Catching up...

How bad is it that I couldn't remember the last thing I posted on my blog???  I had to go read it...and realized that I closed it out with "Hope you have a wonder Wednesday"...not wonderFUL...just wonder.

*sigh*

Anyway...I would love to tell you that I've just been so busy that I haven't had time to blog, but that's not quite the truth.  Other than this past weekend, I've really done NOTHING over the past few weeks.  Although, to be fair, I can only blog at work...since my computer currently looks like this:

Our power connector broke (literally)...so it seemed cheaper to just replace the part.  And it is...except that you have to take the entire thing apart to switch it out! I'm hoping to get this resolved quickly!

Anywho...I finally have my flower beds complete and I am loving how they turned out!  All of the hosta in the big flower bed I already had...we just spread it out...and I sent some home with my mom...and I'll probably have to split them again next year!  They are HUGE!

We also have found some sweet baby bunnies in our flower bed that liked to hid under the hosta...but we haven't seen them over the last week or so! I choose to believe they have relocated themselves!  As you can see though, they are very friendly...or just too scared of the big kid trying to pet them!

And...we have a next of baby birds in one of the hanging baskets on my porch!

This pic only shows two of them hatched...but I believe now they all have hatched! It's kind of hard to tell...there's a lot of pink fuzziness in that nest! :)

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to go to the beach.  A few weeks ago I had noticed an opening in my schedule (which is rare during the summer!) and I planned us a short get away!  Plus, Dylan was exempt from his exams...so we didn't have to come home until Monday!

We went to the aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores, which is teeny tiny, but we had fun!

This is a pic as we are going from Emerald Isle back to the "mainland"...the intercoastal waterway...

On Sunday, we went to Hammocks Beach...which is a state park on Bear Island.  It is undeveloped and only accessible by boat or ferry.  It was an ABSOLUTELY gorgeous day and I love that not many people go out to Hammocks Beach!  There were a few other people out there with us, but we had a good bit of space just for us!

All in all, it was a good break...a good getaway...we laughed a lot, got some sun and I read a lot on my new Nook...which I am in love with! :)

Tomorrow, I am going to begin a 30 Day Blog Challenge that my friend Rachel is doing over on her blog.  So...*fingers crossed*...you will be seeing a lot of me here on the blog over the next month!  I know you can not contain your excitement! ;)

Have a great Thursday!

The Beach

I inherited a great love of the beach from my mother.  I know that's where it came from.  She was 18 years old before she ever saw the beach, although she lived no more than 4 hours from the beach all of her life.  Her childhood was a great deal different than the one she gave me and I don't know that her family ever took a "family vacation".  Her summers were spent either in West Virginia with her grandmother or just being at her house.  But I believe she dreamed about the magic of the beach...the ocen...sea shells...for a good bit of her life.  As an 18 year old, she experienced the beach for the first time in her life and I think it was there that she decided she would make this an experience she would repeat.

I know that my mom had me at the beach as a baby.  I have pics of my chubby self in a teeny, diaper filled bikini...laughing in the surf.  I know that we visited the beach once with my grandparents and great-aunt.  We have pictures of me splashing in the pool...my grandparents watching from the side...fully dressed as I remember them always.  And then later on, we had an annual tradition of vacationing with my aunt & uncle...and cousins in a house that overlooked a channel at Ocean Isle.  We usually planned a beach trip every year.  I'm sure they couldn't always truly afford it, but Mom & Dad made it work.  At one point we camped at the beach annually...actually more than that as my godparents had a camper they stored at Emerald Isle...so we often spent Easter and Labor Days with them at the beach.  And when my godparents decided to buy a place near Emerald Isle...well, we've spent more time at the beach. 

Last year, my cousin got married at Carolina Beach.  I was torn about going...I really wanted to go to see a wedding on the beach...and then I really couldn't afford to go.  Mom & Dad really felt like they needed to go...but to book just a weekend at the host hotel for the wedding was astronomical.  They found a house that they could rent for an entire week for not much more than the hotel.  So, they decided to take a vacation...spend the week at the beach and invited me & Dylan, my sister, Zach & Alyson to come for the wedding weekend.  We had so much fun...laughed a lot...and it was that trip that inspired the week at Kure Beach that is almost here!!!

Yes - on June 19th (my birthday!) we are leaving to go to Kure Beach.  Mom, Dad, Missy, Zach, Alyson, Ayden (who was with us on our last trip...just in his Mommy's tummy!), Dylan & myself are going for a WHOLE week.  And I can't wait.  I can't wait for long sunny days on the beach, being Aly's partner (which means roommate) and lots of fun and laughter.  Spoiling my niece...chasing a crawling Ayden...who WILL be crawling by the time we head to the beach...playing silly games at night...playing Wii with the family...listening to Zach's unique take on the world...just all the things that make for a great family vacation. 

I just hope the trip lives up to the hype...and I hope it doesn't rain!

Dreaming of sunshine and waves...