First Family Vacation

Over the Labor Day holiday, we took our first family vacation down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina (of course!).  On our way down, we stopped in to visit our friends the Whites and their little girl Julia.  It's been a while since we have gotten a chance to visit with them and it was their first time meeting Colin.  Julia was happy to try to play with Colin, but he was mostly just taking it all in.  :)

After a short stay, we ventured further down to our final destination in Nags Head, NC.  It's crazy to think I have been coming here with him for the past 7 years (first trip in 2005 - egads!).  He proposed at The Marshes Lighthouse in Manteo and we got married on the beach in Nags Head.  Needless to say, I think it's fitting we decided to make this our first family vacation destination.

Our first day, we made it out to the beach in the late afternoon.  It's a good thing we did because during the rest of our stay, the waters were super rough and red flagged so it was our only opportunity for a dip. Colin was totally fascinated with the sound of the waves and kept turning around to face the water.

Rob and I decided we should probably stick his toes in the ocean to make it an official visit to the beach.  At 4.5 months, that seemed to be all that was needed.  Next year we might venture into the sound a little bit.

Colin didn't seem to mind the water at all even though it was cooler than his normal bath water.  It was still a lot warmer than what Rob and I are used to for ocean temps in May.  We could actually get in without waiting for body parts to go numb.  Ha!

Randomly, I found out that my high school friend Ryan and his wife Alina were also in the Outer Banks visiting at the same time, so we met up for lunch.  Alina is expecting in December, so they got some practical experience holding Colin.  :)  It was good to see them again.

Our friends had brought down their kayak to play around in the sound, so we took turns giving it a go.  I have never kayaked before, but I thought it was a lot of fun.

Rob had apparently been before, but it's been a while.  He still did really good and maneuvered pretty good around the water.

And finally, there was a beautiful sunset that happened on our last night there.  I had an important lesson in lenses and my new camera.  Going from AC to like 150% humidity causes fogging.  With the quick sunset, the lens never really cleared, but it kind of makes for an interesting affect.

Overall, it was a great vacation.  The ride home was a bit trying, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.  Here's hoping to many more family vacations to one of our favorite places on Earth.  :)

Shrimp and Pork Tarragon

Rob and I still try to be adventurous in out cooking endeavors, although not to the extent we were before.  Everything in moderation these days, but that's ok.  Rob was browsing through our Outer Banks Cookbook and found a recipe that sounded decent, Shrimp and Pork Tarragon.  It didn't seem overly complicated and sounded like something we might like, so in went into last week's recipe rotation.

Shrimp and Pork Tarragon
1- 12 ounce pork tenderloin
Flour for dredging
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon each unsalted butter and oil, mixed
1/4 sweet onion
18 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup white wine, preferably a chardonay
1/4 cup heavy cream
1-2 Tablespoons coarse French mustard (or smooth if you prefer)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon

1. Cut pork tenderloin diagonally into 1 inch slices.  Lightly dredge in flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

2. Heat the butter/oil mix in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  (Unsalted butter is best because it won't burn - who knew?)  Add the pork medallions and chopped onions and cook until pork is brown, 3 minutes on each side.  Transfer pork to an oven safe platter.
3. Add shrimp to the pan, and cook for 1 minute each side.  Add white wine and cook down to half, about 2-3 minutes.  Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and fan over the top of the pork medallions on platter.  Place platter in oven.
4. Add cream, mustard, and tarragon to the reduced wine.  Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until thick.  Add salt to taste.
5. Pour sauce on top of poke and shrimp, or arrange on individual plates and top with sauce.

I read the directions about 4 times, but somehow I missed when to add the onions.  Needless to say they were added after I cooked the shrimp (oops), but it came out ok in the end.  Not perfect but it was decent.

I also found a recipe for hush puppies, so I took a stab at making them as well.  They were a little on the dense side, but I think that's because I added all the liquid instead of following the directions where they say to mix until just moistened.  :P

Hush Puppies
2 cup cornmeal
1 Tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
3 Tablespoons minced onion (optional)
Vegetable oil for frying

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda and powder, and salt.
2. In a small bowl, beat the buttermilk and egg together. (Optional: Place the minced onions in the bowl before adding the buttermilk and egg)  Stiir into the dry ingredients just until the batter is moistened.  Set aside.
3. Pour oil into a deep skillet or pot until it is 2-3 inches deep.  Heat over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees, or until a drop of batter begins to "dance" in the oil.
4. Drop the batter by a few spoonfuls (I used a cookie scoop) at a time into the hot oil without crowding the pot.  Fry until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

The whole meal was pretty good.  We probably won't make the shrimp and pork tarragon again with all the other recipes we like, but it was worth trying.  We will definitely be trying to make the hush puppies again though!  YUM!

The Big Day!

