When I was in high school, my best friend (Ann Marie) and her sister (Carolyn) introduced me to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. It is a small-ish city in the mountains of northern Mexico, filled with the most beautiful views, architecture, and people : ) We went down for several weeks a couple of summers in a row to volunteer at a free daycare for single mamas called Casa de Los Angeles. You should definitely check out their website for more information on this beautiful place!! I will spare you a SUPER long post about the daycare because I could go on and on about how wonderful of an organization it is!!

I mentioned on Instagram that when we were there as high school girls, Ann Marie and I would joke about how we wanted to come back some day with our husbands ; ) Little did we know that almost a decade later, we would get to live out this little dream of ours! I know I can speak for both of us in saying that we feel SO thankful to God for how He has continuously woven our stories together and blessed us with not only many amazing memories as neighbors-turned-best-friends growing up, but now also with our husbands and growing families!!

Ann Marie’s sister, Carolyn, moved to San Miguel for a year after college to work as the Volunteer Coordinator for Casa de Los Angeles. While there, she met David … and the rest is history : ) The opportunity to go back to San Miguel came when Carolyn and David got engaged and chose David’s hometown of San Miguel as their wedding location!! I was SO excited to get to bring Caleb to a city that stole my heart so many years ago!! Below you will see some scrapbook pages I made in high school for a project about my time in San Miguel!!

As we were driving to San Miguel from the airport last week, Caleb turned to me and said, “I can’t believe your parents let you girls come here by yourselves as just high school teenagers! Crazy but awesome.” I couldn’t agree more — now, as we think about having kids in the future, it does seem a bit scary to just send them off to Mexico to volunteer somewhere you have never been without adult chaperones or anything like that, but I am SO glad they did. I am so thankful that our parents trusted us and gave us that opportunity as young women because I can confidently say that it only further ignited all of our individual desires to learn more about and travel the world. Each of us has lived or spent a significant amount of time overseas since our high school years.

Throughout our week in San Miguel, I cannot tell you how many times Carolyn and David thanked everyone for coming from so far to celebrate with them. I have to say though, WE are the ones who have Carolyn and David to thank for inviting US to San Miguel! It was SUCH a special and unique experience to be surrounded by the same 50ish people for a week, sharing in fiesta after fiesta, exploring the city together, and celebrating a couple that we all love so much!

San Miguel has the most beautiful architecture — here is just a small sampling of some of the doors!

It is a very creative community with LOTS of local artists!! David is actually a jewelry maker! Another display of creativity is shown in the extensive murals found on nearly every city wall : )

I am mixing iPhone photos with “real” camera photos throughout this post ; )

One of the BEST parts of the trip was spending 5 days with these guys that we love SO much!! Since they currently live in San Diego for Jared’s navy doctor residency, any time we get with them is SO special <3

One day, we explored the nearby town of Atotonilco! So quaint and cute : )

In the center of town is a church fondly named the “Sistine Chapel of Mexico” : )

And this is the daycare! Where Carolyn and David hosted their rehearsal dinner gathering : )

Views from the daycare! Just stunning!!

The church where Carolyn and David got married is absolutely breathtaking! Here are some quick iPhone snaps I took before (and just ONE during) the ceremony ; )

After the ceremony, it is Mexican tradition to gather outside the church for the Callejoneada! This is where everyone follows the bride and groom, walking through the streets to the music of a mariachi band! There is a donkey carrying tequila for guests to drink during the parade and as you can see in the photo below, there are large “muppet” replicas of the couple that also lead the parade! Everyone dances and cheers and I love that this tradition includes the entire community as the wedding party and guests dance through the streets!!

This view of the entire city is from the rooftop of our friend’s Air BNB!! Isn’t it amazing?!?!?!? Everything is centered around the church!

On our last night in the city, while exploring and taking some photos, we randomly happened to witness a proposal! I LOVE that our excitement and passion for marriage just seems to follow us everywhere ; )!!! Cannot wait to send these to this sweet couple!!