three years married | dinner at on the square.

three years married
early celebration dinner
on the square in tarboro
dessert & coffee at plum tree 
a perfect friday night
celebrating today from chapel hill

two years married.

Today, Justin & I have been married for two years. This past Friday, we jetted off to to Florida for the LSU-Florida game, one of Justin's favorites to attend. We stayed in Jacksonville & commuted in to Gainesville. We had a wonderful trip! This weekend, plans are still in the works, but I believe we are going to stay in Wilmington, on the water. As we walked out of lunch at The Scullery in downtown Greenville today, the church bells were playing, and we talked about how it feels like we got married a really long time ago. Maybe that's because we've been together for so long. Maybe that's because a lot has happened in our lives between the years of 2012 and 2014. Either way, all I know is that I hope there are many, many more years in store for us. Here's to many, many more anniversaries!

life update: ot school & moving to greenville.

Well, here we are, at 3:40 p.m. on a Monday, & I am finally sitting down to write about a couple of things that I've been wanting to & meaning to write about since MARCH here in this space. Let's skip the small talk & get to it.

I AM GOING TO OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY SCHOOL THIS FALL.

And in conjunction with the statement above, comes another.

JUSTIN & I ARE MOVING TO GREENVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, ON JULY 28.

Obviously, because that is where I will be attending school.

I haven't been especially forthcoming here on my blog concerning either of these bits of news, mainly because Justin has been working here in the Wilmington area, & for professional reasons, I needed to keep our plans private until arrangements could be made & notices could be given. However, with this being Justin's last week of work at his current job, I thought this was the perfect time to become fully transparent about our future plans!

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Back around the end of 2012 & the beginning of 2013, I was really struggling in which direction to take my professional life. I had been job searching in Wilmington for a few months, & the search was turning up dry, to put it nicely. I was in crisis mode. I even considered opening my own business. I considered law school. I wrote this post. Lots of tears were shed, & many dreams felt unattainable. 

Justin was at my side for all of this struggle. He got behind my ideas, even when they changed daily, & he supported me no matter what. Having a stronghold in those rough seas was a God-send. I'll never be able to thank him adequately for putting up with my hemming & hawing & wondering aloud & crying. 

And it was him who just said it one day. We were sitting in one of the hospital corridors during one of his lunch breaks. We were talking about what I should do with my life. You know, just regular small talk. 

"Why don't you just go back to school?" he asked. "Why don't you just do it?"

This wasn't the first time those words had been uttered by him. Nor was it the first time I had thought of it. Nor would this have been the first time I went back to school. I had done the same thing, in 2010, my sights set on Physician Assistant school. Life got in the way that time, I thought to myself. But maybe, this time, things would be different.

Things certainly felt different this time around, when I heard those words. It felt like this was it. 

And it was.

In May, I started taking prerequisites so that I could apply to Occupational Therapy schools around North Carolina. And in June, I wrote this post. And through all the time that I was enrolled at Cape Fear Community College, I shared bits & pieces of my school journey here, especially about my conquering of the beast that was Statistics. From June to December, I talked about tests, midterms, finals, papers, & classes. I even think I mentioned things about applying to schools. But I never said it aloud: I never said, "I am doing everything I can to get into Occupational Therapy school."

But that's what I was doing. Rising early to study for anatomy tests. Staying late to work on Statistics homework in the Math Lab. Spending my free time shadowing at various OT practices around town. 

In December, I submitted applications to three schools. Two in North Carolina, & one in South Carolina. And in the end, by March of this year, I was accepted to two out of those three, one school in North Carolina & one school in South Carolina, which is a fact that brings me extreme pride & joy. I am proud of myself, & I am so very happy that all the hours & hard work that I put in, paid off. Because there were times when I wondered to myself, & other times when I wondered aloud to Justin, "Will all of this be worth it?" [Keep in mind these thoughts usually occurred as I sat in front of Statistics homework with tears streaming down my face. Ha. I can laugh about it now.]

