't posed

He's rethinking our relationship.

What happened after Hawaii, you ask? I took a red eye to a resort in Austin, TX where we celebrated my grandfather’s 75^th birthday.  The important thing you need to know about that weekend was that I got to see Addison and that my father and I had an ongoing competition of who could hog Addison more. Jury’s still out on who won (I did).  The other important thing you need to know is that I don’t remember much else because I was so jet lagged/sleep deprived.

All my favorite girls

My parents have been traveling to the Middle East quite a bit this summer (Israel and Turkey).  Needless to say, that has made me preeettttyyy nervous, but they’ve returned safe both times, so I’m a happy camper.  On a related note, I discovered a few weeks ago that Istanbul is, in fact, a city in Turkey. Not a country.  Geography has never been my strong point.

Cool side note: My dad had been to every continent except Antarctica. Claps for Richard.

My family is currently at the beach in Florida, so you can imagine how bitter I am about missing Addison at the ocean. My family is about to delete me from their lives after all the incessant requests for Addison videos and pictures.

Tommy and I went to a Dodgers game on Tuesday and it was FUN. Contrary to what Thomas said on all his social media posts, he caught the baseball during batting practice, not me. We also got the privilege of watching a large man reach so low over the wall to catch a ball that he fell on his face. Literally, he landed on his face. Cole Hamels (one of the pitchers for the Phillies) just walked over, handed him a ball, patted him on the back, and walked away. Bless.

Tommy and I also got on the jumbotron. No, it wasn’t on the kissing cam. We actually sang like the first 4 lines  of Take Me Out to the Ballgame on camera, so we’re basically famous. Also, Colin Farrell was at the game, so he’s officially set eyes on me. Autographs later.

I have a bunch of friends about to visit me including Molly Taylor (one of my best friends from Knoxville), Jane Alice Moore (one of my best friends from Samford), and Kelsey Drennan (my senior year roommate/soulmate).  There’s no telling what craziness we’re going to get ourselves into, so brace yourselves.

Differences between Malibu and the South

o   Snails are everywhere. For those of you that think stepping on cockroaches is the worst possible thing to happen, you’re wrong. Stepping on snails is worse. And then after you step on a snail, you find like 8 more snails that decide to eat the dead snail. THEY EAT THEIR OWN. #no

o   There aren’t many flying bugs in Malibu, I guess because of the breeze. Can’t say I miss the mosquitos.

o   Famous people like Colin Farrell are casual fans in the stands at sporting events on a random Tuesday

o   Weather is in the mid/upper 70s and sunny all the time with basically no humidity. I ended up chatting with the woman I order contacts from yesterday afternoon and by the end of the conversation I had convinced her to move here. It wasn’t hard.

I love you all and if you're reading this, that means you need to come visit me.

I'm continuously thankful for God's faithfulness in the middle of the uncertainty of grad school, being an adult, and living a couple thousand miles away from my family and friends, and thankful for a God that is quick to forgive my missteps and quick to love me regardless.