That Wrok and Travel Flow

Well it is official, I am a workin' gal. Now I've worked before, but this is the big leagues. Like -went to Raleigh for training, got certified in a few different things, shadowed other employees- kind of serious big leagues. And it's all thanks to finally getting that degree that caused me years and year of headaches, late nights, and a few tears. But we're not going to think about that, only happy thoughts today.

Now, because I work for an organization that's opened 24 hours, 365 days of the year, my schedule isn't a normal 9-5 M-F deal. But because of this, I have already started to be more intentional with my time off.

In the next 6 months I am planning on traveling to: Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Tampa, New York, and......

Everyone spends their hard earned dollars and time on different things. Over these last few years traveling has become so important to me, and while I'm still unwed, with 0 kidos, I've decided to make it a priority.

If you have any tips/advice on things to see and do in any of the places I'm headed please let me know. Also, if you have any tips/advice on how to snag cheap flights, you'll probably be my new best friend.

And now I'm off to make cheapo spaghetti while day-dreaming about Paris.

Au Revoir

Instagram Roundup

You can find me on instagram here 

 

On July 1st I joined in on my first instagram challenge

Helene is the wiz kid behind the whole thing

While at first I wasn't too sure about the idea

17 days later I'm convinced these challenges are awesome

I have already found so many "friends" to obsess over

If you're looking for a little instagram-spiration join in! 

You'll just be fashionably late and everyone will be jealous

That One Time Birth Control Made Me Crazy

 Disclaimer - I started using birth control about 5 months ago. I made a visit to my dermatologist, completely fed-up with my poor excuse for skin and she prescribed Ortho Tri-Cyclen in the hopes that it would calm it the heck down. No idea if it actually worked on my skin, but it has certainly given me the added bonus of this little known as PMS.

There we were, sitting on the couch, partially watching, but also enjoying, Channing Tatum's sweet dance moves and the ridiculousness of Matthew Mcconaughey, when suddenly I was overcome with this need to do something. Vince has been working some pretty crazy hours - like 12 hours a day, 6 days a week kind of crazy - so when Saturday night rolled around he understandably wanted to stay at home, relax, and go to bed early.

Understandably.

To a sane person.

I started whining.

"Lets do something."
"Entertain me."
"I'm so bored."
"Why don't you love me?!"

I had no idea what I actually wanted to do. It was 10:30 PM in North Carolina - there wasn't anything to do. I had no suggestions, but fully expected Vince to accommodate my boredom. And when he couldn't?

The first stage is pretending like everything is dandy, but the key is to not act like everything is dandy. Aka being as passive aggressive as possible.

The second stage is the silent treatment. I'm really good at this.

The third stage is anger. You can get creative here.

The final stage?

Crying uncontrollably for absolutely no reason.

Poor Vince. He did his best to console me/sedate me with a nice back scratch and the reassurance he still loved me. Naturally, I didn't believe him, and instead went to bed a snotty mess convinced life was just going to be crappy from then on. 

The next day I woke-up in a fog. The full on crazy train that occurred the night before slowly started coming back to me. I headed over to Vince's to sheepishly apologize and thank him for being the best-most-sane-boyfriend there ever was. He graciously forgave me (because he's one of those sane understanding people) and all was right in the world.

.....Until next month.

Weekend Recap

I have officially been a North Carolina resident for a month now, but until this last weekend I really hadn't explored much. Too be fare, where I live there really isn't anywhere to explore, but there is a lovely little town just over an hour away that I was wanting to check out. Lucky for me that happened to be where Vince's parents were staying for 4th of July weekend, and I just happened to be invited to crash their family get together. 

On the first day the weather wasn't cooperating so we all decided to spend the day exploring downtown Wilmington instead of hitting up the beach. Our first stop was food of course. We hit up Chops Deli, where we actually got to meet Chop himself. Not taking into account our celebrity spotting, the food was awesome and I would absolutely recommend if you ever find yourself in the area.

After grabbing a bite we hit the streets. We found an antique shop with a crazy amount of collections, an adorable boutique that I resisted spending any money at, even more adorable houses that caused me to go weak at the knees, a smanzy sporting good store, and several tattoo shops. (No branding, just browsing occurred). After all the walking we indulged in a little bit of ice cream from Kilwins and then wondered over to the USS North Carolina Battleship.

The Battleship was a huge, hot, maze. As soon as we went below deck I knew I would never make it in the navy. Ever heard of this little thing called claustrophobia? No sir. 

That night we decided leaving the hotel for dinner just wasn't in the cards, so he hit up the hotel restaurant instead where I discovered a new found love of blueberry mojito's *insert heart-eyes emoji here. Unfortunately I didn't actually order this drink, I just took a sip of someone else, but next time it's happening. 

