A Wedding of Friends

There are few things worth making the long trek from Guam to the States for. A last visit... a funeral... a wedding.... but not just any wedding. A union of two dear friends. After 25 hours of flying (thankfully with an awesome Guam/Gator travel buddy!), I arrived exhausted in some warped reality we'll call Orlando, Florida. With only an hour until the start of the Friday night welcome dinner, I took the best shower of 2011, got ready, and rallied to head out for the first of two celebratory nights. I met up with our friend Tom and his girlfriend and headed to the BBQ dinner at a local community center, which reminded me so wonderfully much of our own rehearsal dinner! It was a great night to reunite with the bride and groom and meet many of their fabulous friends I had heard so much about over the years. Not to mention catch up with sorority sisters I hadn't seen since graduation and Nick's company mates who are harder and harder to get in the same room at once. Due to holiday leave blocks, Nick unfortunately wasn't able to accompany me on this leg of the journey (but thankfully I'll see him soon).

The next day I slept... and slept some more... then met up with my cousin Chris for lunch. Chris was one of my best buddies growing up in Pensacola. The two of us spent hours upon hours fishing off the dock in the back of my grandparents' house. When we weren't fishing with shrimp, we were peeling and eating it with ketchup, our favorite cocktail sauce. Chris now lives in Daytona, just 45 minutes away, so I couldn't pass up the chance to get together while I was in town. Our recent visits haven't included fishing, unfortunately, but rather family memorial services in our hometown. It was nice to be getting together as the result of a wedding rather than a funeral for once!

After a delish USA (fresh produce!) lunch, I got ready for the wedding, watched a little of the Army/Navy game (Go Navy!), and headed out. Down in the hotel lobby, I immediately ran into Kate and Chris's friends I'd met the night before. It was awesome already knowing who everyone was and how they knew the bride and groom. I must have explained a zillion times how I knew them. "Kate was in my sorority at UF and Chris was Nick's roommate at the Naval Academy," I'd repeat. Funny how many people responded with, "Wow, what a small world!" not realizing that we were the ones that inadvertently introduced them. Nick and I take no credit as matchmakers, as we had no intention of setting them up (though in hindsight, what a great idea!). But somehow despite time and distance, these two just made it work.

As soon as I arrived at the wedding, I ran into a dear, dear friend I haven't seen in more than two years. Megan's husband and Nick went through initial training together in San Diego, but shortly after Megan disappeared to Virginia Beach. The last time I saw her in 2009, she was 8 months pregnant! I didn't get to meet her adorable daughter this trip (she was back at Disney with grandma and grandpa!), but it was sooo great to catch up with this friend who feels so much like family. There are some parts of your life that you go through that no one else can understand except those who trudged along beside you. Together we navigated our new lives as newlyweds, pseudo-Team wives, San Diego transplants, and young professionals. And Megan is from Texas, so needless to say, we hit it off right from the start. It's faces like this (and the bride and groom!) that remind me that Virginia Beach has a place for me that will feel like home... and gives me more and more to look forward to even as I turn my back on the San Diego dream.

Now I certainly know that Kate and Chris hired a capable set of photographers for this very important occasion. But something in me still feels the need to document everything myself, as if my trusty point-and-shoot will somehow capture something missed by one of the professionals. So just in case the photographers forgot to load the film or something, here are the pictures I took of the wedding events.

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Lewis!

Sword arch (let's hope those photographers got the film right)

A moving and heartfelt speech by the best man, Chris's best friend from childhood

(Toasts are always my favorite part of the night... especially this night)

The first dance to the Eagles... Take it Easy.

Side note: Kate and Chris have actually been to Winslow, Arizona
(such a fine sight to see...)

Cutting the cake (which was not paleo and therefore totally delicious)

Why I love Kate... she called out her single friends individually
and made them come out for the bouquet toss. Oh yes she did...

Garter toss... played to Queen's "Another one bites the dust."

 Fun fact: Chris caught the garter at our wedding (six years ago... so he was kind of next).
He also got an unexpected, unfortunate shower...

The rest of the night was all about dancing and friends!

Old friends

New friends! (Three of these girls live in our future hometown!)

Red friends, blue friends... just kidding... although now that I think about it...

No one had any fun... especially not the bride

And no one wanted to dance...  or sing... weird...

