back to reality

After an amazing nine days in the Outerbanks, it is back to the daily grind of school and work and just trying to keep up with myself. I don't want to go back to reality, however I know that I do not have a choice and I know that before I know it, the seven remaining weeks in this semester will be over. It truly amazes me how quickly time goes by and it is hard to believe that in just seven short weeks, I will be finished with my first semester of college. Gah I'm getting old!

This week, was amazing though. Last Friday, Kimberly, Patrick, Tim, and myself packed up from Greensboro and headed east toward the coast of North Carolina. While we were traveling, Jay was traveling south from Norfolk, Virginia where he is based in the Navy, to meet us in Buxton. I was trying to prepare myself during our six hour drive as to what to expect, after only visiting South Carolina and Virginia beaches. But, they do not compare to the beaches of North Carolina by any means. When we arrived, it was dark, so we unpacked the cars and settled in for the week. Saturday morning, however, we did not waste any time getting up and around so we could get to the beach. We did our grocery shopping and made our way over the dunes to the beach. While it was not extremely hot, it was still warm...when the wind wasn't blowing. Again, on Monday we went out on the beach in the 80 degree weather and left, all having very very red bodies. We went to dinner that night and after visited the historical Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, known for being the tallest brick light house in the world.
On Wednesday, we rode the ferry from Hatteras to Ocracoke Island to eat at Howard's Pub and do some touristy items, including visit the Ocracoke Lighthouse. However, after seeing the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the Ocracoke Lighthouse was just not quiet as impressive. We returned to Hatteras Island and Patrick and I decided that we wanted shrimp for dinner. So, we rode the bikes down to Conner's Supermarket, only to find that they did not have any shrimp. Then, we decided to get a movie and ride back to the house because it was getting dark out. However, we did not go without shrimp, we drove to Avon and picked up 2 1-lb bags of shrimp and a jar of cocktail sauce for $10! We returned to the house and had an amazing feast! The rest of the week was spent relaxing, as the weather was in the 40's and 50's. On Thursday, Patrick and I went around the island together and did some shopping, while Kimberly, Jay, and Tim went off and did their thing. It was nice having a day still on the island but just to ourselves. However, we spent too much money, but that's beside the point.

All and all, the week was extremely relaxing and very enjoyable. As I said, I am not ready to return to normal life, but I suppose I do not have much of a choice. This week, I will return to work for the first time in two weeks and I am ready! Also, I will get the pleasure of having the company of Uncle Kevin and Emily, as they are in North Carolina from Washington and we are all soo very excited=]

I hope everyone has a great week! Take care!