As you may have gathered, I chose the school in North Carolina. And on the twenty-eighth day of this seventh month of two thousand fourteen, we are packing our bags & hitting the road to Greenville, which is a town about two & a half hours northeast of here. We are leaving Wilmington, forever. And as I've mentioned in my last few posts, I am getting pretty wrapped up in nostalgia & sentimentality over the whole thing. I am going to miss this place. We are going to miss this place.

In fact, we may even look into purchasing a place here one day, so we will always have a place to stay, so we will come visit often. We are cherishing our last few weeks in this city. Because although they've been a bit of a struggle at times, they were our struggle. And we have gotten through this together. 

And now, it's time for us to tackle a new adventure together. Justin will be starting a new job in August, & I will be starting Graduate School. And we will work & study & live life to our fullest together in this new journey. And we are excited.

But for now, in the stillness that is the rest of our time here in Wilmington, we are going to soak in every last little joy from this place that we can. We will eat at our favorite restaurants, go to our favorite shops, I will run at my park as much as humanly possible. And when we drive away on July 28, we will do so knowing that a road will always connect us back to this place in our hearts. All we have to do is get in the car, watch the beautiful Carolina country scenery for a couple of hours & some change, & then we'll be back here, ready for more Dixie Grill, or Sawmill, or Hugh MacRae Park.

Here's to the future.

around here lately.

Ever since Spring has officially sprung here in Wilmington, we find ourselves getting out around town so much more. The warm weather sees us eating alongside the Cape Fear River frequently, & I have even made my way out to the beach once already, with high hopes of many return visits. The town is coming back to life after the coldest & longest Winter I can even remember. It is a joyful, joyful thing, Spring-time.

a smiling beach selfie | trying Bon Appetit for the first time | Justin's Easter picture

i finally got my hair cut again - here is a before & an after. all i have to say is, #wifehair

wisteria in bloom | the beautiful green fields of East Carolina

first culinary experience at The Scullery yielded my first latte art | justin indulged in simple coffee

after Church on Easter Sunday, we had brunch at Dixie Grill, a downtown favorite of ours

lunch on Carolina Beach with R at Tiki Bar | sunset dinner with Justin at Delphina Dos | new glasses!

As you can see, a lot of eating has been done, and a lot of photos have been taken! I've been trying to pull out both my phone and my DSLR more regularly, as I've slacked a bit in the documenting-the-moment category. I've been enjoying getting back into it, though, so expect to see some more Around Here Lately posts in the near future!

/////

Photos / Assorted Memories / Instagram

someone is turning 28 today.

here's the birthday boy on his second ski day in breckenridge.

he was basically a pro. well, at least compared to me.

Someone is turning 28 today. Remember when he turned 27? What about 26?

Something that I absolutely love about blogging is the living, changing record of our lives that it produces. I look back at when Justin turned 27, and I can see where we were in our lives at that point: it was his first birthday after we had gotten married, we had just gone for a trip to Charleston, and we were enjoying our life together in Wilmington.  I can look back at 26 and remember that that was when we were living in Kinston, that was when he was working ridiculously hard at a difficult job, and that was when we were still in the throes of planning our October wedding.

So, what about this year? Well, two days ago I got home from an impromptu 2-week-long visit to Shreveport. Earlier this month, we could be found skiing in Breckenridge, Colorado. And now, we are standing on the precipice of some big life changes. When I think about Justin's birthday this year, I think about the joy of life. I think about all that lies before us, all that we have to look forward to. I think about how grateful I am that on this day 28 years ago, a person came into this world who would ultimately become my husband, one of my greatest encouragers and supporters. That's where we are this year.

And it's pretty sweet.

Happy Birthday, Justin!

[Photo: In Breckenridge | iPhone 5C]

charleston in october.

Are you tired of hearing about Charleston in this space yet? Well, worry not, because this will be the last post on the Holy City for awhile [you know, until our next visit]. 

