TIME FLIES

Time really really does fly. 

Back in June, Brooke applied for a flight attendant position on a whim. 

She graduated from NC State in May with a degree in graphic design and went straight into a full time position as the graphic designer for a jewelry designer.

She loved what was she was doing and was making a great name for herself.

She just is not a sitter, right now.  

Sitting in front of a computer screen from 9-5 was not what she envisioned herself doing straight out of college.  

Just days after clicking the "submit" button on the application, she was called for a phone interview.

She was successful.

She was flown to Charlotte, NC just days later for a full day face to face interview.

She was once again successful and was offered a flight attendant position.

Again, just days later she was on a plane to Phoenix to spend the next six weeks in full time training. 

I had to put my big girl/mama pants on and get used to the idea that my girls are at a very exciting part of their lives. I  had to  join in on the excitement instead of looking at these days as something sad. 

I have been so excited for her.  

Arizona was a fun experience for her, however, 

the 100' plus heat was a new thing for her and her new friends. 

She met and mad some great friends and some very interesting characters!

The day they got their uniforms was an exciting one!

I told her I wanted a picture the day she had to start wearing them to training....

Before they graduated they each got scheduled on a flight to work their onboard exam. 

Brooke worked a flight from Phoenix to Chicago. 

I could not wait to hear all about it!

After six weeks she graduated....

 and found out that she would be based out of the DC area 

with five others from her graduating class.  

We had five days to get her there, settled and ready to travel the world.  

We reluctantly did it. 

After her orientation,

she was on call for a few days and has been a little jealous of her classmates being given trips to Paris, Amsterdam and Belgium.

She is low on the totem pole because of her age and in the flight attendant industry it is all about seniority. 

She is finally excited tonight though!  

She got a call from scheduling....

and  

tomorrow morning she is headed out.

She will spending some time here.....

and hopefully sitting here...

 I am jealous.

Proud, but still jealous. 

ON THE WATER/Beach 2013 part 2

There is something about being out on the water.

We try to take the boat out everytime we are at the beach even if it is just for a short ride up and down the waterway. We are new to boating and I especially do not know much about it.  

We have a boat that we bought from a friend that just happened to be upgrading boats about the time we were looking for one.  

It is our "starter boat" and the husband likes to say.  

As I have said, our beach has canals off of the waterway....

The girls like to ski and go tubing as much as possible.

Their dad surprised them with a wakeboard one weekend this summer and Barrett couldn't wait to give it a try.  

She is a fast learner....she got up on the third try!

instagram

That morning she wakeboarded all the way from Sunset Beach to Holden Beach,

our beach is in between the two.  

Charlie and Lola went out a few times this summer.  

Charlie is more skittish than Lola and it took him longer to get comfortable.

I do think the only thing he liked was all of the wind in his hair (fro), but other than that I do not think he was a fan.  

Lola is the braver of the two.

She sat straight up on the tube from the start and then she made her way to the "captain's" chair and sat their on my lap.  

There are several restaurants that you can take your boat to.

Inlet View is at Ocean Isle and yes,

the views are spectacular! 

Provision Company is at Holden Beach.  

I love just trolling and looking at the sites. 

The older shrimp boats take great pictures - even with just the iPhone. 

Hopefully we will have a few more trips to the beach and out on the boat before it gets cold. 

I have plans to take my good camera and start taking pictures of the shrimp boats, pelicans and anything else that would be great in a black and white print. There is a wall in the house that I want to start filling up with pictures.   

Our Summer at the Beach part 1

We have had our house at the beach for three and a half years now.

During the summer we spend as much time as we can there and go as often as we can during the school  year. The soccer schedule usually dictates when we go.

It is close to a three hour drive for us, door to door. 

 During the summer we usually have two cars there and Art will leave during the week to go back to Raleigh to work and then head back to the beach on Thursday for a three or four day weekend. 

The older girls have had to work around their work and school schedules, 

but they do spend as much time at the beach as they can.
It is truly our second home.

