HPH Halloween

Even though today was Halloween, I felt like Friday was the real holiday. My work went all out with costume contests, banner contests, and a huge 2 1/2 hour potluck lunch. I'm pretty sure that absolutely no work got done, but at least we all had a great time. I loved some of these costumes. And thanks to Minnie Mouse, I have all these pictures to share with you!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!

PEACE

Any Lost Fans Out There???

I got a text from my friend Jen today that said "I think Lost is taping across my street!" She saw tons of huge trailers, and they shut down one of the parking lots to the church. After she talked to her security guys at her complex, they confirmed that they were filming Lost. So I went over to check it out. When we first got there, they were setting up. Jen realized she forgot her camera, so we decided to go back to the apartment (since it was so close) and get it. While we were walking, we see Matthew Fox crossing the street with a security guard. Jen pointed him out, and I yelled "Jack!!". He turned and looked, but kept walking. I took a few pictures. We sat there and laughed about it. A little bit later, he comes walking back. Right towards us. Does not even look at us, and we're the only people on the entire sidewalk. As he got closer, I said something like "I just wanted to say hi". He didn't say anything, and still hardly looked at us. His hands were full of cigarettes and I think a drink. He smelled like alcohol. As he walked right past us, I said, "can I just get one picture?" He turned and said, "no, I've got to get to work". And that was our encounter. He completely blew us off. Not a friendly bone in his body. What a punk. He seriously could have made time for one picture. It's not like there was a crowd. It was just me and Jen. Also, for all of you girls who are Jack lovers, he does smoke AND dip. I guess he loves him some nicotine. That's gross. I'm thinking it was better that I talked to him instead of Sawyer. I might have been tempted to jump on Sawyer had I been that close. Sorry Spencer.

We hung out for a while and met some of the crew. They were so nice! I met the guy in charge of the sound mixing. When I got home I looked him up just out of curiosity, and it seems as though he is quite successful. Here is his list of shows he's done. He offered to take our picture for us when the security guard wouldn't (not the blurry one above, but one that Jen has on her camera). He invited us out to Murphy's after the filming, but we respectfully declined. We also met the guy who holds the mic up over the actors. Talked to him the longest. I think he liked us, because before they started filming, and he had all of his gear on, he came back over to us for no reason. So I decided he was showing off for us, and we took a pic with him. Unfortunately they were only filming one scene, and Jack was the only main character in it. And we couldn't hear anything that they were saying, so it doesn't help at all with trying to figure out the storyline. Anyways, I got the phone number for the production company, and I was told to ask for the casting department and talk to them to be an extra. I'm seriously considering it when I get back in January. They will be filming until April.

Oh, and can I just say that I for some reason talked myself out of bringing my lens that has some what of a zoom. I thought it'd be too big. Now I regret not bringing it. So you have to see these far away shots.

Here are some pictures for all of you fanatics to enjoy!

The Ins and Outs of Living in Hawaii (by myself)

First I'll start with the Cons:

- My least favorite part about being here is the time difference. It is near IMPOSSIBLE to stay in touch with family and friends back home. 6 hours is a big difference. It's especially hard when I've been working full time. By the time I get home from work, it's already close to midnight in GA. I'm so sorry to all of those who have called and I have yet to get back to you!

- An obvious con is the price of plane tickets if you ever want to go somewhere. I've just learned to buy the ticket and never look back. In case you were wondering, I'm going to San Fransisco for a MONTH to have a fun reunion with my BYU roommates. I can't tell you how excited I am! Then I'm going to Georgia for another month for Christmas. My plan was to take long trips to pass the time a little bit faster until Spencer gets home.

- I'm not gonna lie. I'm pretty sure a lot of the locals here don't like me. Maybe it's the white skin and blonde hair - but I have definitely gotten the stink eye more than one time. After thinking about it, I don't think I'd be happy if my small, friendly island was bombarded with tons of tourists and military folks, disturbing the culture and dynamic of the island. But it doesn't really bother me.

- The price of food and gas is outrageous! Luckily I have the commissary, but if I ever have to do a quick grocery run at the grocery store close by, I literally have to practice my controlled breathing excercises while checking out.

- I get a little sad when I read all the facebook status' about the fall weather. I love fall, especially in Georgia. I love the leaves, the crisp air, all the festivities. But then I have to remind myself that the weather they are talking about is the weather I have YEAR ROUND! So I guess really I just miss the fall leaves and festivities.

- Unlike Atlanta, Hawaii does not have a big concert scene. Spencer and I loved having all of our favorite bands always make a stop in Atlanta on tour. Unfortunately, it's not gonna happen like that over here.

- Living alone is going to be hard wherever you are living. I've definitely had some lonely days, but I've been trying to make more of an effort to get out and spend time with my newly made friends.

And now for the PROS:

- It's Hawaii. One of the most beautiful places in the entire world. You are completely surrounded by beauty every single day(especially if you live where I do). The mountains, trees, flowers, ocean, sand, islands, rainbows, sunrises/sunsets, etc. Absolutely breathtaking.