When we rose early on Sunday morning, I went down to the hotel lobby for tea & honey. As I sipped, I hustled & bustled to get ready. And when we finally set foot on the streets of downtown Charleston, it was like a collective sigh was let loose: the buildings seemed to relax into themselves, the streets breathed easily. And we knew where we were headed: toward a creaky front porch covered with mums & pumpkins, toward Southern comfort food at its best, toward brunch. And as we left with full bellies, we decided to traverse a bit of the land laid before us. It was still early, so the stray twinkle lights here & there glowed from within & exuded that extreme comfort that they're sometimes known for. Shops & libraries still lay dormant, waiting for the hour to strike which brought with it the flow of customers. But it wasn't that hour yet, so they lay still, waiting & watching. Certain antique wares beckoned to us from the windows, while the theater tiles were changed out at the Riviera. We stopped to greet a dog who was collecting a crowd - he was 250 pounds, according to his owner - & he flopped onto his back, begging for a belly rub. And on the way back to the car, we saw Second Sunday going up all around us: tables brought out from restaurants & placed on the street, tents going up with knick knacks for the taking, a book sale on the lawn of the library, & the crowds beginning to converge. We watched sleepy King Street turn into bustling, crowded King Street. And we soaked up every minute of that last bit of sleepiness before the waking.

Want to see more photos? They're all over here.

LSC

photos: scenes from Charleston | taken October 13, 2013 | complete set here

around here lately: a glimpse at our first anniversary.

On Sunday, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary! We woke up in Charleston, had brunch at Poogan's Porch [definitely our favorite place we've thus far discovered in the Holy City], & ate thawed-out, year-old wedding cake. Here are some snaps to prove it.

saturday, october 12 was a beautiful day for a roadtrip

sidewalk art spotted in downtown charleston

an 'oink' adorned wall at jim & nick's BBQ, where we had lunch

a saturday afternoon spent at parson jack's, where there was money on the ceiling

[we watched the LSU-Florida game, & LSU won]

sunday morning anniversary brunch on the porch at our favorite, poogan's porch

we didn't take many pictures, but here's what we looked like on october 13, 2013

when we arrived home, we feasted on defrosted, year-old wedding cake

I think the first year is a big milestone as far as anniversaries go. True, Justin & I have been together for a lot longer than one year, but this was our first married year. And that made all of the difference. 

Here's to many, many more.

LSC

photos: taken during anniversary weekend | find them on instagram

the sunday currently, advance edition: it's our one-year anniversary! [volume 56].

a year ago, today.

As of today, Justin & I have been married for 365 days, which I think is amazing. It feels like yesterday that I was heading down to Nottoway with my family, & Justin was heading in to Shreveport from Wilmington, & we were preparing for our wedding, flanked by our closest family & friends. As I reflect on our last year of marriage, I'm overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude for having such a caring, loving, funny, & responsible husband. I can't wait to see all that lies in store for our life together! 

To celebrate our anniversary, we took a little road trip to Charleston, South Carolina. Ever since our visit back in February of this year - see here, here, here, here, here, & here - we have been smitten with the Holy City. It seemed only fitting to celebrate in a place we enjoyed so much last time. Since this is an advance edition of The Sunday Currently - I'm writing it on Friday night around 9:30 p.m. - I'm going to go ahead and guess that I will have many, many photos to share with you all, a small portion over here, & a large portion over on Sidda Snaps. And later on today, we'll be enjoying thawed-out, year-old wedding cake. Here's to life & love!

C  U  R  R  E  N  T  L  Y  .  .  .  

R E A D I N G the Ask Reddit thread obsessively each night before bed. 

W R I T I N G over on Sidda Writes & loving it. I have big plans & dreams for that space.

L I S T E N I N G to documentaries as I type this post out. Tonight, we've watched Top Ten UFO Sightings & The Most Dangerous Drug. We've been watching many such things on Netflix recently.

T H I N K I N G that I feel very blessed & lucky to have a great husband. 

S M E L L I N G freshly painted nail polish. In anticipation for our anniversary trip, I painted my nails "Cocktail Dress," by Ciate. This is the color that I was wearing when Justin & I got engaged a little less than two years ago!

W I S H I N G we could have brunch in Charleston every Sunday.

H O P I N G Justin & I have had a lovely little visit to the Holy City.

W E A R I N G an outfit fit for adventure, I'm sure.

L O V I  N G Justin.

W A N T I N G a lovely rest of the weekend. Though Justin & I have had a lot of time for relaxation over the past couple of days, today will be the day to get back in line for the week to come.

