Adoption Blog

This is one of my favorite sources for adoption information. If you're at all interested in adoption, I highly recommend this source!

http://adoptedbydesign.typepad.com/

Pack Your Bags . . . It's Time for Vacation!!!

YES! Vacation is FINALLY here! I am so excited to escape reality for a short time and adopt the carefree, rested, and fun spirit that comes along with being at the beach! There's no other place in the world where I feel so in tune with God, nature, and my own heart/spirit then when I'm sitting on a quiet beach looking out at the vast ocean and all that it symbolizes to me. My spirit is still and I feel more peace in those moments than anywhere else at any other time. Right now, my spirit desperately needs to feel still. Between the news of my dad's health, the continued infertility saga, the inability to find a good job, and the restlessness of many friendships in my life right now, I just need to feel still. Does anyone know what I'm talking about here? The power and the words "Be still and know that I am God" are most effective during moments like these.

We'll begin our vacation in Ocean Isle Beach. OIB is our favorite place to go! It's like our home away from home! It's even more special on this trip b/c we'll be taking a group of our Sunday School friends with us for a marriage retreat. This will be our last time together with the people in this class before we move on to our new class the following Sunday. It will be a bittersweet time for sure. Chris and I have the privilege of leading worship together for this retreat. It's fun to get back to our "roots" as this is how we originally met and fell in love :) Here is a picture of the house we'll be staying in (it's beautiful!).

So, we'll be in OIB Friday through Sunday. We'll leave there and head north towards Southport, NC. This is another place we love to go! It's a small, very quaint, fisherman's town - but it's beautiful! The history, the houses, the architecture, the local shops/restaurants all make this place what it is today. It's right on the Cape Fear River. We've booked a night at a local motel right on the water. We'll spend the day there soaking up the local culture and cuisine! Our favorite thing to do here is drive around and admire all the gorgeous renovated turn-of-the century homes. We are both goo-roo's for architecture :) We make lists and take pictures of things we like and don't like about these houses, so when it's our time to build our dream house, we know what to do (or not do) :)

From there, we'll continue our trek north to Wilmington, NC. This is, by far, my favorite place on earth! This town holds many childhood and adolescent memories for me. But the most important memory there is when Chris asked me to marry him. It was the perfect place for such a moment. So I like to go back there as often as I can, re-living all the memories that came before and experiencing new ones. While in Wilmington, we'll do the typical touristy things, but most importantly, we'll end our day at Dockside Restaurant. Dockside is my favorite seafood restaurant on the NC Coast. I've been going there since I was in high school. Most importantly, it's where Chris took me for dinner after proposing to me on the beach. I LOVE it there! It's very "local" and the food is great. It went through a rough patch for a few years, and there was talk of tearing it down, but it's now under new management and is thriving! YAY!

Wilmington in Springtime

Historic Downtown Riverwalk

An exact replica of the scene when Chris proposed

Beginning on Tuesday, we'll join my mom, dad, and newly-graduated little sister in Topsail Beach and will spend the remainder of our vacation there with them. My parents have some friends who own a gorgeous mansion on the beach and have generously offered it up to my parents several times as an escape from their haunting reality. So, in honor of Hannah Musette's high school graduation, we are all spending some much needed family time together at this beautiful home on this beautiful beach! I've never actually been to Topsail Beach, so I don't know what the area is like. But according to my parents, it's very quiet and relaxing, non-touristy and simple. Sounds good to me!