High School Reunion

A couple weeks ago I had 3 of my high school friends (2 of which I have known since I was just a wee little girl) come visit for a week. Two of them were married and brought their husbands. So 5 visitors total. And let me tell you....it was a good time!

I've always told people that 1 week just isn't enough time to really do everything here. I suggest 1.5-2 weeks. That is, unless you are my high school friends. They were ready to get out and go the second they got in. We started every morning early (much earlier than I am used to), and ended every day late. And they got everything done in 1 week with ease.

It was so fun catching up with them. And I think the greatest part is that even though we really haven't seen each other for a while (and when we have seen each other in the last few years, it's been as long as a dinner lasts), we picked up right where we left off. We didn't spend the whole week going down memory lane (sometimes we did), and we were able to really connect with each other in our current lives. It was great.

And can I just say that I love having people come who have never been here before. My friends just "ooh-ed" and "ahhh-ed" over every little flower, rainbow, mountain, etc. It is so refreshing for me to be reminded of just how incredible this place is.

So here are so pictures of all the fun. Some of these aren't my pictures. At the end of the trip we all just combined our pictures and shared them with each other. This isn't even CLOSE to the amount of pictures that were taken in that one week.

Meeting John Locke

Woah now all you crazy Lost fans - don't go crazy on me this time. Mind your own business and stop being rude to perfectly nice strangers.

Now that I have that out of the way, let me share with you my MUCH better experience in meeting a cast member of Lost.

It was July 4th weekend, and we had some friends in town. We headed up to the north shore for the day to give them an idea of what all the hype is about. One of the most popular beaches is Waimea Bay. It has great snorkeling and a giant rock to jump off of. So obviously a great spot. That particular day, there was a paddleboarding competition from Sunset Beach to Waimea Bay. We, along with hundreds of other people, were at the beach of the finish line. As they were announcing the finishers that were coming in, Spencer and I decided to head over to where the actual finish line was. I was walking over, Spencer was swimming over. I think Spencer and I were in a small argument at the time (which will play in to the story later). Don't remember what it was about (do I ever?).

As I was walking towards the finish line, I spotted Terry O'Quinn (John Locke) walking in the opposite direction. Luckily, I knew his real name (I would've felt like a fool had I called out "John Locke!"). I started approaching him and said "Terry! Hi, I just wanted to say hello. I'm a big fan". He looked at me, extended his hand, and said, "Hi, what's your name?". I told him. He said "I'm Terry, nice to meet you". He then asked me if I lived there. I explained to him our situation of being here with the Navy, and we've been here for over a year. I asked him if he was sticking around Hawaii even after Lost was finished with filming. He told me he still has a place there, so every now and then he comes up to stay. I told him our friend had just seen him at Turtle Bay a few days before (then I felt kind of stupid/stalkerish). As we were talking, we were just walking along the beach. Spencer had just barely come out of the water and was walking towards us. I saw that he didn't notice Terry yet, and for a second I was about to play "I'll get him back" and just say goodbye to Terry and let him carry on. Instead, I stalled until Spencer approached us. I told Terry that my husband was coming, and he would like to meet him as well. Spencer came, looked surprised to see him, shook his hand, and said hi. They didn't talk much - we let him move on (I think he was going to go snorkel). After, I looked at Spencer and said "You're Welcome!". What a nice wife I am - even in a time of an argument.

I decided I would need a picture of him, so I went and played paparazzi while he and a woman were taking turns on a paddle board. So here you have it Lost fans - John Locke himself. I was so pleased with how kind he was and how much time he spent talking to me. And not to mention he is such a handsome man!! You can see from the pics that he keeps in really great shape!