- The scenery covers about 80% of the pros. It's that good. But I also can't leave out the perfect weather every day. On my side of the island, it averages between 78-88 degrees every day. It does not get more perfect than that. And there's always a nice, cool breeze. And there a couple nights a week where I'll be home and it'll just downpour. The rain here is awesome! It comes out of nowhere, and it comes down hard. It smells so good. And then before you know it, it's over.

- The limitless opportunities for outdoor activities. Hiking, swimming, boogie boarding, surfing(still need to work on that one), kayaking, snorkeling, to name a few.

- The people(the ones who don't care that I have white skin, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a military ID). The people I have met so far have been so wonderful. So welcoming and loving. I have so much to learn from them and their ability to love and to give. I have to share this little gift I got from an 80 year old woman I go to church with. We all got to draw a name of someone in the meeting w/ their address and phone number on it. She drew mine, and this is what I got in the mail:

She also wrote a little letter. Here is my favorite paragraph:

"I am the old lady who attends church regularly except when I am not feeling up to par or when I am out of state. Since Oct. 4th is General Conference, we have no church meetings; and on October 11th I'll be out of town; so I"ll be able to greet you and introduce myself, and we can be friends forever, Right? That will be Oct. 18th. This cross stitch hibiscus flower was made especially for you with love and aloha."

Yes, Sister Tada, we can be friends forever. How sweet.

- The bus system is actually quite good here. It covers the whole island, and they are pretty consistent as far as showing up on time. It costs the same amount of money to buy a monthly bus pass w/ unlimited rides as it does to fill up your car one time.

- Authentic Hawaiian food. If you get the right stuff, it is so delicious. I love love love the sweet bread. And the kalua pig. While we're talking about food, I'll go ahead and mention the abundance of delicious fruit here. If you know me, you know I could live off of fruit. It might not be the same that I am used to, but still, I love the papaya, mango, pineapple, dragonfruit, starfruit, bananas, etc. Oh and one more thing. They have a huge variety of canned fruit juices that are so addicting. Just ask my bro-in-law Justin. He can attest to that.

- Living alone does have a few benefits. I get to watch whatever tv shows I want, whenever I want. I only have to clean up after one person. I feel like I am more challenged to better myself when I have so much time to myself. We get to save a little bit of money with him on the boat and not having the day to day expenses.

Overall, I'm pretty happy where I am. I'm glad we are stationed here, and I can't wait for Spencer to get back so we can enjoy this place together again.

I always feel like...somebody's watching me

A little present I made for Spencer. It even plays the song. If you know him, you know that he loves these Geico commercials. He cracks up every time he seems them- without fail. So I was happy when, after opening his package from me, I got an email with the subject title "HOLY CRAP!!!!!". Mission accomplished.

My Pick-Me-Up

This might sound silly, but it's true. You see, when I go grocery shopping, or go to get gas, I always go to the Marine Base that is about 10 minutes from our house. The cheaper prices are so worth it. But there is another perk that makes me happy every time. Literally, every time. I have this special sticker on my car that allows me to enter/park in military bases. And on that sticker, it says that Spencer is an officer. When I drive up to the gate, I usually see the cars ahead of me simply getting waved in. But when I drive up and they see the magic sticker, you could imagine how it would make you feel if you were not even a service member and was welcomed with this:

The night I went to the Black Eyed Peas concert (on base) I was in a long line of cars waiting to park. As I was driving by there were about 3 Marines who saw my sticker, straightened up, and gave me a salute. Maybe it's not right to like it as much as I do since I didn't do one thing to deserve it, but it sure does make me feel like a million bucks. I'm always greeted as ma'am, and am wished a good morning/afternoon/evening/weekend. Every time. They think I'm an officer. Mwahaha. You're welcome to borrow my car and give it a try when you come visit. It's totally worth it.

I Can Brag

This is just ridiculous. Just want to brag to the world that he is mine :)

Why You Should Always Have a Camera On Hand

Today I was going through the pictures on my phone. I figured I would share them because they are no good to anyone if they just sit in a phone that nobody ever looks at. This is proof that even if it's just your camera phone, you should always have a camera on hand so as not to miss any of those moment you don't want to forget.

These first two were beautiful moments in Hawaii. A sunset on the drive home one day(btw I would not recommend trying to take a picture while driving), and the other is the first weekend we arrived in Hawaii and were walking around the Marine base. This place was beautiful!




This one was an ad I saw on my computer one day. I loved that it was between Stacey and Lisa.

Perhaps my favorite of them all. If only I had a video camera. This little old man takes daily runs on the beach in a bathing suit small enough to fit my 7 year old self. It does not fit him at all, and he show cleavage where cleavage shouldn't be shown.

Did I mention that I went and saw the Black Eyed Peas concert? We got there early enough to see Fergie up close and personal. The girl can sing.

And lastly just a reminder that I live in Hawaii.



I also realized that I have TONS of pictures of kids on there. I often use the camera phone to distract them. But I'll wait until another month to post those b/c I think I've maxed out on my picture messages for this month.