Wedding 3: Julie and Tim

Julie and Tim were married on October 6th, 2008! Julie is one of my most special friends. We met in Hawaii while Corey and her new husband, Tim, were stationed on the USS Los Angeles. I very clearly remember the first night that I met Julie over 2 1/2 years ago. It was in Honolulu's Chinatown in front Murphy's (because for some reason Chinatown has several Irish pubs). She came right up to me and hugged me with a huge smile on her face telling me that she felt like she already knew me. I knew right away that we were a match- she is outgoing, funny and incredibly friendly. She had just begun dating Tim at that time. It became obvious quickly that her and Tim had something serious building. For the next few years, Julie was my best friend in Hawaii. When I was in Oahu every six weeks or so, we would attend our boyfriend's soccer games together, go on hikes, have family dinners at Dave and Buster's, hang out at O'Tooles and spent lots of time building a fabulous friendship. When Corey and Tim were deployed in 2007, Julie and I spoke multiple times per day. We were each other's unofficial support system. On the days when I would call her sobbing, she was there to tell me "Only five more months!" On the days when she couldn't go another day without an email, I was there to tell her, "It's already been six weeks! We have to get a phone call soon!" The fact of the matter is this...I could never have gotten through that deployment without Julie. I took strength from her and we learned that we were super strong warrior princesses by the time it was over! When Corey and I were married in March, Julie made the trip out from Hawaii and stayed at my house. On the morning of the wedding, when I opened my eyes, she was right there to say, "You're getting married today!"

She is so special to me and I was thrilled to be able to travel to her homestate for her wedding. Tim proposed in January and she spent the year planning a Colorado wedding from Hawaii! She wore a beautiful Maggie Sottero gown with a lace-up back and cap sleeves. Her flowers were mixed assortments with a lot of sunflowers. They were married outside under an arch with a beautiful view. They wrote their own tear jerking vows and Julie's sister, Amy, sang two songs. Their reception was at Willow Ridge Manor and was so pretty!

They had grapes and twinkle lights decorating the venue and each table had it's own miniture wedding cake for the centerpiece! Liz and Brian bonded with Julie at my wedding and it was so much fun to be able to attend her wedding with them. We danced for hours and ate delicious stuffed chicken and salmon. We had an all-around fabulous time.

Personally, I could not keep it together. I shed almost as many tears at Julie and Tim's wedding as I did at my own. I can't really explain it other than this: I know what they went through to get to this point. While every wedding is special and every couple must overcome obstacles, their obstacles were so huge and so similar to my own that I was just overcome with love, joy and good wishes for my very special Hawaii friends! I love you both and you deserve all the good things that life can possibly send your way!