*** The main reason for the delay of this post was I assumed we would be getting our photos from our photographer sooner than we did and I am posting now without her photos because she hasn't mailed them to us yet.  Once she does, I will highlight them in their own blog post.  Of course a move, temp housing, and new job haven't helped with finding time to do these things either.  :)

The long awaited day had finally arrived!  Rob and I had decided that we were not going to see each other the day of the wedding, so it made it a little interesting moving around the house.  My sister and brother-in-law made breakfast for the whole house on Friday, so we got quite a buffet of delicious foods to choose from including sausages, baked sweet breads, fruit, and mimosas. I grabbed a good plate of things and sat out on my private balcony sipping my mimosa and eating fruit in the bright sunshine.  Melissa and Joanna and Annie came to visit me and we played and enjoyed the weather. 

It came time to get to the salon for our hair dos and what not so we all piled into my sisters van and went to Hairoics for some pampering.  We brought a tray of chow and more champagne to sip on at the salon.

How it begins

The salon with everyone getting ready

Almost done with the hair

The finished product :)

From there we picked up the flowers from Harris Teeter which were just fabulous.  I couldn't have asked for nicer flowers that really fit our wedding.  We wanted simple but pretty bouquets and he nailed it perfectly.  The gals went back to the house and ate our lunch before getting ready for the ceremony. 

From that point on it was a bit of a whirlwind of activity.  The girls were getting ready upstairs, the boys took over the downstairs and there were people everywhere.  Our photographer showed up and started dancing between the floors to capture everything.  (She did a spectacular job)  Once we were set, we made out way over to the ceremony site. 

Getting some last minute instructions before heading down the aisle

Dad and I make our way down the beach

Rob and I see each other for the first time that day

Rob smiling :)

Exchanging vows

You may now kiss the bride

On our way to happily ever after

Fun bridal party poses

I feel like this is the appropriate place to give a huge thank you to the wonderful individuals that married us.  Meredith and Brantley put together such a beautiful ceremony and homily.  It was personal and it was lovely.  We are truly grateful to know such wonderful people.

Also, I would like to give a lot of thanks to Mr. Dave Hauver who filmed our ceremony and through miracles of modern technology was able to stream it live over the internet for people who couldn't make it.  We heard scattered reports of success, so we were pretty pleased we had the ability to share our day them. 

After the ceremony and pictures, we were whisked away to do some of our individual and couple portraits which turned out fabulous!  I can't wait to share them with you.  Before we knew it, we were running late to be at the reception to get the party under way!

Hiding on the back porch to be announced in with the rest of the bridal party

Our first dance - Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat

Father Daughter dance - Just The Way You Are by Billy Joel

Mother Son dance - The Man You've Become by Molly Pasutti

Our DJ did a great job getting people out on the dance floor and just having a great time.  It was the most fun I have had in a long time.  Of course being surrounded by friends and family and celebrating one of the biggest moments in your life probably had something to do with it.  Rob and I were absolutely overjoyed by how wonderful everything went and really happy to see everyone.  We wouldn't have changed a single thing about our wedding and would do it all over again in a heart beat.

Places People!

Rehearsals are often needed to make sure that important events go as planned. Usually they are associated with live drama or music or dance, but someone along the way thought they would be good for weddings too.

On Friday, after most people had arrived, we headed over to the ceremony location to get our practice on. The weather was holding out pretty well and we kicked off the sandals and went to get the game plan together.


Meredith and Brantley were our fabulous officiants who provided the general outline of the ceremony and when to move where. After everyone figured out who there exit buddy was, we did a test run to make sure we really knew what we were doing. Since everyone has been in at least a wedding or attended one in the last 2-3 years, we knew the drill.

I had a bouquet that was part of the Jack N' Jill bridal shower contest and then one from my shower. My sister and all her creativeness blended the two for the gianormous monster I am seen holding below. After we had left for our honeymoon, I began to wonder where on earth that thing have wondered off to. The last time I saw it was in Colleen and Bruce's trunk. When we got back, it was piled on the stack of boxes in our apartment. *shurgs* I have no clue who got it back.

From the rehearsal part of the night, we went to the dinner part of the night. This was most exciting because we were hungry and going to one of our favorite places to eat; The Black Pelican. Dinner was delicious and even came when some entertainment from Bill the Best Man.


A brief welcome was said by Rob's dad and then a small speech from my dad. We followed with our bridal party gifts. The boys got engraved pocket knives and the girls got an engraved jewelry box along with a necklace that they could wear the day of the wedding. My step mom made those and they were very nice. Then it was time to get some rest for the big day ahead. ;)

Arrival to the OBX

In the week leading up to the wedding, there was a lot going on. Lists were getting checked off left and right and we were packing fools. Not only did we need to get everything for the wedding, we needed all of our stuff for our honeymoon as well. In all the craziness I also got a wicked head cold which added a whole new layer of fun to the already stressful week.

We managed to make it to the airport and got down to Norfolk without too much trouble. One the second leg of the flight though, my head felt like it was going to explode. That was the first time I had flown with a head cold and I have decided I really don't like it.

