10 Years

Alright, I just blogged about my actual High School Reunion.

But that got me thinking....

10 years.

Since High School.

And what do I have to show for it?

Hmmm....

Okay, here goes...

here's what I've done since High School,

in no particular order

and truly only to proof that I have not wasted a decade of my life:

1. Survived on gelato alone.

2. Slept in a castle.

3. Ran a marathon.

4. Read the Bible- Cover to Cover.-On my Bucket List.

5. Graduated from BYU.

6. Taught school in Mexico.

7. Studied theater in London.

8. Watched the sunset from the Eiffel Tower.

9. Fallen in love.

10. Broken my heart...over and over again.

11. Hiked Camelback- hey it was a big deal to me! Haha.

12. Started a blog.

13. Fulfilled my dream of becoming a teacher.

14. Taught 4th, 6th and 8th grade.

15. Quit teaching with no other prospects.

16. Lived in UT, AR, FL, AZ and DC

17. Walked the streets of Morocco

18. Paid off my car.

19. Became Debt Free!

20. Made some of my dearest, sweetest and lifelong friends.

21. Fallen in love with the job I never knew, I always wanted.

22. Became an Aunt, twice over.

23. Backpacked Europe solo (much more fun with friends I must say)

24. Been a bridesmaid...many times over...

25. Flown coast to coast in 24 hours for weddings (they're important)

26. Become almost nearly an equal in my big brother's eyes- still trying Nathan!

27. Been a U2 groupie

28. Held fast to my faith and standards in a world bent on destroying them.

Wow, well there you have it.

Figured I'd stop at 28, since, well, that's my age.

I may not have the career or the family life I thought I'd have at this point...

But my life has been blessed and I wouldn't trade the last 10 years for anything.

Here's to the adventures of the next decade!

Reunion in Florida

10 years ago I graduated from high school.

10 years.

Woah.

Think I'll have to do a whole other post on that.

Anyhow, so yes there was a Reunion and yes Tiffany and I made our way home for it.

The weekend was absolutely perfect.

So perfect we both cried and didn't want to leave.

I love this girl and I love this town.

Home sweet Home.

In front of Durant. 10 years later, still BFF.
Visiting Sarah and Baby Harlow!
Only one month old and she is just too precious.

Tiffany and I out to dinner with the girls from high school.

A little Pre-Reunion festivities.

Ladies of Durant. Oh how I love them!

Melissa and the boys came down for the weekend as well.

Which was just the cherry on top of the already perfect weekend.

This kid is just too cute.

See those curls!! Baby Clyde melts my heart.

We played by the pool all day.

The Novaks were the greatest hosts- as always.

Seriously so wonderful to have them in my life.

I love you Novaks!!

Heading out to the Reunion.

After an emergency shopping trip, apparently my previous outfit was unacceptable.

I'm not bitter.

Haha.

And yes, it looks like we're going to prom together.

More Prom Shots!

Which is even funnier considering Tiff and I did actually go to prom together!

Best. Date. Ever.

Me and Shelley.

Sunshine in my life.

Jenny St. Martin aka Jenny Morgan.

So great to catch up with her.

She's going places and I told her I'd show this picture to everyone,

proving I knew her back in the day,

before she won her Tony.

It's all you girl. I have faith.

Me and Cortney.

Such a great friend. Seriously.

Get back up her and visit me Cortney!

We really do have fun together.

So grateful for good friends.

Tiffany catching up with old friends.

Me and Becky! Homeroom Buddies!

I haven't seen this lady since HS.

So fun to catch up.

New friend and I already adore her.

Amanda's baby girl Calleigh.

Woke up early just to meet this little lady.

Totally worth it.

Lt. Dan!

Haha. Baby Clyde was cracking us up.

He crawls like this all over the place.

Never seen anything like it.

Too stinking cute.

Awkward Family Photos!

We were laughing so hard.
Vince is out of control.

Awww...family.

I love this picture.

It was such a perfect weekend.

Being home with family and Tiffany and the Novaks and good friends.

I can honestly say that it was the first time in a very long time, that I truly did not want to get on the plane to come home.

Florida has my heart.

That is just the way it is.

I heart FL.

LOST in Heaven

On the way back from Guam, I had a whole day in Hawaii.

There were only 2 things I wanted to do:

1. LOST Tour

2. See Wheeler and the old neighborhood.

Well I had done some research and found that tours left from Kualoa Ranch and so I headed there bright and early Friday morning. My colleague Nick came with me- he is also a big LOSTie.

To my total despair...the tours were booked. I honestly almost started crying I was so frustrated. I kept it together and began to wander the store aimlessly. Out of nowhere one of the LOST tour guides comes up to me (and he was totally adorable fyi) and says how bad he feels that we can't get in a tour and says he can give us a few sites that we could drive to. I was ecstatic and we busted out a map and he gave us the 4 BEST sites for a LOST fan to see (one of which you'll learn they don't even see on the tour-AWESOME).

The moutains at the Kualoa Ranch where they did quite a bit of filming.
Walking towards our first site: the beach where the survivors camped from Seasons 2-4. Also known as Papailoa Beach.

The LOST beach!

Their campsite!! There was nothing left but a "Private Property" sign and an orange fence. But you can tell it's their site!!

The view from their site. Gorgeous ocean!

