I had such a great weekend with some wonderful friends and I can wholeheartedly say that it was exactly what I needed. Anthony, Harrison, Sam, and I were planning all week to go to the beach, but we got the party started a little early because we all ended up going to Miranda Lambert together the night before! Anthony drove his jeep with the top off and it was the perfect night for it. It just makes life feel so free and easy that you can't even start to worry about your hair - even though trying to get the knots out of it later was a little frustrating!
The next morning we all left bright and early and headed down Highway 70. With an obligatory stop at the Neuse Sport Shop, we decided to take the scenic route down Highway 58 and down Emerald Isle towards Atlantic Beach. We let the windows down once we hit Cape Carteret and although traffic was a little slow over the bridge, it was so nice to feel the sun and beach air!
We kept an eye out for beach accesses to park at and ended up in Pine Knoll Shores. It was a quiet little area which was absolutely perfect. We got our stuff all settled, slapped on some sunscreen, grabbed a drink, and immediately jumped in the water. It was a little cold at first and the seas were slightly bigger than what the forecast I had read indicated, but once you got in past the breakers, it was so perfect!
We hung out on the beach for a few hours and the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament's snapchat story said that boats were coming into the weigh station at 3:30, so we packed up and headed to the waterfront. The Big Rock is one of the largest blue marlin tournaments in the world, so we're really lucky to live so close! I had been before to see weigh-ins, but the guys hadn't. Unfortunately, Saturday was only the ladies' tournament, so no billfish could be boated. (The big fish are coming in this week.) They released 37 billfish that day, though, so that looked good for when the big boys go out this week! They brought in gamefish - a lot of dolphin (the fish, not the mammal) and a couple wahoo. There were some really nice fish and Sam and I decided that it's a life goal to fish in the ladies' tournament. They all were wearing their matching PFGs and looked like they were having so much fun!
After walking around Morehead City for a while (and shopping at the Big Rock store, of course), we met up with Mason and headed to Beaufort for dinner. We ate on the waterfront with a great view of the boats in their slips. It was the most perfect night and I was so happy to be with my favorite people.
After dinner, we met up with Matt for a little while and then headed home. Each time I go down to Carteret County, it just reaffirms how much I want to live down there. I adore the mountains, but the ocean truly has my heart.
The next morning we all left bright and early and headed down Highway 70. With an obligatory stop at the Neuse Sport Shop, we decided to take the scenic route down Highway 58 and down Emerald Isle towards Atlantic Beach. We let the windows down once we hit Cape Carteret and although traffic was a little slow over the bridge, it was so nice to feel the sun and beach air!
We kept an eye out for beach accesses to park at and ended up in Pine Knoll Shores. It was a quiet little area which was absolutely perfect. We got our stuff all settled, slapped on some sunscreen, grabbed a drink, and immediately jumped in the water. It was a little cold at first and the seas were slightly bigger than what the forecast I had read indicated, but once you got in past the breakers, it was so perfect!
We hung out on the beach for a few hours and the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament's snapchat story said that boats were coming into the weigh station at 3:30, so we packed up and headed to the waterfront. The Big Rock is one of the largest blue marlin tournaments in the world, so we're really lucky to live so close! I had been before to see weigh-ins, but the guys hadn't. Unfortunately, Saturday was only the ladies' tournament, so no billfish could be boated. (The big fish are coming in this week.) They released 37 billfish that day, though, so that looked good for when the big boys go out this week! They brought in gamefish - a lot of dolphin (the fish, not the mammal) and a couple wahoo. There were some really nice fish and Sam and I decided that it's a life goal to fish in the ladies' tournament. They all were wearing their matching PFGs and looked like they were having so much fun!
After walking around Morehead City for a while (and shopping at the Big Rock store, of course), we met up with Mason and headed to Beaufort for dinner. We ate on the waterfront with a great view of the boats in their slips. It was the most perfect night and I was so happy to be with my favorite people.
After dinner, we met up with Matt for a little while and then headed home. Each time I go down to Carteret County, it just reaffirms how much I want to live down there. I adore the mountains, but the ocean truly has my heart.
6.28.2016
I was watching my favorite little boy this weekend, Landon, and honestly it was just what I needed. A good, hearty dose of happy-go-lucky child. I've been feeling a lot better lately, but sometimes I still just don't quite feel like myself. This past week especially I have been mad at the world, really just choosing to be angry because few things are going my way.
I was outside with Landon (pouring sweat, might I add - I have no idea how that kid was running around as hard as he was) and he was a trip. He would run through the mulch and kick it all over the sidewalk, laughing just as hard as he could. I asked him what he was doing and he promptly responded that he was "making a mess in the mulch." No kidding. After he did this about thirteen-thousand times and after telling him to stop thirteen-thousand-and-one times (not very convincingly, moreso out of babysitter-duty, because honestly it wasn't that big of a deal - it took 30 seconds to sweep up), I said to him with a laugh, "Now, if mommy saw this would she be happy?" He looked up at me, smiling just as wide as he could with his bright red cheeks, and said in his little 2-year-old voice, "I'm happy!"
I could have melted right then and there. It's a shame how we lose that, just being happy running around in the yard on a sticky, 90-degree North Carolina evening. It's a shame how we grow up and we learn the bad in the world, that people are cruel and some days make you not want to get up in the morning. It's a shame that we get to a point where we stop saying "I'm happy" for no reason other than that we are truly, exquisitely happy.
We like people who are silly and laugh a lot and aren't too serious because in them we can still see the 2 year-old chasing his Corgi around the yard. They haven't lost that childlike joy, and I beg of you, try not to lose it either. Do your best to not let people break your soul when they break your heart. Don't let this world crush your spirit and surely don't stop being happy.
There's too much to live for - like catching lightning bugs and roly poly's, playing with racecars and farm animals, being obsessed with lawnmowers, and making messes in the mulch.
I was outside with Landon (pouring sweat, might I add - I have no idea how that kid was running around as hard as he was) and he was a trip. He would run through the mulch and kick it all over the sidewalk, laughing just as hard as he could. I asked him what he was doing and he promptly responded that he was "making a mess in the mulch." No kidding. After he did this about thirteen-thousand times and after telling him to stop thirteen-thousand-and-one times (not very convincingly, moreso out of babysitter-duty, because honestly it wasn't that big of a deal - it took 30 seconds to sweep up), I said to him with a laugh, "Now, if mommy saw this would she be happy?" He looked up at me, smiling just as wide as he could with his bright red cheeks, and said in his little 2-year-old voice, "I'm happy!"
I could have melted right then and there. It's a shame how we lose that, just being happy running around in the yard on a sticky, 90-degree North Carolina evening. It's a shame how we grow up and we learn the bad in the world, that people are cruel and some days make you not want to get up in the morning. It's a shame that we get to a point where we stop saying "I'm happy" for no reason other than that we are truly, exquisitely happy.
We like people who are silly and laugh a lot and aren't too serious because in them we can still see the 2 year-old chasing his Corgi around the yard. They haven't lost that childlike joy, and I beg of you, try not to lose it either. Do your best to not let people break your soul when they break your heart. Don't let this world crush your spirit and surely don't stop being happy.
There's too much to live for - like catching lightning bugs and roly poly's, playing with racecars and farm animals, being obsessed with lawnmowers, and making messes in the mulch.
6.06.2016
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