From South Carolina, Michael and I made our way to the beautiful island of Coronado, off the coast of San Diego, for Michael’s oldest sister – Christy – and TJ’s wedding.

But first, let me back up a little bit…to December 2010.  Michael and I were in Phoenix for Christmas.  Christy was single and ready to mingle.  So, in the most tactful way possible, I tried to encourage her to get on Match.com as a way to meet new people.  One month later, Michael & I received the following email from Christy, “So I thought about what Ashley said and bit the bullet and went on Match.com. I now have a couple dates lined up….if this fails I am hunting u down.”  Thankfully for me, Christy and TJ, this did NOT fail and she met the love of her life.  🙂
**Apologies if you heard this story at their wedding, but it’s the closest thing I have to a matchmaking success, so I want to take full credit.**

Anyway, ever since Christy was a little girl, she knew that she wanted to get married on the beach in Coronado.  In fact, I think she says that she has had the whole thing planned since she was about 12 (which actually proved to be quite helpful since Christy and TJ were only engaged for 7 months and didn’t have a ton of time to plan).

Last Christmas, Christy & TJ handed out cards to all of the kids asking us to be in their wedding.  I was so honored to be a bridesmaid, Shannon & Lise were co-maids of honor, Joe was a groomsman and played music at the ceremony, and Michael was the OFFICIANT!  A major honor with a lot of pressure!  But he did an absolutely beautiful job.  The entire weekend was spectacular, so let me get to it!

Wednesday night out:

Family dinner at the Brig!

Thursday, Rehearsal Dinner:

Rehearsal Dinner at Il Fornaio!

Friday, Wedding Day:

Beautiful Bridal Bouquet – I love that Christy chose to use the same family brooch on her bouquet that I had on mine when Michael & I got married!

straight gorge. as in, gorgeous.

photo opp with the hot wedding officiant

Parents of the bride looking quite dapper! Side Note: Sharon bought her FAB dress at Gloria Coelho in Brazil!

With the beautiful bride!

Sweet moment. Sharon getting seated by her two, handsome boys.

Here comes the bride! And her proud daddy…

Michael the officiant!

Ty, the ring bearer.

The new Mr. & Mrs. Harp! (yes – Christy only needed to drop the “er” from her last name)

The Harpers love the “crazy” shot. Although Sharon seems to have missed the memo. 😉

Dinner Time!  Reception at the Loews.

A very lovely toast from Ollie.

Wedding cake with two HARPs on top.

Two of my fav girls! Elizabeth & Shannon

Party time – Ashley & Joe

I just love this one. Sharon & Father Eddie Reese on the dance floor!

Wishing you a lifetime of love & joy, Christy & TJ!!

God has been so good to us here and in His grace, He balanced out lasts week’s “adventures & accomplishments” from my last post with a lot of fun and joy too.

On Tuesday our friends Trent and Paige invited Michael and me over for dinner at their apartment.  Paige did make-your-own pizzas that were out of this world.  The crusts were made from nan bread dough (amazing) and then there were toppings for days.  They have a friend who is currently living with them right now so we got to meet her and her boyfriend as well as one of their upstairs neighbors and dear friends.  It was tons of fun and we loved getting to know them better.

Thursday night Michael and I met up for beers after (his) work at a neighborhood spot called Vaca Veia.  Michael happend to go here with Joe when he visited SP last year and loved it.  He was so happy when he realized it was just a few blocks from our apartment.  It serves the coldest beer around.

Friday night we cabbed across the city to Jeff & April’s apartment in Perdizes.  Due to traffic this 20 min drive took three times as long.  And, we happened to pull up at their place literally 3 minutes after a storm had just rolled in.  Now when it storms here – especially during the summer – it’s like, a storm.  A tropical STORM.  Out of nowhere, raindrops the size of cannonballs.  Usually they come and go within an hour, but you do NOT want to be outside when they hit.  Anyway, we proceeded to get DRENCHED in the 20 feet that we walked from the cab to their building.  But these are just details.  The night only got better from there.  April had made tons of great appetizers and her own version of sangria (which was yummmm).  Suzanna and Jeff Jones were there as well so we hung out for a while and then headed out to a neighborhood espeto place, Casa de Espeto.

Jeff & April Yurecko

Suzanna & Jeff Jones

Here, everything comes on espetos (like kababs) and they just constantly come by offering you more food.  If you take something, they write it down on your card and you pay at the end.  We had everything from sausages, steak and chicken to grilled mozzarella and other cheeses to hearts of palm and zucchini…all on a stick.  But the highlight was, of course… CHICKEN HEARTS!  I actually thought that they were mushrooms but the waitress explained that no, these were “corazãos de frango.”  You would think this would be a deterrent but she seemed so genuinely excited about them and nodded her head, insisting that I try them.  So what else was I supposed to do?  Shockingly, they were actually NOT very tasty in my opinion, but I had two, just for the experience.  Everyone at the table actually partook, except for April who insisted that she had already had her share before.

Appetizing...?

Despite the gross chicken hearts, it was a great time.  Live music, perfect company, and otherwise delicious food.  After dinner we headed back to the Yureckos for a lively game of…FARKLE.  Farkle was a first for Michael and me (although we are pretty certain that we actually own the game as well), however I can assure you that it will not be our last run with Farkle.  It was a long, hard-fought game but after an incredible come-back, April came out with the win.  

woohoo!

Saturday Michael and I walked around looking at apartments.  Actually, more like looking at apartment buildings, trying to talk doormen, and collecting phone-numbers of real estate brokers to call.  That evening we tried a neighborhood sushi spot, Temakaria, and it was honestly some of the best sushi I’ve EVER had.  Joe met up with us there and then we grabbed a drink at another spot to catch up with him.  So nice having family here!!

Sunday we checked out another church.  Our 4th so far.  We have gone to 2 Brazilian, Portuguese speaking churches and 2 International, English speaking churches.  All of them have been great in different ways, but we’re not sure yet where God is calling us.  For now we are going to keep trying and try some again and continue to pray for direction in that.  It’s hard for us not to miss City Church but we trust that God will lead us to a new church family here.

Anyway, we feel super blessed by all of the warmth, kindness, friendship and hospitality that has been offered to us here, and we are having FUN checking out this new place!