I heart this place

I officially think we have found our favorite restaurant.  We have been here 3 times and so far every time we have come away loving it.  We have never had a bad meal or bad service.  Also they have the BEST mojitos! I can't even describe how delicious they are!  We went this week with Q's mom and had a great time and great food!  Can't get better than by the beach too! Hats off to Amos Mosquito's... you get my recommendation any day!  We will be back!

Crafting Day

Well Q's mom has been here all week and if you know anything about Havelock, NC, there isn't much to do here for a whole week.  We made the best of it though.  There is this cute little place in downtown New Bern called Accidental Artist that I knew we MUST try.  I know many people that go here and now I see why.  You go and pay a studio fee which covers all your paints, brushes, etc and then you buy your pottery that you want to paint.  As you can see they have tons of pottery! 

We loved this place so much that I believe we went back 3 days in a row.  This was just screaming our names.  The best thing about it is that you just go and it is sort of relaxing.  I wasn't so relaxed on the first day of going because I am way to OCD about projects that it was difficult to just let it go and paint. But I finally succeeded on day two. 

The first project were these squares.  They are about the easiest thing you can do and you can put whatever you want on them.  I went with a template of waves and a circle for the middle.  These waves were going to be the death of me at first. 

Of course, Joni was very relaxed about hers and just went with the flow.  I just couldn't do it! 

I think it turned out better than I thought which is very nice.  I have a vision for a guest room of navy, coral, and gray so I tried to keep those colors in mind.

So here is the finished product.  Pretty good if I say so myself!  I am happy with it.  Now we just have to wait for our other projects to be fired to see how they turn out. But definitely if you visit New Bern, NC, go here.  You can take a bottle of wine and just paint and the staff is super helpful and will pretty much tell you how to do every design you could think of.  

Outer Banks Discovery

One of the things on my "bucket" list before Q departs was to go to the Outer Banks. We have live here almost a year and have not had the time to venture that way, until this past weekend.  I was not going to be picky on what part of the Banks but I also didn't realize it was such an adventure. We had to drive to the ferry which was about an hour drive (driving at Q speed which was rushed). Then you get on a vehicle ferry (meaning it held approximately 25 cars/trailers). The ferry was about 2.5 hours long. Cali went with us of course! She was on high alert the ENTIRE time. 

The ferry had an upper deck where you could enjoy the sights, a bathroom, and a lot of people. We didn't venture too far from the truck because of Cali but it was still very cool. Kind of weird to have your car stopped but then you keep moving. I've been on a ferry before but this just seemed different. 

Finally after the LONG ferry ride, we arrived at Ocracoke Island.  Pulling into the harbor area was amazing!  It was such a cute and perfect little town.  Then we got off the boat and started driving and it all just got better and better.  The little town of Ocracoke is so cute.  It is what you would imagine the Outer Banks to be; it is just like a movie.  It has all the cute little stores and restaurants, a lot of bed and breakfasts or little motels that you would actually stay in, and many bike and water toy rentals. 

It was kind of weird to come off the boat and really have no plan or idea on where to go, so we just drove.  We drove until something jumped out at us.  We really wanted to go to the beach so we looked on our map and just drove towards the water.  While driving down the main road, we saw a lot of trucks pulling onto a road and as we drove by it, we noticed they were driving their truck ONTO the beach.  This is a complete new concept to me.  I knew they had this in Daytona Beach, FL but I have never been there so this was my first time.  It was scary (if we got stuck) but was kinda fun sliding all over.  This was so awesome since we didn't have to really unload much from the truck and we could just tie Cali to the hitch and she wouldn't be able to go anywhere.  

What a long day!  We left the house at about 10 am and then didn't get home till about 9pm.  We were so tired, but as I mentioned before, Cali didn't calm down the ENTIRE time so when we got home she was definitely a dead dog.  Isn't she the best!?

Water Fetching

I could watch Cali playing in the water and fetching all day long.  She is so happy and loves it! 

Sad goodbyes

The one thing about the military life is saying goodbye way too often.  We haven't made too many friends here in NC but the ones we have are all getting stationed elsewhere.  Our best friends are relocating to San Diego and I couldn't be more sad.  

Nancy has become a really great friend and I am going to miss her dearly.  She was my first true friend here.  We went on MANY walks and she was here for me while Q was away and I was there while her husband was on deployment.  We made many trips to my favorite TJMaxx and had fun decorating our houses.  We shared experiences in house buying and other life changes.  I still feel like I can just look out my window and see her car in her driveway.

Also, our dogs became such great friends as well.  Angel does not get along with many dogs but for some reason she really clicked with Cali.  Cali met Angel when she was just 4-5 months old, so Angel has been there through most of Cali's life so far.  Cali and Angel both knew exactly where each other lived.  When they wanted to be a pain in the butt for the day, they would run away to the other's house. Can count how many times I have had to chase Cali over to Angels and vice versa. 

Q and Caleb starting to really get to know each other right when they were leaving as well.  Nancy and Caleb have recently found out that they were pregnant so it is sad that we will not be able to experience this with them.  We look forward to seeing them again since life in the military is likely to bring us back together.  We are already plotting of where we want to live together next.  Nancy and Caleb are going to try for D.C. next and Q and I have been tossing around the idea of D.C. again also so we will just have to see where the military takes us.  Until then, we wish all the best and luck to the Gowan's.  Can't wait to hear about the little baby and of course I will be waiting for the photos! We will miss you Nancy, Caleb, and Angel. 

My technique

Now here is my technique... lets analyze! :)

What do you think? Who looks to have mastered the 'smore' technique the best??