...and It Was Delightful

I know that it's almost the weekend again but I just wanted to share some little tidbits about this past weekend. It was very lovely and I couldn't have been more thrilled!

Last Thursday began my weekend since I had Friday off. And it began well because my dear Collin brought me home this beautiful bouquet of flowers! Love him!

I went to Target on Thursday evening and found this dress on clearance. It cost me $12! So I just had to wear it for my errand running on Friday! It was so comfy and cute.

Friday afternoon some dark clouds rolled in. Then they rolled out. Then a BIG thunderstorm rolled in around 6PM and some of the thunder was so loud it shook our apartment! It even produced some hail.


Saturday afternoon we ventured down to St. George's Island, which is a tiny little island in the county, for a friend's congratulations party. This was the view on our drive. I love where we live!

I am so thankful for a hubby that helps with the housework. I don't mind to vacuum but my back started hurting pretty bad so Collin vacuumed the apartment before our friends came over Saturday afternoon.

I shared this photo yesterday but it was such a significant part of my weekend that I wanted to share it again. This is the part of the Chesapeake Bay where Collin was baptized on Sunday!

After the baptism was over we enjoyed an afternoon with our friend Megan at her apartment and then out to dinner at Bob Evan's. This was the view when we walked out of the restaurant. Pure bliss. And a great way to end our weekend!

Cindy

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

This, my dear friends, is a very special part of the Chesapeake Bay. On Sunday my husband was baptized right in this very spot. How incredibly special. He's been a Christian for as long as we've been together but he was finally ready to take his faith to the next step. I am so proud of him and I love the way God has been working in his life! I hope to share more pictures soon from this special day. I didn't bring my camera down to the actual baptism time for fear of getting it wet. But other people had their cameras so I just gotta find some pictures. =)

Cindy

Good Weekend Lovin'

This past weekend was quite a great one! We had a delightful time every day. It started out real well Friday evening because we got to go to the Solomon's Boardwalk and grab some soft serve ice cream with our friends Jeff and Jeannie. I love spending time with them. But what made it even better was the amazing sunset we got to see over the water. It had been a long while since I'd seen a sunset from the boardwalk and I was quite excited about it.



I think what made me the most excited (and this will sound silly because it's so obvious) was getting to see the sun get lower and lower within just a matter or minutes. I would take a picture, go back to talking, turn around two minutes later and it would be further under the bridge. It was so cool!
Saturday was fantastic! Collin had the whole day off and we did whatever we pleased. We woke up early and went yard saling! We got some pretty great stuff. A couple shirts for me, some miscellaneous cables and electronic things for him, a new driver (golf club) for him, and just some other random things. We had a delightful morning yard saling and it was the perfect temperature for it, too!

Then in the afternoon we got some groceries, took a nap, did some browsing around for patio furniture and I even got to make myself a delicious chocolate milkshake! Evening time came, Collin made DELICIOUS chicken fajitas for dinner and we got to play a game of Scrabble before bed. I just wish you could play proper nouns because I totally would have had a Bingo towards the end of the game. =)


Yesterday was Father's Day and Collin's dad wanted to go golfing together so the two of them did that while I spent the afternoon with my mom and dad. Their neighbor brought over their new baby kitty and I got to hold him for quite a while. It definitely made me want to get a little kitten sometime soon. Then later Collin met us at the wharf where the jet skis got put in and we spent some time at the water. While we were there we found a kitty that was very friendly but definitely a stray. She was so, so sweet and I wanted to take her home with us but Stanky-boy wouldn't like that very much. =/ After the water adventures we went back to my parent's house, had a DELICIOUS dinner, and enjoyed some family time.




So yeah, I'd say it was a pretty great weekend. =) I hope yours was just as delightful as ours! And I hope you had the same awesome temperatures that we've had!! It's been GLORIOUS!

Cindy

Instagram Vacation Photos

I took a lot of pictures on our vacation. I used Instagram, my phone's regular camera, and my "big girl" camera! So for today you all are going to get the Instagram photos and little snippets about the vacation relating to that. If I were to post my pictures from every medium this would be a very long post and I've already got a lot of pictures for today to post!

