DC Trip

A few weeks ago, my friend called me to tell she had a temple date - March 9th - the same day Bryce proposed a year ago! Shalee was getting married in the DC temple and I wanted to be there so badly. I quickly got online and Southwest had pretty reasonable prices so I started getting plans lined up! I was able to get the time off work and then my second family, the Canann's, offered me a place to stay.

Bryce took me to the airport on Friday afternoon with enough time for my phone interview (more on that story later) before I boarded the plane. Then I usually sleep on flights, but this time I was sitting by two chatty guys and one was LDS so I joined in the conversation too. I finally landed in Baltimore around 11:30pm EST and took the shuttle to the rental car place. I told the rental car guy that I wanted something "fun" but with my economy selection it turned out being more of a "hot wheels" kind of fun...behold the FIAT.

Getting into my toy car, I headed to Virginia arriving at the Canann's around 1:30am. Thankfully, they have the quietest garage door so I didn't have to make too much noise getting in so late. It felt almost like coming home because I lived with them for a summer and I got to stay in the same room as before so I called Bryce and then headed to bed.

Saturday morning, I got up at 8:30am, which didn't feel like sleeping in because it was only 5:30am PST. I then got ready and talked to the family for a little bit. I left for the 10:45 and arrived at the temple at 11:25 about five minutes after the time on the invitation. I quickly got into the temple, which is huge, and got a little nervous being late when they couldn't find a sealing for "Cropper"! But upon a second check, they found it and someone showed me where to go because the temple is  HUGE! I made it up the 6th floor, and was surprised how empty it was for a Saturday, causing my panic to continued that maybe I had read the time wrong on the invitation. I found a guy in the sealing room and asked where I should go for the Cropper sealing and he directed me to this waiting room. There were 4 other people in the room, but no one I recognized. After waiting 15 minutes, I really started to worry that I somehow had either missed or was missing the sealing. A few minutes later the 4 other people left the room and I was the only one there! About five minutes later, the 4 people returned and asked if I was there for the Miles and Cropper sealing...I was! And so were they! They were there for the groom and were the singles ward bishopric and I told them how Shalee and I had been friends since the 4th grade and I flown out from Portland. One of the men asked where since he had a daughter in the Lake Oswego ward! My ward and I knew his daughter because I worked with her husband and we are neighbors. SMALL WORLD!

Anyways, now that I knew I was in the right place and had not missed the sealing I relaxed and then the Cropper clan showed up. It was so fun seeing them all. It has been years since I had seen some of her siblings and I met for the first time her brother's wife. It was such a fun reunion and made all the sweeter being in the temple to see Shalee get married. The sealing was lovely and Shalee looked so happy. After we took pictures and enjoyed the beautiful day!

Side Note: As everyone got there for the sealing, I noticed that I was the only one not wearing black. Shalee forgot to mention that I was a bridesmaid and that I was suppose to wear black. Luckily, silver and green were her other colors so I wasn't completely out of it.

After pictures, I went with Shalee's family to a French restaurant for a quick lunch before the reception. We then all headed up to Pennsylvania for the reception, which was a lot farther than I expected. The reception was very nice and pretty low key. I was able to talk a lot with Shalee's family and also meet Shalee's husband, who is very nice! Then after the bride and groom left, I headed back to Virginia.

I got back to the Canann's around 9:30pm and was able to stay hello to Sarah and Logan! We all then headed to bed because it was day lights saving and they have church at 8:30am....sick! So Sunday, I woke up early and got ready. I am very happy to report that I was not only ready on time, but early! I got to eat breakfast with the family. Then we went to church and it was fun because I went with Sarah to her Sunday School and Young Womens classes. I don't think I fooled anyone that I was young enough for the class, but it was fun.

Sarah and I have twinner blue little cars, but she would definitely win if we race!

We then got home from church and Julie was home! We talked while we made and ate lunch Then after dinner, Emma really wanted to make a music video and I was able to find some adrenaline to  keep going. We went on a bike ride to find filming locations and it actually worked out pretty well. We then came home for dinner and then started editing the clips. Sarah was able to help me and we got it done around 11:00PM. Of course, we then had to say our goodbyes because I was leaving at 3AM to fly home.

Monday, I woke up after sleeping about 2 hours and headed to the airport. The roads were great between 3AM and 4AM! I then returned the car and got to the airport before it even opened. My flight from Baltimore to Denver is a complete blur and I just remember someone yelling when we landed and it freaked me out. My flight from Denver to Portland was good and I actually was pretty awake. I was also sitting next to another LDS member and that made it fun. Finally, I got back to Portland and my friend, Brittany, picked me and took me home. I had to quickly showered and head to work feeling quite exhausted, but it was a great weekend and all worth!