Whirlwind wedding weekend.

This past weekend I actually made in appearance in Illinois for the wedding of a good friend from college. Although it was a splurge to fly in for literally just the wedding (to understate it a bit!) it was totally worth it for me. AJ left work early to drop me off at the airport and even stayed so that we could have coffee together before I went through security. My flight was delayed, so we even had a little bit of extra time. Of course, AJ didn't come because of the expense of flying and because it would be too hard for him to get a pass to leave post.

My beautiful friend and her hubby!

And then...things got a little rough. Long story short, my plane was over two hours late taking off because it was overweight. They took seven passengers off, and I suspect all of our luggage because they were carrying something else. After I got into Chicago things got even crazier, when no one's luggage showed up from our city and no one could tell us why. We waited for over two hours because we were told our bags would show up in 20-45 minutes. Finally, someone tells us that our luggage "is not at this location", meaning it was all taken off the plane in our departure location and was never sent. I didn't get to my parents' house until 1:00am. Needless to say, rough day.

Saturday made up for it, though. I got to watch my beautiful friend get married after a two year engagement and enjoyed some coffee with two friends I haven't seen in a very long time (one is from Kansas and transferred after the first semester, so we only see each other once a year). At the reception I got to see even more friends. The whole wedding itself was absolutely perfect, as I knew it would be--that's exactly how my friend is, and she had two years to plan after all! I couldn't believe how nice it was and it was a blast for us guests. Most importantly, though, my friend has begun her marriage solidly rooted in Christ, and their faith was so evident in the whole day. I, meanwhile, am so excited to gain a married friend, even if she does live 2,000 miles away!

Me, Kaitlyn, Megan, and Meg. Freshman roomies. <3

On Sunday I woke up and drove back to the airport with my mom. Although I didn't get to see anyone besides my immediate family (because I slept in their house!), it was nice to see them in person if only for a brief moment. And lucky for us, next week they're coming down for a family vacation!

So here I sit, back in the desert and missing my family and friends again. My visit was way too short. Being an Army wife is still a lonely gig, and I would still rather have had a choice about living near everyone I love--or at least somewhere that is appealing to me. If nothing else, though, I will be busy with school next week, so I won't have time to be lonely (fingers crossed).