The one leaving Raleigh.

Right before I went to college, my parents got me a credit card.  Don't freak out.. it was a credit card that was meant only for emergencies such as gas and groceries & I had to promise them I would call them every single time I used it.  But anways, they got me a credit card & the design on the card was a city skyline at night.  It was gorgeous.  My parents picked out that specific card because I love cities & they thought if a child of theirs was ever to go away from home, it would be me.  I love the hustle and bustle of cities, the lights at nighttime, the life of unlimited amount of coffee shops, non-chain restaurants, and hidden treasures within the concrete walls.  I love cities.  Moreover, I love Raleigh.  I adore this sweet little college town.

Well Sam is moving home... TODAY.  He is picking up his life in Raleigh and moving back home.  He is starting a new job & looking for us a place to live.. because we will reside back in our precious small town after May 25th.  Put bluntly, Sam is done with Raleigh.  He has had a good time... but he is ready for the big move.  I asked him why he was so done with Raleigh & his reply was simply this:

"Court, where can I hunt?  Whose land can I do that on AND ride four wheelers?  And babe, I am not about to pay to go fishing."






He is a country boy, through and through.  I am so thankful for man that is content with a life full of woods, guns, knives, game, four wheelers, fishing poles and home cooked meals.

I believe I am half & half.  I love cities, but I also love the country.  I love how slow the morning seems to be.  I love being more aware of natural beauty.  I love being outdoors.  I love the community and all the little "finger waves" everyone gives when they are driving down the road.  Everybody knows everybody.  I love it.  Oh, and the sunsets in this place are ridiculous.

On behalf on Sam's last night in our beloved Raleigh.  We tried a new restaurant in downtown called Cafe Luna.  It was delicious.  I had some type of black pasta with grouper, shrimp and tomatoes & Sam got grilled chicken, roasted potatoes & a cute little salad.  It was so good.  The sun was setting perfectly, so we just drove around.  We blared Pandora, opened the sunroof, and heated the seats.  We ran an errand or two.  Then went back to driving around.  The moon became full & gorgeous, creating the perfect send off for Sam.

 

  

  

 

 

Raleigh has been so good to us.. too good.  But life is changing and its for the better, which makes breaking my Raleigh ties a little bit easier.

The one tonight.

Tonight, is the first Friday night I've spent the night in my Raleigh house in 5 weeks!!  Whether it be my fall break, Victory Junction, weddings, Windy Gap or like last weekend... the beach.  The beach in October is my favorite time to go.  My family didn't get to take a family vacation this summer and used my little brother's fall break to take advantage of a small getaway.  I left Thursday morning, skipping a couple classes to spend a long weekend with my parents and brother.  My sister had a charity walk for work and Sam had his own family plans.  We stayed in a friend's condo, where I slept happily on the pull out couch.  Early Friday morning.. let's say around 6:20-30.. my parents woke up to their usual circadian rhythm to enjoy coffee and the sunrise.  How thankful I am for early bird parents because every morning I got to watch the sunrise.  What a blessing?!

 Also, my family are food people.  We like to try the favorite local spots and we hit jack pot (or shall I say steam pot) with Duffy Street Seafood Shack.  There my family & I engorged ourselves with calamari, oysters, clams, scallops, crab legs, and low country boils.  More specifically, my family are seafood people.  We are thankful for aquaculture.

When we weren't shoving our faces with local seafood goodness or drinking multiple cups of coffee to cheerfully bring in the sunrise we were soaking up them rays, fishing, and sleeping in our Vitamin D.

 

Yes, you are allowed to be jealous of my sweatshirt.  My sweet grandma got this youth large sweatshirt for my 6'4'' brother a couple years ago.  Thankful he was never able to fit in this comfy, shark-surfing sweatshirt.

 

Im missing the beach this Friday night.  I miss the idea of knowing a coffee cup and sunrise will be there to greet me in a couple hours.  I miss hilarious scattergories at night.  I miss the weather.  I miss being with the most laid-back people in the whole world. 

However, I am thankful for this Friday night back in Raleigh.  Thankful for sushi suppers with my roommates.  Thankful for a warm house and a TV that constantly plays FRIENDS.

Good night, Raleigh.

The one for our fall bucket list.

I had the best weekend -- I will post about it later this week.  But this post is about fall.  Of course I love it.  Every single aspect of it.  Weather, clothes, spices, warm food/drinks and pumpkin everything.  Last night, Sam & I made some coffee, hung out outside and talked about things we want to do this fall.  So we created a fall bucket list.  We used his phone to record our ideas & today I used a template to create a print of our bucket list.  I got the template from here.

So here's whats on tap for Sam & I this fall...

Here's to fall!

The one for Sam.

 Sam,

I had the best day with you yesterday.  An early morning bike ride with you was the perfect way to start my day.  I love your spontaneity lately.  Friday night's date to Bonefish Grill where you ordered fish, caught me off guard.  The when in Rome attitude threw me off a little bit because you are creature of habit and comfort, but you stepped outside your comfort zone and I'm so proud of you. 

Instead of going on the trial for the bike ride yesterday morning, you suggested downtown. I love downtown.  You always do things, go places, buy things that I love.  You are kind.  You are thoughtful.  You are giving.  Since you have become a working man, you like your Saturday's to sleep in.  I appreciate you getting up early to endure this sweet trip with me.

