winston

I have been staying busy!! Most weekends I have been heading to Winston-Salem to see my love (he works 7 days a week). A couple of weekends ago I went out there to celebrate his sister's graduation! She graduation from Wake Forest University so all of his family came there! I have met most everyone in his family and just had another set of grandparents to meet! I had SO much fun with his family. We went to a nice lunch one day with just his mom, dad and sister. Then we went to Lauren's boyfriend's graduation dinner. And the night after was Lauren's dinner. I ate the best food all weekend and just had a blast getting to know John's family better!

This is John's sister, Lauren, and I 

Dee Dee, John and Pee Pop

 Darrell (Lauren's boyfriend) and John's grandparents again!

 NanNan and I! I love this woman! I want to be just like her when I grow up.

I have had fun getting to know Winston-Salem too. I haven't ever spent much time there before but there are some really neat things there! Plus John is there so it makes me more eager to always go.

firste taste of summer!

The past few weeks have been very lovely and family filled. Natalie graduated from ECU for her Masters! I was so proud of her. Since she was graduating, my dad and Sharon came home from China and my mom came to town. John also met my parents for the first time. He fits in great with the family!!!!!:)

 

I then had a mini vacation at Ocean Isle. John got to come down for a few days too! It was so nice to relax and have fun! We played bocce ball, rode jet skis, went out to dinner, swam in the ocean, played poker, layed on the beach and more! I love summer more than any other season by far so I welcomed the trip to the beach!!!

 

Things are continuing to stay busy as always. John is having to work on the weekends so I have been going to see him in Winston Salem a lot. It is fun to get to know the city. I am so ready for pool weather! And the grilling out parties have begun.... I love it. I am so content in my life and where I am right now. Feels good!!!!!!

The Pilot

This is my boyfriend, the pilot:

 

This is the first plane he ever took me flying in:

And this is him flying the plane:

And these are from pretty views from up in the air:

And this is my reaction:

Don't get me wrong,.... I was all kinds of terrified the first time we were taking off. I got to fly with him twice in one day. The first time I sat in the co-pilot seat.... definitely an experience. The plane was so much smaller than I imagined. One of my shoulders was touching his and my other one was touching the window! John is a great pilot though and once I saw that he was in total control and knew what he we doing, I relaxed. I think it is so neat that he is a pilot!!! I had so much fun and felt like I had myself a little adventure. I can't wait to go flying with him again... I may even take a lesson or two from him!

Which BY THE WAY, he has a job in Winston Salem as a flight instructor.... if anyone is interested in taking a discovery flight or taking lessons, let me know! He would LOVE to have you as a student. Pass the word along. :)

just maybe

just maybe.... i will start blogging again!







lots of things have changed in my life. all for the better. i am so happy right now. i haven't been this happy.......well, ever. i have all kinds of new chapters going on! lots of exciting adventures are in my near future.

the boy in the picture is my love... John. just so you all know, we were born in the same hospital by the SAME doctor! we met at a halloween party; he was dressed as the wrestler shawn michaels and i was dressed as mrs. peacock from clue. we hit it off by talking about lexington. we have so much in common and we have so much fun together. for those of you who haven't met him, i can't wait to introduce you! he is a pilot and currently has a job as a flight instructor in winston-salem. he is the love of my life and i am so happy that we found each other!

i've moved back to raleigh (instead of being out in wake forest) so i can be closer to friends. i am further away from work but certainly not like when i lived in cameron village. i have a roommate names casey and she has a dog named aiko. still have the same job with reese and reagan! they are turning 3 in less than 2 weeks!!! they are such a fun age right now.

i am so thankful to have found such peace in my life. i didn't realize i was so unhappy for so long. now i live everyday with a grateful and happy heart. life is sweet. life is grand.

so just maybe i will attempt to keep up with blogging. i've already got a few more posts up my sleeve. stay tuned!

xoxo, Cara

Hello from Florida!