When we are there, we spend a lot of time outside.

Usually we have the ladder ball game set up outside and play

 while Art is cooking seafood on the grill.
Sometimes we roll the ping pong table out and play in the yard. 

I try to walk, run and/or ride my bike everyday.
(I do try to do all three.)

(Art, back in early spring)

The usual mode of transportation there is by golf/street cart. 

We load it up with all of our beach gear and head to the beach for the afternoon.

(The beach is about 12 houses way from our house.)

I love riding to the beach on my bike.

My bike is pink and has a wicker basket on the front.  

I have put many many miles on it. 

At night while we are watching TV, we like to put puzzles together.

Barrett is our puzzle expert.

She would stay up all night putting one together

and she would have a little help.....

I love walking the beach at low tide.

I am officially one of those ladies that walk staring at the ground for hours.  

I am a sheller. 

I cannot tell you how many bocci ball games I have walked through obliviously. 

I have shown these pictures before, but they were taken in late spring/early summer.

I don't know what was up with the Mother Nature, but we found everything on the table one afternoon!

I have several lamps that you can fill with things and, you guessed it, they are filled with shells.  

Coral is harder to find, but I have had a little luck this summer. 

I have an antique wine jug that I am filling.  

Sometimes, I  find some interesting creatures. 

I threw this guy back.

My seaglass collection is growing.  

This picture is from the beginning of the summer and I have more than doubled the number of pieces. 

On rare occasions, I just walk......

Our beach is small.

It is on an island all by itself and 

 is about four miles wide.  

Something just happens when you cross over that bridge.....

There is a main street that runs along the direction of the beach and then there are streets that run vertically to the ocean along the canals that come off the waterway. 

Our house is on one of the canals.

We can see the intracoastal waterway from our back deck and we can hear the waves from the other direction.

(old picture....we have enclosed underneath the house where the boat is and made it into a garage that opens up in the front of the house and the back. We also store our boat on a boat lift off our dock.)

This is the screened porch off the second floor of our house (master bedroom). The waterway is to the right, past the trees. 

(Yes, that is a statue of me on the table!)

(I love sleeping with the door opened when it is cool enough.....

the breeze, the sound of the waves and boats.....ahhhhh!)

This is down the canal to the left.

The ocean is behind that house at the end. 

The sunsets are amazing!

This is off the kitchen. We eat dinner a lot here.  It is also the best place in the house to drink coffee in the morning.......and wine in the afternoon!

We added the curtains this summer because the sun was just too much to enjoy sitting out there in the afternoon.  

I will certainly miss the beach this holiday weekend. It is the last hurrah  of the summer.

We will be spending the weekend at a soccer tournament in Greensboro, NC with Barrett (#3). 

I do have a lot more beach pictures to share.

Stay tuned.

JUNIOR

My baby is a junior in high school! 

School started for Barrett this morning.  Summer is a blur. 

Sunday evening, we had a low stress dinner at home. Barrett wanted grilled fish and roasted veggies. We ate out on the front porch as the sun went down (and pouted).

We have a family tradition to eat Nutty Buddies on the last night of summer break.  We have been doing this since the older girls started elementary school. We bought our fish at Whole Foods and they do not sale Nutty Buddies and so we had to compromise a little. 

We were sad that #2 was not here and so we Facedtimed with her.  

Gotta love the iPhone! 

#3 spent her last night of summer double checking her summer assignments. 

(DON'T get me started about summer school work.....I am not a fan. at. all.)

(Oh, OH, OH...do not get me started!)

Moving right a long....

This morning came too early!!!! AND it was pouring outside. 

 Barrett has grown up so quickly.

I cannot believe she only has two more years of school until college.

She looked so pretty this morning!

All the essentials for the first day of school.....

cluttering up the counters again! 

There is no doubt that this girl likes her preppy things! 

Her stitches are healing nicely and she isn't bothered by them at all. 

At 7AM she pulled out of the driveway.

It has begun.