We sent the bride and the groom out with a stunning display of sparklers on the 6th story balcony of the venue. SUCH a fun weekend, SO great to see everyone and come away with some new friends too. We couldn't be happier for our two friends as they begin this new chapter of their lives together. They threw an exceptional bash to get it all started. Everything from the save-the-dates to the sparklers were so personal, creative, and memorable.

As I look back on this picture taken of Chris and Kate at our own rehearsal dinner six years ago, I can't help but marvel at how the universe conspired to get these two together. Having known them separately for so long, I now can't imagine either of them alongside anyone else. I'm grateful for our respective and overlapping friendships that have spanned the ten years since college began. In fact, their story and their wedding remind me of how integral friendship is in a relationship that goes the distance. I am so honored to be part of their story and grateful to have been present for the celebration. And, to borrow something from our own wedding (one of my favorite toasts) for the two of you (thanks to Tom and REK!): May the road go on forever and the party never end! 

Congratulations Kate and Chris!

A Very Beep Bop Christmas

  

Last Friday night we had our last big hoorah for our youth group for the year. We had 22 middle and high schoolers show up for our Christmas party, making it our largest youth group ever! We had a lot to pack in in our three hours together, so I'll get started.

No Christmas party is complete without a dirty Santa gift exchange. There were some awesome presents, including a rash guard, hot chocolate, popcorn, Rubix Cube, and a box of Raisin Bran. I went home with a pair of snowflake earrings and Nick won a golfer paperweight.

 Everyone holding up their fabulous and ridiculous prizes

Moving on, our next event was a gingerbread house making contest. We split everyone into three teams and gave each team complete gingerbread supplies, including graham crackers, frosting, gum drops, candy canes, sprinkles, red vines, etc. Their task was to build the most creative gingerbread house. Pastor Jeff was our judge, and each team had one minute to explain why their gingerbread house was the best. Here, Tristan is schmoozing Pastor Jeff Chamorro style, trying to convince Pastor Jeff that they should win because he likes their group's members the best.

Team 2 posing with their gingerbread house

Team 3's house was a gingerbread church, trying to appeal to the judge. The winner was group #1, which pulled ahead because of the tennis courts and dog house they built on the property!

My counterpart Doug is moving off island at the end of the month to pursue his teaching career, so this was his last youth group event. He gave his final youth group message, reminding everyone of the reason for the season and sharing Christ with these special young people for his last time.

 

Next I surprised everyone, especially Doug, with a video about Doug's time as a youth director with the church. He's been there about twice as long as me, so there were lots of pictures! So awesome to see all he has done over the years. It also made me start getting sad about my own departure within the next year... glad I still have lots of time left because it's going to be really hard to leave these kids!

For our grand finale, we played our favorite youth group game, Beep Bop. Pastor Jeff and Doug, who are both leaving by the year's end, were the first two boppers. Nick and one of our 7th graders, Amanda, who is also leaving, were the second round of boppers, whopping kids with a rolled up newspaper while we all ran around and hid in the dark. The game is always a blast and we never want to stop, but like everything else, all good things must come to an end. Sad that when I return to Guam, three of the people in this picture will have moved on, as people do from Guam. I know it won't be the same without them, but I also know our group will continue on, and without a doubt, new faces will show up and our group will still feel whole in its own way. So grateful for this job and all the wonderful people of all ages it has connected me to on the island. With any luck, our paths will cross again.

Tarzan and Jane

My mom (Jane) and dad at Tarzan Falls 

For our last day of adventures together in Guam, I took my parents on a classic boonie stomp to Tarzan Falls. It was a beautiful sunny day, and this is a great hike, downhill the way there, uphill the way back, and mostly in the shade of the jungle's tall trees. The gorgeous waterfall makes the muddy, buggy and at-times steep trek well worth it.

Top of the first of four cascading falls

 Trail was so muddy we had to hike in the river!

Almost there, guys! I promise!

We made it! My mom's signature Rocky pose :)

Nice waterfall you got there

Hey Mom, when was the last time we hiked to a waterfall together?

 Back at the top of the falls

 Lush jungle

We rounded off the afternoon with cold drinks and yummy snacks at Jeff's Pirate Cove.  Great last day in Guam together! So thankful for the chance to show my parents this awesome place. Also so impressed with how adventurous they were, jumping right in to diving, snorkeling, hiking, and everything else that is our life here. Usually the worst part of a trip like this is the ride to drop visitors off at the airport. But luckily I will see them again in Texas in just a few days, so our memory making continues. And, signing off from Orlando, FL with Starbucks in hand, my USA trip has already begun! Looking forward to seeing many of you throughout the holidays!

