A Marriage: Being Old Part Deux

Last Friday one of my very best friends in the world got married!

It was so exciting, and it means that I have officially started a new phase in my life -- 

the one where my CLOSE friends start getting married and having babies. 

WOOO--EEEE! That's huge!

That's the being-old-part of this post, but to tell the truth there was so much anticipation for the day and so much pure joy on the day that the being old part quickly lost importance!

So here's a look at the festivities:

MANICURES AND PEDICURES:

In preparation for Darcee's big day/her bridals -- Darc and I went to get our nails done.

This marks the second time I've ever got my nails done -- both times were with Darcee -- what a blessing to have her in my life! :)

Getting her nails shellaced!

My pedicure!

DARCEE'S LAST DAY IN THE SINGLE'S WARD!

Darcee and I took this picture because it was High-Heels-Sunday and we were rocking our heels, but also because Darcee had forever graduated from the Single's Wards! - She's an old married lady now!

Please note the rocking heels!

FINALS WEEK/WEDDING PREP:

Darcee's family showed up and moved her out of our humble abode, and that's when things started getting really, really real! It was so crazy! We also had a huge baking party to make the treats for the reception. Darcee's awesome family did all the food and decorations for her reception, so we as her friends and roommates helped out with the desserts.

Unfortunately, the week leading up to her wedding was also finals week for me -- so I was super focused on memorizing a sonnet from Shakespeare and getting ready for my oral exam in my parenting class. Both went pretty well, but I was sad that I couldn't be more help!

Thursday night Alexa and Matt showed up on my door and it was fun to catch up with those two love-birds!

THE WEDDING DAY!

 Darcee's family recruited us as babysitters so we woke up early -- got all dolled up and headed off to the temple in our purple attire.  We ended up with about 15 kids! Chelsea handled the bathroom trips and changing a few of the kids, while Lex and I played with the kiddies.  We played red light green light, went on a reverent walk, colored, and had a talent show! They were so sweet and they were all super match-y, so it was fun to be associated with them for the duration of the sealing!

Then we waited for FOREVER for sweet Darcee to come on out. While we waited we did some impromptu photo-shoots:

If only Darcee could have been in this with us!

These two are next!

When Darcee came out of the temple -- she looked lovely! I was so excited to see Stephen and Darcee looking so happy. You could just tell how much they loved each other!

I was privileged enough to get to live with Darcee this summer, and living with her gave me the opportunity to again realize why Darcee's amazing! While Chelsea and I were helping making cookies for the reception, we started playing "Why We Love Darcee..."

Here are just a few of the reasons I love that girl:

1. She is the most generous person EVER. Darcee is always willing to help you out and sacrifice a little herself to help you do what you need to do! 
2. She is also very encouraging, by making you feel like you're good at things! Darcee always makes it seems like you're doing a fantastic job.  I really enjoyed feeling like I was equal with her in whatever we were doing - even though we both in knew our hearts that she could blow me out the water at it! 
3. She is very tactful and good at listening. In our YEARS and YEARS of friendship, we had to talk about some tough stuff or some awkward stuff, and Darcee is really good at doing that.  She can listen for hours and then give a really good opinion/new point of view to help you see the problem in a new way.

These are just my top 3 but there a billion more -- trust me. If I didn't get to know Stephen this summer, and see how happy those two are together, I almost wouldn't believe that someone was good enough for my sweet, sweet friend/roommate/soul sister, but I did get to know Stephen and I did get to see how happy they are, so instead I just feel ecstatic that Darcee gets to be so happy! :)