Our trip was pretty fantastic! We left Sunday afternoon and got down to the beach finally around 8:30pm or so. But it was a nice drive. Just rainy most of the way. Foruntately Collin was driving and the rain doesn't bother him much. I didn't take any pictures of this but we stopped for dinner on the way down there at a place recommended to us by some friends. The place is called Ralph's BBQ and it's just off exit 173 in North Carolina. Oh my goodness. That was the BEST pulled pork sandwich I've ever had. So, so, so good! If you're ever traveling through North Carolina on I-95, I highly recommend you stop at Ralph's. Remember, exit 173 for Roanoake Rapids... It's amazing! That is if you like Eastern North Carolina BBQ. =)

A rainy day of driving.

Getting so close!

Monday morning was beautiful. It was chilly but that was nice because Collin and I both wanted to get out and get some exercise. He went for a run while I took a walk.

I got to walk on the beach for a little bit!

We could see the ocean from our room. It wasn't technically considered an ocean view room but it was neat being able to see it from the room. =)

Monday afternoon we went to the aquarium and had a blast. I have lots of pictures on my Nikon from the aquarium that I'll be sure to share!

They have a shipwreck tank that has an actual sunken German U-Boat from WWII and during the afternoon they have diver's go into the tank and actually talk to you using a special microphone thing. But the coolest thing is they have at least 6 sharks in the tank! Love it!

Tuesday was another beautiful day and our anniversary! Collin and I started the day out by playing some frisbee golf up in New Bern and the course was beautiful! Definitely the best course we've played at yet. It was right on the water and the park it was in was pretty much designated for frisbee golf. It was really fun playing and the holes all had different challenges and elevations and that's much different than our course here at home! Tuesday afternoon we had lunch at Sonic on the way back to the beach and in the evening we went to dinner at this local bar and grill called Raps which was fantastic! We even ended up going back another night on our trip.

View from the beginning of the frisbee golf course

View from hole 7. Loved it! I almost permanently lost my disc on this hole. There's a hill just before the hole and I threw my disc from a ways back from the top of it and it landed on the hill and rolled. Because of the hill we couldn't see where it stopped but had an idea. So we went down to look for it and could not find it! I finally found it way far away from where it would have made sense that it was.

Right after I threw my disc on hole 17 I look over to my left and see that... Once I finally calmed down and realized what was going on I was okay. I'm not really afraid of snakes. At least not of non-venomnous ones. And this one is not venomous and Collin and I truly knew because the day before we had gone to a Creature Feature at the aquarium on snakes and the volunteer gave us all these tricks to determine if they are venomous or not!

I love tater tots. Definitely my favorite type of "fry". And Sonic's cups for their tots are funny!

On Wednesday after enjoying a delicious New York style pizza lunch at Michaelangelo's and walking through some cute local shops (including a book store!), Collin and I went to Fort Macon to enjoy a little bit of history. I have lots of photos of the fort on my Nikon that I'll definitely be showing soon but for now I want to share this one.

After Fort Macon we went to Dairy Queen and used a coupon we had for Buy One Blizzard Get One Free!

I got Chocolate Xtreme and Collin got Chocolate French Silk Pie.
For dinner on Wednesday Collin and I were going to go to a Japanense Steak House in Morehead City which was going to be our big anniversary dinner but they were closed on Tuesday. So we get all dressed up and head to the restaurant and they're not open! We think they might be closed for good or something because they are supposed to be open on Wednesday and every other day we drove by later during the trip they were closed also. Sadness. So instead we ate at Olive Garden and were treated so well! The manager even gave us a free dessert because she knew it was our anniversary! Funny story about dinner... our waitress asked us how everything was and I replied good and then Collin said "It's fantastic!" with a big smile on his face! Well, the waitress gets this look on her face like "oh wow! I'm so sorry!" and she asked Collin to repeat himself. So he does and relief washed over her. She thought that he had said "Everything's nasty!" hahaha! We were cracking up laughing. It still makes me laugh just thinking about it!

Thursday was our warmest day. It was also our windiest day. After breakfast Collin and I wanted to go take a walk on the beach. And then in the afternoon we played two rounds of mini golf! So much fun! Then in the evening we went back to Rap's for another delicious dinner!

On the beach with my hubby!

Under the pier that got pretty badly damaged during Hurricane Irene last August.

Enjoying a beautiful day of mini golf.

I got a hole in one on this hole! Hole 15! Collin then got a hole in one on Hole 4 on the second course we played!

It was really, really windy on Thursday. And at this hole there was a waterfall right above the green and I happened to be putting when a HUGE gust of wind decided to blow and it sprayed water all over me. I was pretty wet. Collin said the look on my face as it happened was priceless. lol I bet it was!

Pretty sunset over the Bogue Sound on the way to dinner.

