The last

This post is going to be filled with pictures from the second half of my family’s vacation to the Outer Banks. To see the first round of pictures, click here. To see pictures from our fun adventure, click here.

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My mom took this picture of Hannah and I outside of the Jolly Roger Restaurant. It’s one of the oldest Italian restaurants in the area, and it’s very uniquely decorated inside. The menu is pretty big, and my favorite dish is the broiled scallops. All meals come with hushpuppies, which is pretty awesome if you ask me.

I ate peanut butter from the jar while watching Hannah and my dad do Insanity one morning. That was fun.

Hannah and I tried to play volleyball, but I ruined it with my lackluster skills. I think I’ll stick with running and swimming.

I really don’t know what to say about this picture.

My family also walked on the beach one evening. It was so peaceful.

Other fun things we did:
-Went go-karting
-Played basketball in an arcade
-Painted our nails (my dad didn’t participate in this…)
-Slept in and did nothing until noon
-Read books on the beach
-Played frisbee on the beach
-Baked cookies
-Sat on our porch and watched the ocean
-Went souvenir shooping

We also went out to eat for dinner nearly every night. That was such a treat.

Outer Banks restaurants I personally recommend:
Outer Banks Brewing Station –>Try the black bean dip, seared tuna, and freshly baked bread.
Miller’s Seafood and Steakhouse –>Try the rockfish and hushpuppies–the hushpuppies are sweet and taste like funnel cake!
Awful Arthur’s Oyster Bar –>I highly recommend the raw oysters on a half shell.

I ran three times while on vacation (yay for flat roads!), and on the last morning of my family’s stay, I watched the sun rise over the ocean as I ran. It was so gorgeous and I felt extremely blessed.

I felt even more blessed to come home after a long 10 hour drive to find a birthday gift from Kim at my house.

How sweet is that?! Thank you Kim! You know me so well :)

It was good to be away, but even better to come home!

What’s do you love about vacations?
I like lazing around with nothing to do. It feels so good to do nothing sometimes. I also love going out to eat and trying new foods.

Fun Adventure

In my last post, I hinted that I would be going on a fun adventure while on vacation in North Carolina.

I’m happy to report that the adventure most definitely happened and it was epic!

My dad, sister, and I went horseback riding at Equine Adventures in Frisco, NC. We rode for 45 minutes on gorgeous trails in Buxton Woods, and then spent 15 minutes riding on the beach.

As we came out of the woods and crossed one last sand dune before reaching the beach, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was visible and absolutely gorgeous. The beach was practically empty and really allowed us to see the natural beauty of Hatteras Island.

The whole experience was simply incredible.

Pictures:

It was Hannah’s first time horseback riding, so she was a little apprehensive. Thankfully, she ended up loving it. The only thing she didn’t love? A sore butt the next day!

My horse’s name was Cash. He made me laugh because he kept eating leaves while we were on the trails.

My dad grew up on a farm in a rural area of Pennsylvania. He used to own horses, and even rode bareback (without a saddle) often. Needless to say, he was super excited to trot and canter on the beach.

Throughout the whole ride, I kept thinking about how beautiful God’s creation is. The horses we rode were so gentle, and the ocean went on for miles and miles. It was truly an experience of a lifetime!

Hello from…

Hello from the Outer Banks of North Carolina!

I’m on vacation with my parents and sister. I just wanted to pop in and share some pictures!

Before I even left for vacation, Jimmy drove out to my house and gave me a care package for the trip (sorta like I did for him when he was working a few hours away for a week). He included all of my favorite things: sun block, peanut butter, snacks, gum, stickers, and Sharpie markers. He’s the sweetest. I’m glad he doesn’t judge me for loving stickers at age 20.

Hannah and I watched Eclipse during the nine hour drive from Pennsylvania to North Carolina.

I’ve been enjoying plenty of raw oysters.

My mom loves sipping coffee on the deck of the beach house we’re staying at.

I love the deck because I can hear the ocean while I read my Bible.

Hannah looks older than me. Nothing new about that.

I played skee ball in the local arcade and turned in my tickets for stickers. Best. Prize. Ever.

We’ve been saving money by packing lunches each day. Tuna and turkey sandwiches for the win! Yes, my nickname is Stitch.

My dad is in fishing heaven. I spent about 30 minutes with him in the fishing aisle in Kmart. He was so “in the zone” that he didn’t know I took this picture.

Cookies have been baked. Coffee has been thoroughly enjoyed.

The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. I just gape at everything.

The fish are biting.

Lastly, what kind of journalism student would I be if I didn’t read the local newspaper?

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Well, that’s all the pictures I have for now. I can’t wait to take more because I’m going to be going on some fun adventures this week.