N E E D I N G to study a lot this week... my first statistics test is quickly approaching.

F E E L I N G happy. 

C L I C K I N G nothing this weekend. 

LSC

photos: our wedding | taken one year ago | by Shana Burke

six things.

thoughts on monday.

sidda wears polish: Fall 2013 Nail Polish Picks.

Fall 2013 Nail Polish Picks

charleston-bound to celebrate our anniversary.

today, we're headed to charleston to celebrate our anniversary weekend.

on sunday, we'll have been married for an entire year - 365 days. 

october 13, you'll always be my favorite.

LSC

photo by Shana Burke

the fourth.

Justin & I are celebrating America from Savannah, Georgia this year. We are soaking up the beauty & history of downtown today, as well as looking forward to a fireworks show over the river tonight. Photos to come in the weeks following our return. God bless the United States!

photo: downtown wilmington | nikon

around here lately.

I know I just shared an Around Here Lately post with you this past Wednesday, but I've amped up my picture-taking since being back here in Wilmington, & there are some Instagram shots I'm itching to share...

weekends at the beach | mrs. t's signature wedding candle | bright manicures

trekkin' it  to school daily | outdoor rainy brunch at the george | finding vintage lace china while antiquing

downtown murals | the simple joy of a morning ritual | late lunch at riverboat landing on the private balcony

bow ties | feeling thankful on memorial day | little lamps at the antique store

I like to think that we've kicked off the Summer Season here in Wilmington pretty perfectly. It's hard not to be completely overjoyed when your weekends are filled with beach time, brunch, & antiquing in a picturesque little downtown. Fill in the weekday spaces with school & limitless cups of coffee, & I guess you could say I'm one lucky girl. And, well, my husband is pretty badass - helping me study, making me laugh so hard I cry. Don't mind me, I'm just riding the wave of blissed-out summertime*. And it's still only early June. There's plenty more in store, I hope.

*playlist coming soon

recognizing nostalgia.

Yesterday, as I walked from class to my car, a strange kind of sadness gripped me in a way that hasn't happened in a long time. I wasn't sure what to make of it, & it made me feel pretty horrible, truth be told. As I trudged down the street, partly composed of cool concrete, partly composed of sun-warmed bricks, I kept my head down. The sadness was pulling me deeper & deeper, & I only wished for an explanation. 

I was thinking weird thoughts, abstract, yet vivid. I felt a sense of possession over the place we live, the time we spend, the activities that fill our days. Outsiders felt like threats - I didn't want them to tarnish our experience, to call our home anything other than that. 

As I approached the parking garage, I just wanted clarity: why was I feeling these feelings? At that moment, I glanced up at the sky, saw the frothy clouds moving this way & that, & realized it: life is a miracle. And the feeling I was feeling? Nostalgia. Nostalgia for a time that is still happening. 

And I know that in the distant future, when I think of our first married spring on the east coast of North Carolina - here in Wilmington, I'll think of this very time in my life. And I'll feel that familiar sting - the ache of nostalgia. And I'm sure that, at first, it won't feel pleasant. But, once I realize it for what it is - the bittersweet recollection of a vibrant memory - it'll be cherished.

wilmington magnolias | iphone

the struggle.

Today - for the challenge - I'm going to talk about something I bet every who has moved away from their hometown has dealt with. Of course, there are those badasses out there who listen to their call to adventure, who can still feel connected even when they're thousands of miles from that place they for so long called home. You may have already guessed this, but I am not one of those people.

 

While Justin was in PA school, we talked about moving away from our hometown, to get out & see more of the country. To have an adventure. To go make a new place our own.

 

And when he did his preceptorship, which is basically a three-month internship at the end of PA school, he went twelve hours away to Greenville, South Carolina. I went & visited twice, & we fell in love with that little city & its picturesque downtown. In those summer days spent seeing patients, playing golf, & exploring a new state, we both fell in love with the idea of living in the Carolinas, he from up-close, myself from far-away & by proxy.

 

Needless to say, in the space of time after PA school graduation & now, we got engaged, moved to North Carolina, got married, & settled into Wilmington. And I love Wilmington. I love its beaches, I love its beauty, & I love it's riverfront downtown, with restaurants and ice cream right there on the water. I love being in a different place, forging my own way, & relying on Justin for partnership & companionship.

