Our Ocean Adventure

Last month we loaded up the van and hit the road! Traveling in a 5X10 foot space with three children
six and under is not for the feint of heart. Sixteen and a half hours later we were all laugh-crying
ourselves out of the sardine can on wheels and kissing the pavement triumphantly....

we arrived in North Carolina!!!

You wanna know the first thing I saw? A COCKROACH as big as my head.
#holdme

The drive actually wasn't bad. We brought so many snacks. Like so many. And an entire SEASON of
Curious George which was promptly ingrained into our brains. We also stopped at Chick-fil-a and
let them drink root beer and run off energy in the germ-infested play place. Parents of the year!!!
Yea. We like to live it up around here!!!

If you're looking for travel tips -- that's my best stuff, you guys. Gold.

Seriously though -- no lie -- my kids are awesome and traveled so well; all things considered!!

Anyway. It was amazing to visit my sister, Nellie, and her little family!!! We stayed at their house
for a few days before we headed to the beach --- where we rented these little houses that made us
next door neighbors for the first time in our lives! It was magical. 300 feet from the ocean. Maybe?!

You could hear the waves. See the view from bed. I would have been ok moving in. Let's just stay.
We would walk over this little boardwalk and BAM: the Atlantic Ocean!!!

Everyone had so much fun playing, eating, beaching, napping together!!!
I love the cousins together! Makes me happy.

Our kids learned to boogie board. Heck, even I learned to boogie board! The ocean actually
ripped my swimsuit off down to my waist and I lost the house key (that was tucked in said swimsuit).
It was epic. Very liberating experience.

I will always remember the LAUGHTER of Bella when she met the waves for the first time.
The JOY on Zay's face when he would catch a ride on his board.
And the ENERGY that is Judah, "Today is a good day to surf, mom." -- with that hair of his!
I can't even. Lol.

We took home suntans as souvenirs.... and buckets full of shells that smell like rotting crabs???!
I make the boys keep them out of the house. Except for the ones we made into merman necklaces....

So radically cool, dude.

Love my people and my sister and her family!!!
Glad we could share an ocean adventure together!!!
Take me baaaaaack!!!

Making the Ordinary an Extraordinary Adventure

I was probably 10 years old - blindfolded with my sister and cousin, the best of friends,
in the back of my grandma's white Cadillac. It had to be around 10 o'clock at night. My grandma
was hooting and hollering from the driver's seat as all four of us bounced around - driving through
a freshly harvested corn field. We were only told to remove our blindfolds when we stopped and parked
in a deserted, dark parking lot. It was the back of Hardee's and we were getting milk shakes!
Just another one of grandma's famous "adventures."

She taught me the art of making the ordinary, every day "good" things,
an extraordinary adventure.

I still crave the thrill of it all. I find myself daydreaming and scheming about how I can bring the
littlest of things to a new level of ALIVE for my little ones, my husband. It's not about the money or
the fanciness of it all. It's all in the details, the anticipation, the cultivation of the imagination!!!

We celebrated my 27th birthday this past weekend...


My parents were so kind to take our little ones for a few days so that Nathan and I could spend
some quiet time together. I jokingly told Nathan that I feared I'd be falling all over my words -
not capable of carrying on a regular conversation - because I am so used to be interrupted 173x's before
I actually spit anything out. Luckily we were totally able to get in touch with our pre-children selves
and the weekend was W O N D E R F U L.

Sleeping in. Eating whenever we wanted. Not having to share bites off our plates.
Coming up with ideas and just doing them. Talking. Praying. Going to Mass without a bag
full of snacks. Holding hands. Sitting for hours at restaurants.

Ordinary life. Extraordinary adventure.


I know that I was drawn to Nathan many years ago because of his child-like-ness. Kindred spirits.
We speak often of remaining child-like, not to be confused with childish, so that we can see, feel,
touch the wonders available to the innocent at heart. This world spins fast. The sin and darkness
age us all more than the years going by, but I like to believe that when you attempt to step away
from it all, the ordinary, mundane, becomes closer to what God intended for us all.

We were born for extraordinary.

I'm thankful for 27 years of adventure. Here's to a lifetime.