Ocracoke, NC

Towards the end of October,  Nick had a conference on Ocracoke Island.  I decided to tag along and we planned on staying a few extra days after the conference.  Our inn was simple and quaint, perfect for what we needed with a beautiful view of the marina.  Everything in the village was within walking distance.

Every morning we would ride our bikes to the cutest little coffee shop.  It was a house with a huge yard full of adirondack chairs and all the locals standing on the front porch talking.  Each day we would get our coffee and a delicious muffin and relax in the chairs.  Then we would head to the beach for a walk all before Nick had to be at his conference.

sunrise over the marina

walkway to the beach- from this point on the island you could see both the ocean and the sound

The beach was endless!  There are not any houses right on the beach on Ocracoke and it's beautiful.  The weather was unseasonably warm and so while Nick was in his conference, I spent the day on the beach!  When he was finished we would head back to the beach for a bit and then to dinner.

Unfortunately, we had to cut our trip short.  Hurricane Sandy was coming through and they were stopping all ferry service to and from the island.  We caught the last ferry out Saturday morning.  Even though it was shorter than planned we had such a great time and can't wait to go back.

Camping on the Albemarle Sound

Back in September Nick and I decided go camping on the Albemarle Sound.  Nick found a nature conservancy that had camping spots on the water and wanted to check it out.  We spent the day on a little beach by the sound reading, fishing, and napping.   

Someone recommended canoeing to us, so we decided to give it a try.  Let's just say a canoe was the wrong vessel to explore the sound in.  I think we paid for a half day rental but didn't even make it an hour.  The nice lady refunded our money and we went back to relaxing on the beach.  

Don't be fooled by the calm looking picture...

The next day we woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the sound.  Nick squeezed in more fishing before we headed back home.

Home Owners

2012 turned out to be a big year for us.  In addition to finding out we were going to be parents, we also bought our first house!  With the lease on our apartment ending soon, we started looking for places to rent and/ or buy.  We found out about the baby on a Friday, Nick got promoted on Monday, saw a listing for our house on Monday night, took a tour on Tuesday and made an offer on Thursday night.  It was a crazy week to say the least!  We kept joking we became "real" adults all in a weeks time.  God is good!

After they accepted our offer we still had a couple months before our closing.  When the day finally came (September 7) we were so excited!  Once we signed all the papers and the house was officially ours we celebrated with lunch at Gravy and cupcakes from The Cupcake Shop.  Such a fun day!

So, these last few months have been keeping us very busy.  We have been working hard to make our house into a home.  More to come on that soon!