Diving with Dad

One of the awesome things about my parents coming out for a full two weeks is that they had enough time to squeeze in an entire SCUBA certification course! My dad did the required readings on the plane on the way over (a great use of his 16 hours of flying time). He breezed through the underwater tests with their awesome instructor, Fred. My mom did a great job with the course as well... I still can't believe she had never so much as snorkeled before this visit before. But she strapped on the tank and got the hang of things pretty well, even diving down under to feed the fish at 15 feet at one point. In the end, she didn't want to do all the silly underwater tasks they ask you to do (take off your mask, your BC, etc), she just wanted to swim and look at the fish! I'm pretty impressed that she made it that far, though, this from my mom who was always the one sitting by the pool growing up, never getting in. She definitely gets points for getting in!

My dad was able to complete 7 dives while he was out here! Our first dives together were pretty easy, shallow dives to feed the fish. Our next dive, though, was down to 75 feet at a site called Gab Gab II. This is the place where the Japanese tourist submarine feeds the fish every day, so consequently, there are lots of fish... and big fish. We took them some pepperoni and crackers and they nipped the bag out of my hand! The rest of the dive, we explored the reef, which is just off the coast a quick swim from the main beach here on base.

Clown fish in a red anemone

 Clown fish... I mean, my dad... and a giant eel!

 This is the biggest eel I have ever seen... its body was the width of a volleyball!

 I was so hoping my parents would see a sea turtle... they did just 5 minutes into our second dive! (Mom snorkeled above us so she saw it too!)

 Dad looks like a pro already

 Dad spotted the turtle again and sneaked up behind it for a picture!

 

The Sunday before they took off, Nick, Dad and I signed up for a boat dive. They were doing three of the best wrecks in two dives that afternoon. So we set off on our first dive to the Tokai and Cormoran, the only site in the world where a WWII ship sank on top of a WWI ship and the two ships are touching. Glad my dad got to see this unique dive site, although now he is spoiled because it was his first shipwreck dive! He also got to experience going down to 103 feet! Which, for you non-divers, is deceiving because it feels the same as being at 50 feet, so it's not really that crazy.

Touching WWI and WWII wrecks at the same time!

Our next dive was to the American Tanker, probably our favorite wreck to dive because of all the rooms you can go into. Usually penetrating a wreck requires specific training and equipment, but this one, settled in only about 50-60 feet of water, still has plenty of light reaching it, so you can look into a window, see the exit across the way, and easily swim through it. There's also the token American flag we always have to stop and get a picture at. Not the best visibility today (hello backscatter), but still so awesome to be able to do this dive with my dad!!

 Getting back on the boat after our last dive - woohoo!

Thanks for going diving with us Dad! And thanks Nick for taking all the pictures, as usual. I wonder where we will all go diving together again next!

Journey to Mt Lam Lam

If I had to choose a favorite day of my parents' visit, it would have to be the day we climbed, as a family, to the top of Mt. Lam Lam. It was on our wish list for our time together, but the decision to fit it in on the Friday after Thanksgiving came when my mom asked, "Hey, where is that picture at the top of your blog from? I want to go there." And so we went. We started up the hill  45 minutes before sunset. And by up, I mean up. The first third of the hike is particularly steep, and all of it is, to some degree, in the weeds. My parents did great tackling mud and gravity to make impressive headway up the slope.

 Pausing halfway up the mountain to stare at the blue ocean and rolling green hillside

Tall sword grass sways around you on all sides

We made it!!

At the top, a breathtaking view of the whole island and the surrounding sea in all directions

And my mom got to take pictures with the beautiful crosses 

she has been staring at on my blog for the last year and a half.

 Sunsets sure make for fantastic backdrops around here...

We somehow managed to choose the evening with the prettiest sunset 

of the entire two week visit... lucky us...

Up until this day, this Friday after Thanksgiving, 2011, I had never before climbed a mountain with my parents. And here, 9,000 miles away from home, at an age approaching retirement, they crushed it. And in return, the land and the sea and the sky put on a show for us all. A show of beauty and breeze, majesty and simplicity; in essence, nature's grace. A moment in time when the sun sets as it has every single day since the beginning of time. And yet, never before quite like this.