March has come and gone and if I could sum it up in two words I’d say “adventures and adjustments.”
In the first part of the month, my two girlfriends Jess and Emily were here for 10 days, which threw life out of whack in the best way way possible. We spent 3 days in Kruger National Park and 4 in Cape Town. It was the best time, filled with lots of laughs, wine and memories. (Don’t worry, I will post about our travels in detail later!) I really couldn’t have asked for more.
Then they left, leaving me with a mixture of sadness and homesickness. It didn’t really help that Jono left for Cape Town with his friends the day after they left. I was home alone. It was quiet…very, very quiet. So I did what I normally do and threw myself into some freelance projects. I also spent as much time as I could with my friend Mandy. I even treated myself to a mani/pedi.
But as it usually does, quiet soon turned to crazy. Our friends Mark and Shauna told us they were getting married…in 13 days. Mark has been Jono’s best friend for the past 10 years and has been our roommate for the past 8 months. Shauna is a gorgeous, fun and sweet girl. Jono and I actually, kind of owe our relationship to Shauna. She was visiting Mark from Zimbabwe it was her last night in town. Of course she wanted to go out and celebrate, so she pushed Jono, who was happy to stay home, to go out that night to the Square Grouper. It was October 17, 2009, the night we met. Had it not been for Shauna we may still be searching for each other!
Mark and Shauna have been on and off for 8 years and have tried to tie the knot twice already, so when Mark told us they were getting hitched on April Fools day, we were a tiny bit skeptical. We joked that we hoped we wouldn’t show up to the most epic April Fools joke of all time. But the timing just worked out. Shauna’s whole family was in town (they live between South Africa, the UK and Zimbabwe, so it’s a tough family to get together), Shauna’s bestie Mandy is here, and of course Jono and I are here.
Jono was the best man, so it was an eventful week that included a “non-bacherlotte” party, a bachelors party that consisted of Mark dressing up in the most ridiculous pink fairy princess (that I proudly helped Jono pick out) and Mark breaking his foot in three places during the early hours of Sunday morning.
But the date and boot on Mark’s foot aside, it was a seriously lovely wedding day. They are a beautiful couple and you can tell that they are truly happy together. I wish them all the best as they begin their lifelong journey together as partners in life! Cheers!
Shauna looked stunning, the venue was breathtaking, the food and drinks were a flowing, and friends were all around! Jono gave his best man speech without a hitch, and after that we all relaxed a little bit. I learned a little Afrikaans langarm dance, which I think I’ll leave to Mel and Dean! No one will argue with me when I say I have two left feet, but it was fun to have a little laugh.
The happy couple!
At the end of the night Jono requested our first wedding dance. He can be sweet sometimes.
So that brings us to April, which I have a feeling is going to be our month of transition. Mark is moving out of the apartment and into Shauna’s, meaning we can’t afford rent, which means we are coming back home sooner than we thought. I have to be honest, I’m okay with it. I feel like our time here is coming to a close – in a good way. More on that in another post!