On Friday Collin and I drove down to Jacksonville to check out another frisbee golf course. Then we ventured to the mall and after leaving Jacksonville we headed into downtown Beaufort and checked out the waterfront shops and did a little sight seeing. It was BEAUTIFUL. One of my favorite things about the trip.

A beautiful drive to Jacksonville that morning.

The beautiful downtown, historic Beaufort, NC. I really did enjoy seeing how quaint and cute this town was. I took more pictures on my phone but didn't post them to Instagram so I'll share them soon.

We passed this Morehead City restaruant many times and the name just cracked me up every time. Apparently they have really good seafood though. They better with a name like that! =)

We headed home on Saturday with heavy hearts to be leaving such a beautiful place. I would totally move there in a heartbeat. But we'll definitely go back for another trip. That's for sure. Collin told me before our honeymoon I would love the Crystal Coast and not want to come home and boy was he right.

Goodbye beautiful Crystal Coast. I miss you already...

Cindy

Quick Post from the Beach

Hey guys, just wanted to stop in and say hi from the beach! We arrived safely yesterday evening around 8:30 after a few stops and driving through the rain most of the trip! It's so nice to be here and I can't wait to enjoy the rest of the week! I want to share some pictures I've taken so far. Hope you enjoy!

Starting our trip in the rain. But all is well because it's sunny skies the rest of the week!

Getting soo close!

We may not have an ocean view room but we can see the ocean!!

I went for a walk this morning and part of it was on the beach. =D

So happy to be here if you couldn't tell. =) We're off to the aquarium here in a few minutes. Hope you enjoy your day!

Cindy

More Little Notes

Dear New Apartment, get ready! I am SOO excited to see you and move in and get aquainted. Only 3 more weeks!! I can hardly stand it!

Dear Cancelled Meetings, it would be quite stellar if I could have some notice about your cancelled status. It stinks putting everything on hold to attend the meeting only to find out I was not informed it was cancelled.

Dear Exercise/Walking, you really don't seem so daunting when I am walking with a friend. Thanks for being actually enjoyable! And for helping me to feel good and start looking better.

Dear Life, I am thoroughly enjoying you! Thank you for having lots of fun things going on to keep me happy and preoccupied. It has been a blast spending time with people I love and getting some craft time in there, too!

Dear Blog, sorry you've been neglected lately, but see above. I've been too busy enjoying life away from the computer that I haven't had time for you.

Dear Hair, thank you for cooperating today! I had a feeling you would be atrocious today but you're not and I appreciate that!

Dear Weather, thanks for being so delightful these past few days! I've thoroughly enjoyed the warm temperatures. Please stick around and stay just as you are. And please don't add any humidity. *if only!*

Dear Allergies, go away. You stink. That is all.

Dear Atlantic Beach, just 5 more days until we are reunited. Oh how I can't wait! So, so excited to spend our anniversary in your wonderful little area. Thanks for being off-season so it won't be so crowded! See you soon, my love!

Love, Cindy

Little Notes

I've seen this around in the blog land where people will post little notes/letters to "things" and today my friend Courtney posted some and I felt inspired to make my own!

Dear Hulu+, I enjoy you. You let me watch current episodes of my favorite shows on my TV without having to have cable and that is fantastic. But why have you been acting up lately? I don't like having my picture freeze on me several times in one episode. It would be nice if you could fix it, please.

Dear wind, thank you for finally going away. You overstayed your welcome by about 6 days. I didn't mind you the first day. It was kind of nice having a breeze but staying around for a week, not cool. Especially since you brought us colder temperatures.

Dear pretty new tennis shoes, thank you for being so pink and cheery. You make exercising more fun. And thank you for being so lightweight and comfy!

Dear iPhone, I know I have expressed my love for you numerous times, but I still love you immensely. You are so good for me.

Dear Collin, I love you. Thank you for being so thoughtful and loving to me. Even during those times where I'm being a butt.

Dear Wal-Mart, thank you for your low prices. They make buying groceries not so daunting. But I still hate the way you treat your employees and I hate the schedule you give my husband. Cut us some slack. Collin is the best Tire & Lube Express technician you've got out there! Treat him like it.

Dear stamping, I am so glad that we found one another. You are perfect for me. I love sending cards and I love that you allow me to make my own. And that they are great! And you are so much fun!

Dear Atlantic Beach, we will be seeing each other soon. 19 days to be exact! And I could not be more excited. I anticipate our reunion with much excitement! Together let's make this a great anniversary vacation!

Love, Cindy