On day two, also known as 4th of July, we hit up the beach and did beach things, hit up the pool and did pool things, watched some pretty fantastic fireworks, and then indulged in a little more ice cream (because vacation calories don't count). 4th of July hasn't always been my favorite holiday, mainly because of the crowds and inevitable traffic, so having such a low-key day was absolutely perfect to me.

It was a wonderful weekend spent enjoying the company of some pretty fantastic people, exploring a new city, and eating loads of ice cream. 

*I apologize in advance for the iPhone quality photos. Note to self - This is what you get when you're lazy and don't look for your camera. 

 Drooling a little just looking at this photo

 I literally told Vince the day before this photo was taken that I was so proud my cheapest pair of sunglasses, RonDon's from Tanzania, have lasted me the longest.

  I promise, I do actually like him

And Scout? Well, I think he had a pretty great weekend too.

 

Whats your favorite summer drink? 

What did you do over 4th of July weekend? 

Could you survive on a ship without passing out?

Happy 4th of July!

We're starting our holiday weekend a little early this week. I hope you all have a ball celebrating our independence!

Currently in July

Drinking Ovaltine. "Be. Sure. To. Drink. Your. Ovaltine. A crummy commercial. That...." *If you can name that movie we'll be best friends*

Appreciating that I am dating a man that lets me order a cheese pizza every Friday night. That's true love.

Reading (almost) The Husbands Secret by Liane Moriarty, One Plus One, and The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes. I just purchased all three and am ready to lay out at the beach and get lost in these fictional worlds.
 

Craving nothing. I have been super weird about food the last few months. More on that later.  

Watching Gilmore Girls (again) and learning a lot. 

Going to Wilmington for the weekend. I already have 7 antique stores and 3 dessert places picked out for my visit. It's going to be a grand time.

Planning on getting a lot of DIY projects done this month.

Eating PB&J's. Everyday. I feel like I'm back in high school. And I don't mind it. 

Dreaming of traveling somewhere new. This is an always. 

Waiting for a pool to magically appear in the backyard. I'm winter white right now. Needs to rectified.  

Praying about finding a new church. I'm anxious to get plugged back in again so the search is on! 

Sleeping just O.K. The summer heat + my need for a room to be an ice cube to sleep comfortably don't really mix.  

Working on getting a job. See what I did there? Fingers crossed it happens this month.   

Loving eating dinner every night with this guy I know. 

Thankful for a pretty awesome support system. 

What are currently up to?

Serving While Single

 Alison Holcomb Photography 

I guess I started really thinking about marriage when I was about 19 years old. I can remember sitting in my dorm room with my best friend and planning our dream weddings. (Pintrest is dangerous). She wanted a more white church/country wedding, while I envisioned a winter wonderland. So when I started telling others about my move to Rwanda the question, "do you want to get married?" kind of threw me. I was 21 years old, a single christian woman, and taking a year off to serve. In most christian circles I was what's considered in my "prime" to meet my future husband, so leaving the country for a year seemed a bit crazy to some. Their concerns were genuine and their hearts in the right place, but I knew God was calling me to serve, and I decided right then not make assumptions about my future or God's plans for me, but to follow blindly and faithfully in obedience wherever and whenever He called. 

  Alison Holcomb Photography 

 
So four months later when I moved to Rwanda I moved with the assumption I would remain single, and honestly, I was more than OK with that. In fact, I took advantage of it. I grew closer to God, I had crazy adventures, I struggled, I figured things out, I grew up, and it was all kinds of wonderful and hard. Taking that time to work on myself, to make Christ the true center of my life, and figure out what I wanted made everything almost easier when it came time to start dating again. 

 Alison Holcomb Photography 

I knew I wanted to date with intention from then on. I sat down and wrote out a list of characteristics I wanted my future husband to have. While I knew what I wanted I kind of didn't believe he actually existed. I thought that I would have to settle and let some things slide. I believed for a more than a split second and on several different occasions that my expectations were unrealistic. I didn't know when or even if I would meet him, but I also knew this "list man" was what I desired. And then I started talking to Vince. 

 Alison Holcomb Photography 

Vince was my "list man." I started talking to him because of Rwanda. We had the opportunity to really build a special foundation being 1000's of miles apart. Vince had the opportunity to travel to Nigeria and have his own kind of wonderful hard experience. And then, after nearly a year and half of cyber talking, God brought us together. I don't doubt for a second Vince and I would not be where we are today had I not been obedient and moved to Rwanda.

In such a short amount of time I went on my first missions trip, chopped my hair off, got pied in the face, lead my first bible study, and was a youth leader. went skydiving, bungee jumping, white water rafting, and on a safari. I traveled to Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya. I moved to another continent, became a pseudo mom to my sweet boy in orphanage, started a business, and met the man of my dreams. That time was filled with more growth, hardships, tears, joy, love, and fulfillment than I ever thought possible. I really felt like I lived life. And not because of all the things I got to do, but because I followed God with my whole heart. I thank God for His plans and for all the ups, and downs obedience to His will has brought.  I would not change a single thing.