Another shot of their campsite. It was so awesome to be there.

Just a little proof that I was in fact there :)

2nd Site: The beach where they filmed the plane crash!

The original site of the Pilot episode! Also known as Mokuleia Beach.

Crash Beach.

Reveling in this memory. Oh LOST how I'll miss you!3rd Site: Dharmaville!

Kept searching for the Dharma Initiative.

All we found were YMCA kids.

Dharmaville = Camp Erdman.

Which I stayed at when I was in 3rd grade and living in Hawaii!

We did an overnight field trip there. How awesome is that?!

Yes...it is true...the 4th site: The Chapel where the Finale was filmed!!

Also known as Sacred Hearts Academy.

Just sitting in the same place Ben was in the finale when Hurley came out to see if he was ready.

The door Hurley came out of to speak to Ben.

"You made a good number two."

Statue of Christ and Chapel shown in the Finale.

Alright so here's where this experience is going to blow your mind... Nick and I tried the door at the Chapel, it was of course locked. Well I wasn't going to leave it at that... the chapel is connected to a school and there were people still around. We walked into the administrative building and I just asked the first person I saw if there was any way of getting into the Chapel. She seemed confused and I explained that we were big nerds and fans of LOST and had heard the finale was filmed inside. She smiled and laughed and then went to get the woman in charge. Haha. The woman in charge turned out to be one of the greatest ladies ever...she totally opened the door and then told us about how the Locations people had contacted her and checked out the site. It was the highlight of my day...week..year..wow, maybe even my life! :)

The door to Heaven!!

Opening the same door Christian did!!

And there's even light coming in!

Does it get any better?!

The Chapel and Pews where everyone was sitting together.

I could almost feel them!

Just taking my seat at the pews where everyone else sat.

LOVE IT!

Isn't it beautiful?!

All in all it was the best tour I could have ever asked for. I mean it was lightyears better than the organized one we would've done. No one else has been inside the chapel since the filming! It's not a part of the tour. Andrea (the school lady) said she didn't even notice the tours coming by outside. Oh it was just amazing. I am still giddy over it.

I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E.

Trip down Memory Lane

I'm a military brat.

I've moved a few times and home seems to be wherever we are for the moment. That being said, Florida truly is my home, however, the actual House that is the home I constantly reflect on is located on a little island named Oahu.

Our house on Wheeler AAF is the last home where my entire family lived, before the boys went off to college, before everything changed. Even now, when I have dreams of my family it is in this house.

So during my one day in Hawaii I made sure to check out the House and the old neighborhood, it brought up so many memories I nearly got a little choked up.

Funny how sentimental we can be.

The Box.

During my last year in Hawaii, I was friends with Rachel, Elizabeth and Shelley. We all lived within seconds of each other-literally. However, we met at this box which was pretty much smack dab in the middle of our houses. We spent many an afternoon chatting on this thing.

The only thing that would have made this moment better, were if all 4 of us were there. Someday.

My Street.
The Mango Tree beside our house.
I remember it being huge and it still is!
The reason I cannot eat mangoes to this day...once you've had to pick up a million smashed ones in your yard, they somehow lose their appeal.
The alley behind our house.
This shed wasn't there when we lived there, a basketball hoop was instead.
A basketball hoop where my brother Nathan taught me to play and where we girls spent hours shooting around and sitting on a stool (I almost thought we'd find that stool still there) shooting the breeze.
Our street.

619 Sperry Loop.

Our House.

I took a million other pictures, which I'll just keep to myself, but it really was so wonderful to be able to touch this place.

As silly as it sounds, I heard this Country song by Miranda Lambert on the way and it was absolutely speaking to me.

As I was standing here for this picture I remembered there was a picture nearly exactly like this with me and my new purple bike.

I gotta find that photo.

Madonna sang it best... This Used to be My Playground.

Quite literally, it used to be.

There were swings here that my friend Crystal and I would swing on and sing...yeah, we sang. We called ourselves "The Babettes".

Aww...such memories.

My Elementary School. I went to 4th-6th grades here. I loved this school.

The Bowling Alley!

The best curly fries around.

No doubt.

And yes I totally made my colleagues eat lunch in a Bowling Alley :)

The Shoppette where my infatuation with ice cream began.

Once you're 10 years old in the military you get an ID and you needed an ID in order to purchase anything in the Shoppette. As soon as I got my ID, I wrote my bike down here and bought a quart of ice cream...and sat on those benches and ate it all by myself.

Some things never change.

Mililani Town Center.

This would be the closest mall where we would sometimes hang out. It is completely changed. I was hoping the shaved ice shop "Island Snow" would be around, but it wasn't.

Before we were able to move on base (Wheeler) we rented a house in Mililani for a year.

And here it is.

95-693 Lewanu'u Street.

Kipapa Elementary School.

Where I finished off 2nd grade and then 3rd grade.

I'm sure this post isn't of much interest to anyone else, except maybe my friends from Wheeler...Crystal, Rachael, Susan, Bethany, Elizabeth, Rachel and Shelley...all of whom I've kept in touch with. Yet, writing this all out and sharing these pictures has just filled my heart to the brim. It really is wonderful to be able to see your childhood again. I had a great childhood, too many happy memories to count and walking these streets just made my heart happy.

Thanks for the memories Hawaii.