 

 You're idea of hitting up the downtown Goodwill made me happy.  I love a good thrift, twice new, consignment shop.  Incredible treasures can always be found.  Our treasures turned out being gently-used 90's bands CDs.  I love watching you shop.  You analyze the details.  All of them.  You angled every one of those CDs to see how the light caught the back in order to check for scratches.  You analyze and think about things thoroughly.  I love that.  It balances me out as I am someone who buys, goes and does things on a whim.

 

Although you give most things a valid ponder, you are also more than willing to roll with it.  You please me with your flexibility.  You don't get worked up when your idea gets shot, or when something doesn't go according to plan.  You are easy-going.  I love that.  Morning Times wasn't your pick of the morning, but you rolled with it. You enjoyed it nonetheless.

You are happy.  Pretty much all the time.  You love a lot of things.  Like fishing and ice cold Pepsi's.  You have a passion for a lot of things.  Like Jesus and family.  I absolutely fall in love with you again and again when you reveal your heart.  Hard talks get your mind stirring and I love to see you sort through all of your feelings out loud.  I love that you come to me for an ear to listen, for an opinion, for anything.  You make me feel loved.  In more ways than one.  

I'm thankful for you.  You have such a sweet spirit that is infectious.  Even in silence you are golden.  Thank you for an incredible Saturday.  One for the books for you and me.  You're my best good friend, Sam.  And I love you.

Love,
Courtney

The one for a random Wednesday.

I had a good Wednesday.

That's all I wanted to share.

I also had THE best morning with Sam today.  Post completely dedicated to him will come sometime this weekend! :)

Happy studying to all my fellow college kids!

the one on the weekends.

Weekend are small nuggets of time that most of us can use to relax, sleep in, get house work done, catch up with long conversations, try new recipes, finish some homework, or even travel.  My past three weekends have been all of the above, and they have been great.  A couple weeks ago my sister came to Raleigh to hang out and explore.  She has very "let just go with it" attitude, which I love.  I wanted to tried this random hole-in-the-wall consignment shop, Ashley was all for it.  We walk in, realized our great grandmother would shop there, looked at each other & headed for the door.  Ashley was not phased at all, we laughed about it and we on the next one.

I took Ashley to the NC Museum of Art.. because home girl is abstract and loves her some art.

 

 Then we headed to my beloved Fresh Berries right outside of campus.  After we finished I showed her the brickyard and just the basic around main campus.

After our bellies were full of yummy fro-yo, our shoe soles covered in brick dust we had to get our nap on before a night of good sushi.  My roomie, Jenn, and I took Ashley to Sushi Blues in downtown Raleigh to enjoy some majorly good food.

 

 

On Sunday, we went to church and stayed in downtown to eat at the Busy Bee Cafe -- one of my favorite Raleigh spots.

 

It was such a good weekend spent with Ashley.  We had fun, it was super laid back and she was always up for trying something new or just going with the flow.  

The next weekend I went home.  I didn't take any pictures, as it was just a relaxed weekend.  I went to a PA open house, I landed a "job" with my pediatrician, and caught up on sleep.  It was such a successful weekend. 

Last weekend, my softball girls headed to Boone to have a girls weekend.  While there, I fell completely in love with Boone.  The girls kept joking with me how I would fit right in with my sticker-covered nalgene and laptop, my chacos and my love for local/non-chain shops and restaurants.  It was such a fun weekend and it was so great to be there with such great company.

 

Saturday we spent the entire day exploring the weird and wonderful world of Boone and shopping!  We started the morning with some strong coffee, indie-inspired shops and antique stores.

We walked past a store that store my heart by the sign alone.  We went in and all got rings made!

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 & since we had shopped all day, we got Chili's To-Go and watched the NCAA Championship at Shawn's apartment.

 

 

Sunday, we got up fairly early to head to Grandfather Mountain and enjoy the view.

We also went over the Mile High Bridge.

 

We even had a Jesus moment while breathing in our view.. I put in my hands in my rain coat pockets, and pulled out a little verse I had written on a post it.  I shared it with my girls and we just sat there for a moment to soak in it's meaning and how it related to us this weekend.  I think it's incredible how God will show up at the perfect moment, with the perfect words.  Those verses could not have been more fitting to the trip.  I am thankful for my Jesus and his power to humble us when we are on our high horses.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

 

Shawn cracked us up with her impression of a news reporter on a windy day at Grandfather Mountian.

Hello there!  This is Shawn Watson, reporting for WXII.  Today, I am on Grandfather Mountain to observe the windy index and determine if the safety of your children is worth the risk of coming onto the Mile High Bridge.

 

It was such a good trip.  I love these girls.

  

The past three weekends have been relaxing, humbling, and fun.  This weekend has already been incredible.  I've hung out with Sam, saw The Hunger Games, shopped for my dearest roommate's birthday, ate at the Carving Board, spend an entire day at Victory Junction Gang Camp painting fire hydrants, stained new bathroom furniture and now I am headed out to take my little brother's senior pictures!  Oh and last but most certainly not least, we celebrate Jesus tomorrow!

My life is good, my heart is full. 

Happy Saturday!