Bridal Shower!

The wedding is almost here! I cannot believe it is already December! I've been planning this wedding since January 2014. Nearly 1 year! In the beginning, it never bothered me that I was in another country while planning my wedding. If anything, it was exciting as I entertained myself with the idea of being with family and friends again. It wasn't until last month when I started to feel feelings of regret. I regretted being here because I wanted to be with my best friends for the little things. A bridal shower for example. I want my best friends that I've known since kindergarten to be there for that. It feels so unnatural any other way.
So a few of my girls decided to have an all girls brunch. I thought nothing of it. Especially since we always get together on the weekends regardless. My good friend Elana told me she wanted to carpool together and told me she would be at my house at 11:30am. At around 11:35 she came to pick me up. I thought it was odd because she was so punctual (trust me, being 5 minutes late isn't late at all! People here are always late. Island time!). As we pulled up to my girlfriend Jenny's house, I noticed so many cars out front. I thought it was so odd because a lot of people don't know Jenny yet, so I was surprised at the big turn out. I even commented, "Look Elana, Kelly is here! And Cindy too! Wow. Lots of people are coming for brunch today!" I barged in the door (without knocking) and was instantly surrounded by all of my friends blurting out, "SURPRISE!!!" The entire house was decorated in a Winter Wonderland theme, which is hilarious in itself because Samoa does NOT have a cold winter.. ever! There was Christmas music playing and everyone all dressed up with mimosas. I was so surprised I actually blurted out, "SORRY!" because I thought I was interrupting someone's nice party! They all laughed and told me it was my surprise bridal shower party. I couldn't help but to immediately start crying. I absolutely adored this!!! It was like the girls could read my mind a month ago when I was feeling so down and regretful. This was quite possibly one of the nicest most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. I instantly reprimanded myself for ever wishing I was elsewhere. This is where I'm supposed to be. Even though I love and miss my old life. My new life here has it's ups and downs, but at that exact moment of being utterly surprised, I thought to myself: I wouldn't want to be anywhere else! <3