This is My Life?

Unbelievable. So lucky.

B and I took off this weekend to meet his parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousin at the beach on the North Carolina shore for a few days. His family has a beach house there, which arguably made Duke a more attractive choice for law school!

We arrived late and took a walk on the beach with his parents. About 20 minutes into the walk, B stumbled over something moving in the moonlight, what we assumed was a crab. Nope, not even. Turns out, it's sea turtle hatching season and it was a little lost baby sea turtle no bigger than your palm flapping his little arms toward a bright streetlight, which he'd mistaken for the glowing moon, which beckons these babies to water.

B and his Dad spent the better part of ten minutes guiding this little guy toward the water with the help of a flashlight suspended inches above his little head. By the time they had him almost all the way, his Mom spotted another one, starting the process all over. Nothing makes you love your husband more than seeing him on his hands and knees pushing sand into a makeshift wall to guide a newly-hatched sea turtle toward the ocean. Love it. We didn't see any more, so here's hoping everyone else had safe travel!

We spent the weekend (when not saving endangered wildlife) taking long beach walks, eating deliciously fresh seafood, and watching storms roll through from the safety of the back porch of a beach bar.

It was so great seeing his family and getting out of Durham. I had a few sad moments (Dad loved the beach; Dad always wore that kind of beach hat), but nothing soothes the soul like a good saltwater scrub, or a float in the complex pool.

We got home about an hour ago. Dinner's in the oven and B's hard at work on a little homework. We're both exited to see Mom and the Smith side of the family tomorrow night for a little dinner and playtime. We're so blessed to have so much family around us. Thank God!

Truckin' Along

B's sweet ride for 9 long hours. Good back up plan, no?

Looking Ahead

How bright eyed and optimistic are we? Bring on the move!

Kissing the Apartment Goodbye

Bye bye 524! We'll miss you!

B's Last First Day of School

Kim, you'll have to scan and send the first first day of school for a side-by-side comparison. From the look on this sweet face, I'm sure he'd LOVE to have it framed in his office.

Change, Change, Change

Times are a'changing, but it's all good. This week is my first week working from home in Durham and, I have to say, I love it. B set up this amazing office for me, so I'm taken care of there, plus a great back porch with a table at just the right height for my laptop. Nothing like drawing a little Tailgating inspiration from the great outdoors!

So far I've worked on the patio, on the back deck, and in the office and, I have to say, it's going great. B's back in school, so he's up and out before I'm even awake. I'm so excited for this year. What a fabulous treat to be with him every day. Oh the things some take for granted. :)

This week is a little nutty. Not only are we moving in, starting work, and starting school, but we've also got some family in town, which is such a treat! I promised B that next week would be more normal. You know, dinner and whatnot. But for now, we're both just so thankful to be in one place and have the move totally completed.

Things I'm looking forward to: grocery shopping, going for a walk with a college girlfriend, having tea with a former coworker, and celebrating my upcoming birthday at the beach with a bunch of B's high school buddies. So many wonderful things happening, so much to look forward to!

In Durham!

Friday went off without a hitch-- we got my entire apartment packed into a truck in 90 minutes. If anyone is moving in Birmingham, book Remarkable Movers. Don't think twice, just do it. They were the least expensive and super amazingly efficient. Can't say enough good about them.

We drove to Atlanta Friday night and had a great dinner with B's parents, then convinced them to watch the wedding video before we all turned in around 1am.

Saturday morning we left around 10 after a lazy morning on the back porch and a delicious quiche breakfast. Six hours and two tanks of gas later, we arrived in Durham at my sister's family's new house--it's beautiful!

We got the full tour then unloaded a few of the things into the house before packing up the car and heading to B's apartment --OUR apartment!-- to get settled. I'm so lucky-- B had spent hours cleaning before he left, so we arrived to a fully furnished, totally clean home that only needed a few finishing touches, including my clothes and books, plus a few little things from my apartment.

After a few hours of organizing and putting away, we headed back to the house to have dinner with the family. Something about moving day just screams "pizza!", and we had a blast just catching up.

As B and I were driving over for dinner, it really hit me. We're here. We're finally at this place that we've been working toward for three years, furiously so for the past nine months. I'm not sure I've ever reached that kind of goal; college was expected, my job is ongoing, but this, it's amazing. We're finally here, and it's amazing. Our stuff is comingled, and it's amazing. I went through our DVDs and books, removing duplicates, hopelessly linking me to this man (or risk losing a few of my favorite hardbacks).

We got started this morning by running errands-- going by the law school, buying B's books, and making a Costco run. Next on the list is Home Depot, then out to dinner with his parents.

Even though we've been married for three months, it feels like we're fresh out of the gates again, hopelessly happy despite a few unpacked electronics gathered at the foot of our couch. This is going to be a great year.