Our trip down to the Outer Banks was much shorter than all our previous trips down. It was kind of refreshing and felt like we were cheating by being in the car for only 2 hours. We managed to make it down in time to drop our stuff at our house and meet Rob's family for dinner at one of our favorite places, Tortuga's Lie.

After dinner, Rob and I explored our newly remodeled house. When we rented it, the scheme for the decor was kind of kitchy beach/border line tacky if it weren't at the beach. The week before we arrived, they updated the website with the new photos. I thought I had saved the wrong website at first, but then realized they totally overhauled the place. It looked much more updated modern beach. Very classy. It turned out that we were the first people to rent the house after it's renovations. What a super bonus.

On Thursday we took care of some of the errands we could before everyone got to the beach. I went to Hairoics for my trial hair run. It was nice to have someone play with my hair for a while. :)


After the hair shop, I met up with Rob (he was picking up his tux) and we picked up our rings from Diamonds and Dunes. My favorite jewelry store. We grabbed some chow and headed back to the house to relax for a bit.

Given the beautiful weather, I went to the beach to take in the awesome views and just have a zen moment. Just a wonderful reminder why we chose this as the place to get married.


Thursday night we got a hold of everyone we knew that was in the area and went to Jockey's Ridge to watch the sunset. It was nice to share a very Outer Banks thing with so many people who haven't been there before. Jumping down the dunes after the sun had set was a huge hit, especially with Grandma Smith who was laughing so hard and releasing her inner 12 year old.



Then back to the house for much needed rest to try and kick that cold.

Wedding Planning

One of the many perks of getting married at the beach is that you get to go back to it a lot for planning purposes. This past weekend was another one of those trips, and in fact is the last one we will make before the wedding. We are less than 3 months out from our wedding date and things are moving right along!

We were able to make an overnight stop in to see my friend Andrea who is a very 7.5 months pregnant and her husband Tyler. I am so excited for the both of them to become parents and can't wait to meet Julia! We had a short, but good visit. I wish I lived closer to them.

The next morning we got up and made our way down to the Outer Banks to start making progress on our list of wedding planning to-do's. We made a pit stop into Beach Bread Co. for lunch. We have never been there before, but they have a nice selection of sandwiches and bistro eats. Conveniently, the are located a few doors down from our first stop - Diamonds and Dunes to pick out our rings. We had sort of pre-picked them out last time we were there, but made the final choice and ordered them. Very exciting.

We then made our way to talk to the florist at Harris Teeter. That turned out to be one of the best stops on this trip. He was nice, creative, he listened, and offered a fair price for the flowers unlike the first lady we tried. Bonus! The next stop was making hair appointments for the bridal crew which was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be. All those books about wedding planning make you think you are going to have this huge hassle with everyone and so far I haven't really had that problem with anyone.

We checked into our hotel and went for a walk on the beach. I think this is the first time I didn't go barefoot. Even with the nice weather (low 50s) it still wasn't quite warm enough for that. However, since the beach is basically vacated at this time of year, you can do some awesome beach combing for shells.

After our nice invigorating stroll along the beach, we went back to the hotel for our own Chili and Wine night made infamous by Mike P. It was quite tasty and hit the spot after being out in the cool air.


The following day we were up and on the road early to get to the wedding planning at the reception place. We did our tasting first thing and picked out the food everyone will be eating. I am glad we did the tasting because we did end up changing our minds on some of the items. Our tasting carried over into the cake department. I was surprised at how tasty the samples were. Also, I am pretty sure that was Rob's favorite part of the day. :P We also got to place with centerpiece decorations and this was Rob's masterpiece. It was cool (hence the spotlight on the blog), but ultimately not our choice.


We wrapped up our visit there and wandered around Manteo for a little bit taking photos and enjoying the town. We squeezed in a visit to the tux place before they closed to get pricing and information on the "when" for ordering. We had a late lunch at the Outer Banks Brewing Station which is one of our favorite places. We finished our visit with booking our house we are staying at and more beach time. :)

It was a great visit and a very productive one too! Now it's go time! Whee!

Sunrise at The Beach

I have been going to the Outer Banks now for five years. In all of those five years, I had never once gotten up for sunrise photos. There was always that desire to, but no will power to get up at 5:30am to sit on the beach after being up until 1am. This year, I said to myself, you have to be awake enough to open two doors and walk 50 yards to get to the edge of our walk way. If I was feeling especially energetic, I could walk down the steps onto the beach itself. Thankfully I found some internal motivation and made it to the beach and even out a ways to take some of the following pictures. Beautiful, but I will probably never do this again. :P

From Beach Week 2009 - Friday Morning Sunrise

From Beach Week 2009 - Friday Morning Sunrise

From Beach Week 2009 - Friday Morning Sunrise

From Beach Week 2009 - Friday Morning Sunrise

From Beach Week 2009 - Friday Morning Sunrise

From Beach Week 2009 - Friday Morning Sunrise

Beach Photos

This year I am trying to take some different pictures at the beach. Here's a few from yesterday.