Where is your favorite place to vacation?

Skills?

I definitely don’t think of myself as someone who is great (or even remotely good) with technology or computer software. I had to take a multimedia class last semester, and I had a bad attitude about it. I kept thinking, “I hate learning about new technology and I will never be good at using Photoshop/Dreamweaver/InDesign/etc.”

The final project for the multimedia class required me to create a website using Dreamweaver. It also required me to drink a lot of coffee.

I’m not good with blogging-type technology, either. I like to stick to the basics and I’m not really interested in having a “fancy” blog. [I do love blogs that are designed beautifully (cough, Laura, cough).] I like to think that my writing or what I want to say makes up for my lack of graphics/design/great photography/vlogs/etc.

Anyways.

Lately, I’ve been trying my hand at making graphics with scripture on them. No, they’re nothing special, but it’s enjoyable to share Bible verses on Facebook in a different way! Here’s a few of the graphics I created using PicMonkey.

 

What skills are you bad at, but try anyways?

Besides graphic design, I’m also bad at bowling, sewing, basketball, and not being awkward.

 

Pet Sitting

I’m a member of care.com, a website that connects care givers (like baby sitters/pet sitters) and people seeking them. I got a call  on Saturday, and was asked to pet sit two dogs and a cat from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The reason I was asked to stay for nine hours each day was because the dogs were getting spayed on Monday, and the owner wanted someone with them just in case something would happen while he was at work.

I was feeling a little bit nervous on Tuesday morning because I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve done pet sitting for a few years now, but I’ve never had to watch pets that had just undergone surgery. I’m happy to report that all went well (so far–I’m still pet sitting as I write this post, lol)!

I’m pretty much in love with the pets! They are all so calm and loving.

Because I’m pet sitting mostly for the dogs, the owner said he wasn’t too worried about the cat. In fact, he didn’t even tell me its name. He said it wasn’t friendly, but I did get a chance to say hello.

On Tuesday, the dogs slept most of the day. I took them outside to go to the bathroom a few times, gave them medicine, and fed them.

Today (Wednesday), they’ve been much more alert and perky!

The pet owner said I could use his Dutch coffee maker. SCORE.

So what have I been doing all day? I’ve been hanging out with the pups, reading, and working on a final paper for my internship (which I just finished–woo hoo!).

Overall, this pet sitting gig has been amazing. I find looking after animals extremely rewarding, especially ones who just had surgery. I’m making sure to give them lots of extra love and (gentle) cuddles.

What do you find rewarding?

Baking Mode

I have been in “baking mode” ever since my brother and his fiance asked me to bake 500 cookies for their wedding.

A lot of taste testing has been happening in the Smith household! Bill and Racquel’s wedding theme color is light blue, so they asked me to incorporate it into the cookies somehow.

Here’s what the bridesmaid dresses look like.

That shade of blue is the theme color for the wedding. I’m going to be a bridesmaid, along with Racquel’s sister and friends. Hannah is going to be a junior bridesmaid! Her dress hasn’t been chosen yet, but I believe it’s going to be white.

On to the cookies.

Here’s what I’ve tested so far. Bill and Racquel really liked the Mexican wedding cookies, and are going to try the others today.

Mexican wedding cookies adapted from this recipe.

White chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies loosely based off of this recipe. I used white chocolate and dyed it blue. Yes, my chocolate “drizzling skills” need work. Haha.

This recipe was used to bake the snickerdoodles.

I have whole list of cookies I still want to try out, but it will probably be a few days until I actually get a chance because I’m going to be pet sitting for 9 hours each day for the next two days. More on that later!

What is your favorite cookie?

I love oatmeal raisin and peanut butter cookies.

Decisions

I’m happy to report that Jimmy thoroughly enjoyed his Oreo cake.

His brother and I bought him a telescope for his birthday. He’s already obsessed with it and I think it’s cute. Not the telescope, but his love of it haha.

After church on Sunday, Jimmy and I celebrated his birthday by visiting Ohiopyle State Park.

I spent Memorial Day with my family and Lola! My brother, who now lives 20 minutes away from my family(!!), came over and we had a cookout.

We also had barbecue chicken, scallops, cheeseburgers, avocado salsa, baked beans, and watermelon.

I watched my dad braid my mom’s hair. So adorable.

Lola was walked and made a trip to the gas station with me, as usual.

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Now, about the title of this post, “Decisions.”

I have some exciting news. My brother and his fiance asked me to bake cookies for their wedding in July! Right now, we’re in the process of brainstorming which types of cookies they want me to bake. All I know for sure is that I’ll be baking 500 cookies. That’s about 42 dozen!

What cookies should I bake for Bill and Racquel’s wedding?