Life's A Beach...

At least it seems that way for us during the summer months!

1. US, 2. The rainbow that greeted us at camp, 3. The girls, 4. The boys, 5. The beauty that is low tide, 6. Just us and the pelicans, 7. And not a single one of them pooped on us!, 8. Coquina, 9. Digging to China?, 10. The Little Mermaid, 11. One more beach trip before we head home, 12. A & M enjoying the beach on Sunday, 13. On the ferry back to Hatteras

Although we only live about 10 minutes from {OUR} oceanfront, we find that we spend more & more time on the beaches of North Carolina. Cape Hatteras National Seashore is one of our favorite places to visit and we cannot get enough of it's beauty! The seashore is close to home, yet far enough from home to make it a relaxing getaway.

We had a wonderful weekend in Ocracoke. We're covered in skeeter bites {a special kind of skeeter lives down there...Off doesn't even scare them}, but we still had a great time. The weather was perfect despite the thunderstorm during our ferry ride from Hatteras Island to Ocracoke Island. We played on the beach all day and slept hard in our tent at night.

We've managed to stay & play at all four National Park Service campgrounds found along the Cape Hatteras seashore...and we're looking forward to heading back down again - this weekend - for some more fun in the sun!

Desperately seeking summer...

I am over the cold weather.
I am over the colds.
I am over wearing a jacket & wool socks.
I am over the dry skin & runny noses.
I am over cranking up the heat.
I am over my gas bill.
I am over warming up my car.
I am over the howling winds.
I am over the wishy-washy weather forecasts.
I am over it being dark by the time I'm home from work.


I am ready for some warmth of a different kind.
I am ready for road trips to Hatteras.
I am ready for barbeques & horseshoes.
I am ready for humidity (I think).
I am ready for long, summer nights
I am ready for flip flops & pedicured toes.
I am ready for fireflies.
I am ready for sleeping with the windows open.
I am ready for tulips & daisies.
I am ready for seashells & sand.


I am desperately seeking summer.

We're headed southbound on Rt. 12...

Well, no, we're not, but if given the chance, we would be! If only the weather were warmer...because Hatteras, North Carolina is one of our favorite places to be. We look foward to making semi-annual treks to our favorite village on Hatteras Island. Sometimes we rent a house, but most of the time we're hanging out in a tent at the NPS site near the Billy Mitchell Airstrip in Frisco. No matter where we stay, it is always a good time for the whole family.

Oh, the memories of a Hatteras vacation from September 2005...

purging and reorganizing...

So my Spring cleaning has come a bit too late in the year (or maybe it's just early??)...but I'm sitting in my computer room trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the mess I have made in here. This space should be our formal dining room, but considering we are not formal dining people we made this into the computer room/office/catch-all room. It's been everything from the junkyard to the play room. There has been a couch in here and a foosball table in here. Right now, all that's here is a big ole mess.

I've never known what to do with this space. I mean, I know what I want to use it for, but getting it laid out how I want it and making the room how I want it have been challenges since the day we moved into this house.

What I do know is that I don't want to paint it. Three years ago, Jennifer Finch who owns Jaden's Dreaming Tree came over and painted a huge Hatteras mural on two walls. She eventually went on to paint in M & A's bedrooms, but both bedrooms have been painted over since. At any rate, the mural is fabulous and I love it and it goes so well with the "beachy" theme that our house has (ok, so maybe it isn't so beachy cottage-like, but it's my version of a beach cottage, ok?).

Here is a link to the picture of our room (this is the corner...you can see the itty, bitty Hatteras lighthouse):
http://jadensdreamingtree.com/seaside/3.jpg

Jennifer has two more pictures of the room posted as well.

Right now I have a computer armoire that has to go. I originally wanted it, but the dark cherry wood just doesn't go with the room. It matches my college diploma's frame, but that's about it. I'd really like to get a new armoire that is a whitewashed wood style, but with the finances being what they are I am going to have to continue to settle for the old computer desk that came from my now EX mother-in-law. I don't think it has any bad ju-ju surrounding it, but maybe a good cleansing ritual wouldn't hurt. I have two bookshelves from Ikea that are not the most spectacular, but they do the job. I also have a small shelving system and small cabinet from Target. In the corner I have an old white cabinet (again from the EX MIL) that holds all of my scrapbooking/crafting supplies.

Ideally I'd like to put a chair, table and lamp in here for reading and just to make the room more cozy, but again with the finances being what they are I probably shouldn't. Besides, Christmas is around the corner and I'll just move the chair out of the living room into this room when we put our tree up.

I suppose it would help to show pictures of the room and how it's laid out...but with the state it's currently in, I'm not going to do that. I do have my pride, ya know! So, for now I guess it's just a work in progress...one that I hope to figure out really soon.