It has been forever since I have updated..... I am down in the Florida Keys so I decided I would update the bloggie blog while I have some down time (the girls are sleeping and it is raining on and off outside so I got the computer out). For those of you who don't know, I came down to the Florida Keys with the family that I work for. We are getting near the end of the trip and we have had so much fun so far! I've become completely obsessed with dolphins and I am very thankful to be enjoying the sun and warm weather at the end of September!!! We have done some really fun things and the resort we are staying at is really nice! (Hawks Cay Resort). After the girls wake up we are going for a boat ride to a little island for the rest of the afternoon. Tomorrow we are going to venture down to Key West to do some very touristy things! We should be heading home sometime on Saturday! I will share lots more pictures when I get home and have time to rest! The picture above is of Reese and I at Bahia Honda State Park. We spent the day there where we took a bike ride, went hiking and hung out on the GORGEOUS beach! The picture is of us on the Flaggler bridge, which we had to hike to! Other activities we have been up to this week: fishing off the dock, feeding some tarpon, hanging out at the lagoon, theater of the sea, the dolphin research center, boat rides, shopping and lots more! Stay tuned for more pictures. :)

what can i say?

we are loving picnics lately!!!!

And these girls are obsessed with 'ring around the rosie!'

Picnic

I have LOVED the weather recently. This is my favorite summer weather! Not too humid and it feels amazing in the morning, in the shade or with a light breeze. The girls have been asking to have a picnic recently so we had a little adventure on Tuesday! There is the PERFECT place for a picnic in their neighborhood but the country club! Huge trees with shades, a field and a fence. We had SO much fun and will definitely be doing this more often. Look at these cute pictures we took! :)

just a few...

...of my favorite things!

tea cup pigs. these things are real. google it.
I would pay good money for one of these. but only if i get the boots for free! they should come with the piggies.

YUP. i play computer games. i am a dork.

thank you, trader joe's.

i like pickin' em and eatin' em.

beautiful.

obsessed with these things right now. didn't help that they were on sale last week.







***Stay tuned for more of my favorite things!***
:)

oh how i wish i had a best friend just like this. these girls make me smile every single day. im so thankful for them!

p.s. we had a photo shoot and THIS was the best picture out of about 25. it is very hard to get them to smile at the camera at the same time! any tricks?

Here I come...

In exactly 1 month, this is where I will be heading for a week!! SOOO excited!:)

lola

Formerly known as Bella, this is my old pup. There isn't a day that goes by when I don't think of her. I miss her terribly but love seeing pictures of her - I know she is happier and healthier!

(she is the one on top)

Warms my heart.

I stole this picture from facebook and I feel a little guilty. But I wanted to share it because it just warms my heart. Seeing this only confirms that I have made the right decisions. And it is so sweet. She has a new best friend for the rest of her life.






I still miss her dearly and I am still not entirely adjusted to not having a dog. I miss her most when it is bedtime because she was SO sweet. She loved to cuddle. And she would let me hold her while she was sleeping.... I slept with her like she was a stuffed animal!

Anyway... there is a little update for ya.

The New Job!

Last week I started a new nanny position with twin girls names Reese and Reagan! I am having a lot of fun with them but I am still in transition mode. I have the same type of responsibilities but it is also completely different! I am getting to know the girls and we have some fun stuff planned in the next 2 weeks! I will miss John terribly but I am also excited to do girly things! I am excited to watch the girls grow and change in the next year. They live in Wakefield so I am getting to know a different part of Raleigh! Their neighborhood is GREAT and it isn't too far of a drive for me going straight down Capital (yes, I moved but just into another townhouse in Cameron Village. Anyway, stay tuned for future posts about fun things I get to do with the twins!!!!

Another Goodbye

Just ONE WEEK EXACTLY after I said goodbye to Bella, I had to say goodbye to my little John John. Oh how I LOVE this little boy. I have already seen him twice since my job ended so I am hoping to keep it up.... I cannot say bye forever to him. He is 3 years old and I first met him when he was just 3 months! I held him and fed him as a sweet little baby and now he is 100% a little boy.... collecting sticks, saying cute phrases, sword fighting... he is complete boy. I love our bond that we share and I love seeing him do things that I taught him. I am hoping and praying those things don't fade and that I can be apart of his life as he gets older. My last day, I spent crying all day and all night. I am a little bit tired of crying SO much. I have never cried this much in my life and tears start rolling down my face as easy as a blink of an eye. I know it is healthy to cry but honestly, I have cried more in the past 3 weeks than I have in an entire2 or 3 years..... maybe more! Anyway, my job with John has ended. I will post soon about my new job. I loved being a nanny to John. I will cherish so many of our memories and times together!!!