I'm not quite sure what reaction or overreaction he was expecting from me, but my immediate response was, "When can we go?" Less than 4 weeks later, we were packing up our life in D.C. and making plans for the year.
After putting all of our earthly belongings into storage, we headed to Canada for a week at the lake with our good buddy, Jon. Chilling at the lake was a great way to "reset" ourselves for this year of exploration. Here are some lake shots.
From Canada, we headed south to Carolina Beach, North Carolina. My cousin Tracee and her husband, Duke, own a few bike rental shops as well as a fudge shop and an ice cream shop on the beach. Considering Gideon's bike expertise and my fudge and ice cream expertise, we figured we'd be helpful additions to the staff for the high season, so we invited ourselves down for the summer.
So, here we are in sunny Carolina Beach. Located just south of Wilmington, Carolina Beach is situated on a small island referred to as "Pleasure Island". We certainly understand why. We've been pleasuring in surfing, biking, eating fudge and ice cream, wearing bathing suits and flip flops 24/7, doing beach yoga, watching weekly fireworks displays, and more. Oh yeah, and we've been working a bit at the shops, if you call scooping ice cream, sampling ice cream, cutting fudge, and sampling fudge "work".
Here is a glimpse of life in Carolina Beach so far.
Surfer boy
Tracee & Duke's son, Sam, and his amazing shark tooth find
Tracee and Duke's daughter, Hana, and her new BFF, Josie
Not fair. I want to take a year off too!!!! My company is cutting how much they will pay on cell phone reimbursement...maybe I will suggest this...
ReplyDeleteSo....you are in north carolina and we are in north carolina....how many extra bedrooms do you have :)
Love it!
ReplyDeleteWow, looks like you two are living the life. I still miss you being so close...I keep thinking..."Ohh, maybe Em will want to go see that movie with me..", but then I remember your eating fudge and ice cream in Carolina. I love you and miss you very very much.
ReplyDeleteI miss you very very much too... and I haven't been able to ask you to go to the movies with me in a LONG time! :) Maybe someday! ;) I LOVE the blog so far and i even requested some of my friends follow along too because i know they'd love to get to know via blog too :) Love you and have a great time and lots o' fun!
ReplyDeleteSista Becca Raisin :)
Hi Emily, How can I get your job. A year off with any kind of benefits sounds like a great idea. I am going to suggest that my husband propose that idea to his boss. Then we can both be volunteers! After 33 years of marriage and 6 kids getting a chance to be in the same room together would be earth shaking. Have a ball and thanks for sharing your adventure with the rest of us. FYI- All is well at NMNH but we miss you.
ReplyDelete