From Atlanta, I flew 5 hours west where I spent a day in California visiting and making cookies with my friend Danika. The next day I flew 5 hours further west to the Pacific island state of Hawaii. I took the flight with my friend/ almost sister Carla and her fiance, along with Ellie (her mom) and Manuel (her dad).
We landed on the big island of Hawai’i and stayed in a condo near Kona. The 4th and the 5th were spent exploring downtown and prepping for the wedding.
On the 6th of December, we headed to the beach bright and early where Carla and Joan (her fiance) were taking wedding photos. At 9 o’clock, the ceremony took place. It was very simple and small, but the scenery was beautiful and I could definitely see why people might want a destination wedding. I was so thankful to be a part of Carla’s ceremony, and Joan’s sister and I got to place a lasso around the couple to signify an eternal bond between them.
During the wedding, it started raining softly and continued to rain while we took photos shortly after the ceremony had ended. Not the most ideal, but I have heard that it’s good luck if it rains on your wedding day. Once done we went to brunch and later that night we went to a Luau where we had some traditional Hawaiian cuisine and saw traditional Hawaiian dance.
The next day we went to the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, where we saw the sulfuric vents and the crater of the volcano that erupted in May of 2018. We also went and saw a beautiful waterfall. The day was filled with lots of driving, but it was worth it.
Volcano crater 
Waterfall
We spent the last day hanging out on the beach and then headed back to California.
Sophia's Bella Vita 