 

But, it's hard to be so far removed from our families, from our friends, & from familiarity.

 

So, I guess that's what I'm struggling with lately: just the duality of loving Wilmington & feeling so safe & secure in Shreveport, surrounded by people who love us. The duality of adventure, excitement, newness, in stark contrast to familiarity, comfort, & normalcy. During my last trip to Shreveport, which I am just now arriving home to Wilmington from today, this struggle was really brought to the forefront of my mind.

 

But, I am excited to see what the future holds for us in Wilmington. There is still so much to be explored, so many people to meet, & so many things to get involved in. And I'm glad that Justin will be alongside me throughout it all, experiencing it at the same time. To me, that is the ultimate comfort.
 

six months married.

Today marks our six month wedding anniversary. It already feels like we've come so far since that day in October. I can honestly say, I didn't really feel married until about five months in. Yes, it actually took that long for it to really sink in. But I love being married to my best friend: I love how ridiculous & goofy we get to be on a daily basis. You know, it's fun. But growing up is the strangest thing - how is it possible that I am married? And have been, for half a year already? I guess I'll find out eventually. Until then, I'll relish the fact that this year, we aren't going through the stress of planning a wedding. While I treasure those days in Kinston, as well as the process leading up to our wedding day, it's nice to have come so far since then, & to have put such a large project behind us.

Oh, & I also used to have blonde hair. Those were the days.

photo: by Lindsey Hudson

a husband's birthday.

Last year, Justin had to wake up obscenely early for work on his birthday. He had to travel from Kinston to Jacksonville, with an extremely long day ahead of him. We were pinching pennies, anticipating our upcoming wedding, so I gifted him with a surprise breakfast: homemade pancakes, with syrup, whipped cream, & strawberries. 

Things are decidedly different this year. We're married now. We are living in Wilmington. He works regular hours, with no travel involved. I have bought a couple of little gifts, that I think he'll really enjoy. And, we'll get to go out for birthday dinner tonight. Maybe I'm biased, but I think this year is better.

In my family, we have a ritual for birthdays. And this morning, Justin was initiated by way of the ritual. I hope this one is his best birthday yet. He sure does deserve it.

Happy Birthday, Justin! 

photo: justin in charleston \ nikon

valentine's day snapshot.

In the nearly eight years that Justin & I have been together, we have always acknowledged & celebrated Valentine's Day, but never in a huge, over-the-top way. We prefer to keep this holiday understated & simple, & that is exactly how I like it.

This year, Valentine's Day was a Thursday, & while Justin was at work, I collected the necessary ingredients & cooked up some candied jalapenos. Lessons learned: remove the jalapeno seeds so they're not scorching hot, & prepare the jalapenos a few days in advance so they can really stew & sweeten up in the syrup. Though this treat wasn't perfectly executed, I think Justin really appreciated it, as he has been requesting this confection for... I don't even know how long. I think he was thrilled I finally got around to it, & I'm not going to lie, I definitely benefitted form eating this spicy, sweet, cream cheese, wheat thins goodness. 

That evening, we dined at Dock Street Oyster Bar - a little hole-in-the-wall beloved by the locals around here. Multiply those happy faces you see in the photo above by about twenty, & that's how we felt about our meal. I'm not big on sweet potatoes, but the mashed variety we enjoyed alongside our mahi & shrimp did not disappoint. 

We then retreated back home to watch our two Red Box picks for the night: The Perks of Being a Wallflower & Taken 2. Since my copy of Perks is worn & probably the most highlighted book I own, I was banking on the film version being a success. And it was. As soon as the credits were rolling, Justin turned to me & said, 'That was great.' 

Taken 2... not so much. About three quarters of the way through the film, I found myself scoffing, relating the movie to a video game. Because all it was, was creeping around, trying not to get killed. It had basically no storyline. It just... didn't hold a flame to the original, in my opinion.

How did you celebrate Valentine's Day this year? I will say... I didn't eat nearly enough candy... and no red & pink M&Ms at all, unfortunately.

photos: valentine's day \ instagram