Wednesday, August 21, 2013

an ode to north carolina

With 12 days left in the state I have called home for the last year and a half, I find myself a little nostalgic. So many great things happened to us here, and while I am pumped and ready for this new adventure, I want to take some time to look back as well.

The year I met my husband, only 3 months after we started dating, his family invited me on their annual family vacation. I was surprised, because hey, it had only been 3 months. They must have known what we already suspected ourselves, that this relationship was in for the long haul :) That my was first introduction to North Carolina and OBX. And while I had been to the beach a few times before, this was the first time that I truly fell in love with an area. Something about the dunes, the beach grass, and the lighthouses was so magical to me, and made me feel so calm and peaceful, that I knew this place would always be a home for my heart.





8 years have passed since that first year, each vacation better than the last. It was because of these amazing vacations that we had always planned to move to the coast, preferably OBX, to make our "forever home". Last year, we finally made the leap and moved the 12 hours from Alabama to North Carolina- not to the Outer Banks, as was our original plan, but to a tiny little town we'd never been to called New Bern. When we rolled in, after the loooong 12 hour drive, we were less than impressed. Our apartment was crappy, the town seemed a little ghetto, and we wondered if we had made a huge mistake.

Pretty much describes 90% of our relationship.


Over time, we slowly fell in love with the town. We explored the quaint downtown area, the waterfront, and met some of the amazing people who call this place home. We experienced so many firsts here; I found out I was pregnant, and told Mike he was going to be a daddy in that crappy little apartment. We worked our asses off to move out of the awful neighborhood, into the cutest little house, the first place we actually felt was ours. We brought our son home to this house, and watched him go from a tiny little squirmy newborn into the amazing little boy that brings so much light into our lives every day. Here we experienced some of our roughest patches, and some of our happiest times.

So, although we are leaving a place that we have made so many wonderful friends and memories, we are excited for our new life. We've learned over the years that home is wherever we are all together. But, in times of stress, whenever I think of my "happy place".... it will always be here.













D's first time to the beach... he's 1 month old! (And it's January... crazy)



1 comment:

  1. This actually made me a little bit teary! It got me thinking about all the things I've done and the big moves I've made...

    our first house (also in a dodgy neighborhood) and how I know this wont be our forever home because lewy is already antsy to move out... I've been taking pictures of every single little thing we have done here just so one day I can look back and show our kids (when they decide to make their appearances) that we pretty much came from nothing.... Good on you cuz for making everything work! I'm happy you guys have found something that suits you both =) Love you!!!!

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