Oak Island/Southport, NC Girls' Weekend

My aunt is staying in a beachside condo in Oak Island for work and invited my mom, sister, and I to come out for a long weekend. Of course we couldn't pass up the offer despite the frigid weather. A cold day at the beach is still a day at the beach, right?! It was nice to have a few child-free days to just have some girl talk, take walks on the beach (bundled up in coats and scarves, lol) and do some antique shopping in the quaint town of Southport (which happens to be the location of upcoming movie "Safe Haven"...debuting Valentines Day). Girls weekends are the best and I feel blessed to have had the chance to rejuvenate from the daily grind of motherhood. Here are just a few snaps from my visit :)

Instagram Photos: Clockwise from top left: We found this huge piece of driftwood during one of our beach walks and it was just too cool not to get a picture.  My sister's delicious Shrimp n' Grits made with fresh local shrimp.  Had to get a selfie under the pier. The spoils from my Southport antique shopping excursion...a vintage "dinglehopper" for Halle's upcoming Ariel party, a milk glass bowl, and a 91 yr old copy of Mark Twain's Puddnhead Wilson...and a few of my sea glass finds. I'm excited about that lavender piece :)

Beach Vacay recap

Well, we're back from our annual family beach vacation and we had a blast. This year we headed to Emerald Isle, NC and stayed in a beautiful home on Pine Knoll Shores. Like last year we spent our time lounging on the beach, drinking coffee in rocking chairs overlooking the ocean, playing board games (Settlers of Catan is our new favorite...you MUST play it!), cooking meals together, hunting for seaglass, and just enjoying each other's company. This is the first year that the ENTIRE family was able to vacation together so it was an added bonus. Here are a few photos from our time together.

Todd and I on the beach right at sunset! I can't believe that we will celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary this month! The time has gone by so fast and we have been so blessed!


This is the view of the ocean from the upper deck of the beach home. Isn't it beautiful?! On this day the waters we so calm and perfectly blue! I wanted to stay in that moment forever.


Halle and I playing in the sand. This was the very beginnings of a turtle sand sculpture.


Collecting seashells!


Hayden giving me a quick smile before heading to the ocean!


Halle watching the fish at the NC Aquarium. I love the look of wonder on her face and how Hayden is tenderly cradling her cheek...which he so often does with his sisters. So sweet!


Ella getting up close and personal with the fish in the 306,000 gallon aquarium...the largest in the state of NC.


Our first family photo that includes EVERYONE in the family! With my brother living in Hawaii and one of my sisters living in Texas we never get photos that include everyone. My mom has been wanting one for many years and it finally happened. The amazing thing is that I set this shot up on a tripod using a self timer and incredibly EVERYONE is looking directly at the camera and smiling! How often does that happen?!!


Me and my brother, sisters, and parents. The last time we had a photo with all of us was at my wedding 10 years ago.


These are my parents sharing a cute moment at the beach. They will be married 32 years later this month!


I LOVE her cute little freckles...one of my favorite parts of her!


Todd and my sister, Amiera, swimming with the wild dolphins. They would swim close to shore most morning feeding on large schools of fish. There were so many of them diving in and out of the water. Todd and Amiera decided to go out for a closer look. They said they could feel the rush of all the fish between their legs!


Halle showing off one of the drawings I made for her! We drew lots of large pictures in the sand during our beach stay.


Hayden enjoying the beach waves! The water was still quite cold but the kids didn't seem to mind the cold one bit. They were in it every day!


Ella enjoying some pool time with daddy.


Nana (my mom) bought each of the grandkids a bandana and wanted a photo of all of them together. They loved wearing them around the house pretending they were pirates!




I have a ton more photos but these were some of my favorites! I'm already looking forward to next years beach trip! Hope you all had a great mother's day yesterday and that you have a great Monday!

i ♥ faces: Contemplative

It has been quite a while since I have participated in the weekly challenge over at i ♥ faces. I really just haven't had the time to think about it with the craziness of summer and the start of the new school year. However, when I happened to see this weeks theme "contemplative" I immediatley knew I had to enter. During our recent beach trip I captured this image of Ella making her first encounter with the ocean. She ran for the water but once she saw the surf moving towards her she hesitated. I love how this image shows her cautiously "testing the waters" with her toes. How cute is that?! To enter your own photo or to see more "contemplative" images head on over to i ♥ faces.

Aaarrrrgghhhh!!

No, I haven't turned into a swashbuckling pirate!! I'm just aggravated with technology...specifically my crusty old laptop! She's old, real old in computer years...yes, my dear little laptop has reached the ripe old age of 4yrs...and she's really showing her age. I've been having some issues with her for quite a while. I actually sent her off to Dell almost a year ago to have some parts replaced after she shut off and refused to turn back on. Now, she's running slow again, always shutting down in the middle of projects, causing me more grief and tears than I care to share. Dell actually called me a few weeks ago for her 4yr check up to see how things were going and after describing the issues I've been having they advised that its time to upgrade her memory. Well, I guess it really is time. Yesterday she shut down while I was working on my beach photos in Photoshop and now Photoshop will not reopen b/c my "harddrive is full"! I know it may be time for a computer upgrade but that's just not in the budget right now. So, for now we will order some more memory and hope that fixes things, at least until the next computer meltdown that is bound to happen in 6 months or so. Today, I leave you with one photo that did get edited. I planned to add a little texture to it but like I said, it was out of my control. I really do love this picture. I wish I could transport myself back in time to the moment I took it, when the sun was warm, the tide was low, and computers were far from my mind....aaaahhhhh, yes!!

We're Back!!

We had a fantastic beach trip! It was so nice to get a break and spend a few relaxing days with some of our closest friends. I'll share some of the photos once I have time to get them uploaded. For now, here's a snapshot of our family on the beach. Gotta love all those red cheeks! Happy monday all!!

i ♥ faces: Silhouettes

This week at i ♥ faces the theme is Silhouettes. This picture is one that I took several years back with my very first point & shoot 4megapixel Minolta digital camera. I love the sparkling water and my son's perfect silhouette. I loved this photo then and I still love it even though I've moved on to a much fancier dSLR! When I heard what this week's theme was going to be I just knew I had to enter it. To see more great silhouettes or to enter one of your own visit i ♥ faces.