That’s right – my brother and sister-in-law are following their dreams and living at the beach! It’s so incredible and I’m so happy for them. They saved, stuck with it through setbacks, swallowed their pride and landed same-day job offers for each of them at The Outer Banks Hospital. They moved at the end of March and with me knowing I was going to be starting a new job mid-April, I had to get out there to visit them and see their new place the first few days of April. They have an adorable little house in downtown Manteo on Roanoke Island. They can walk to shops, restaurants, grocery stores, movie theatre, barber shop, waterfront, marina, lighthouse, etc. We had such a blast during my visit and I’m already looking forward to my next trip. Here are some photos. Continue reading
Category Archives: Travel and Adventures
India 2017: Beautiful Kerala – Alleppy and Cochin
Although I don’t think anything I saw on this trip to India could beat the Taj Mahal, Kerala was by far my favorite part in that it exceeded all my expectations. It was lush, tropical, clean, beautiful and had a vibrant and diverse population. Continue reading
Springtime Visit to Sarasota, Florida
Two days after I got home from India and still plenty jet-lagged, we headed down to Florida for the wedding of Sean’s friends Sean and Caitlin. Sean was a groomsman so we had to get down a couple of days before the wedding for all the festivities. Luckily, Sarasota isn’t a terrible place to spend a long weekend! 😉 Continue reading
India 2017: Holi Festival, Ranthambore, and Jaipur
The middle part of our trip in India had us at Ranthambore National Park and Jaipur. Before we left Agra, our tour guide Raj arranged for us to participate in a mini-celebration for Holi complete with white outfits, powder colors, music and traditional treats at the hotel. This festival is rooted in the positivity of good winning out over evil and celebrates the larger thought that “everything is going to be ok.” We had a lot of fun doing this with other hotel guests before getting on our way.
India 2017: Delhi, Agra and the Taj Mahal
We left Atlanta on March 8 and had a short layover at London Heathrow before flying in to New Delhi and arriving about 1am local time on Friday, March 10th. We went straight to our hotel via transportation organized by our tour operator, Indus Travels. The hotel was gorgeous – considering Sean and I don’t mind staying in hostels and low-key guesthouses my expectations are not very high! LOL. Continue reading
Gratefulness is the Key to a Happy Life!
It’s been a very busy start to 2017 for me but it has all been SO positive. And I’ve got some big and exciting things happening that I wanted to share.
INDIA!
That’s right – me and my mom are going on a 2-week trip to India and we leave tonight! It’s going to be quite an adventure and I’m so grateful to be able to have the time to travel right now and to go on this trip with my mom. We’re going to spend a few days in the “Golden Triangle” of New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. We’ll tour the Taj Mahal at sunrise, see historic sites and spend a day with elephants where we’ll get to bathe, feed and ride them. Next we spend a couple of nights in a treehouse in Ranthambore National Park where we’ll go on canter safari to look for Bengal tigers and other wildlife. The last leg of the trip has us flying south of Mumbai to the Kerala region where we’ll take a cooking class with a family in Cochin and do on a houseboat cruise in Alleppy. I’ll have more report once we get back. 🙂
NEW CAR!
The Golden Nuggett (my 2007 yellow Chevy Cobalt coupe) has been with me a long time. 10 years. But it was time for something new and after many months of talking, trying out cars and saving money, I am SO grateful to have been able to pay cash for our new 2014 Ford Escape. I took a lot of risks last year that had financial implications and I’m very proud of how everything worked out.
(Oh and we still have the Cobalt so if someone’s interested in buying it, let me know!)
NEW JOB OPPORTUNITY!
I can’t give details yet because it’s not 100% complete, but something great and big is in the works. I interviewed like crazy after my contract role with Havas + Coke ended on January 31st and I ended up having to TURN DOWN several roles. So very grateful to be in that position and be able to choose what I really want and what’s best for our family.
MORE TRAVEL!
Can’t stop, won’t stop. And have to pack it all in before I start a new job. Headed to Florida two days after I get back from India to see Sean’s friends Sean and Caitlin tie the knot. I’m then off the Outer Banks of North Carolina the day after I get back from Florida to see my brother and sister-in-law’s new place on Manteo since they both got jobs at the Outer Banks Hospital and are moving from Ohio on March 19th. This has been their dream for YEARS and I’m in awe of how they made it happen.
Seriously, you guys. All the good things. It’s been busy, hectic, stressful and overwhelming at times but I’m managing it by reminding myself daily that it’s all so positive. And I’m grateful.
Fun with Friends in Asheville
We love Asheville. And many of our friends love Asheville, too. So we figured why not go together with friends for a weekend? Me, Sean, Greg and Krista headed out the weekend before Valentine’s Day and had a great time visiting some favorite spots while also trying out a few new places. Continue reading
36 Hours in Philadelphia
Sean has been going up to Philly almost weekly for the last 4 months. His company has a big client up there and I’ve seen him go from ho-hum about the city to really enjoying his time there during this time period. Around Christmastime, he started mentioning that I should come up sometime and we could stay for a weekend together. When he had to be up there for a week AND weekend for work, we made plans for me to join him Friday-Sunday. Read on to see what we did but I’ll start by saying the city truly exceeded my expectations! Continue reading