My husband and I have always wondered what it would be like to live at the beach. He tried to get coastal jobs multiple times when we were a young married couple.  When more kids were born and jobs more intense, we just went where the jobs were and took all our job transfers in stride. Every town opened up new adventures, good friends and wonderful churches. Each transfer was unique and awesome.  We couldn’t have chosen better towns to live in if we tried to ourselves.

Our kids are grown now and my work has reduced to a slow simmer.  It has us wondering where we will won’t to live for the next season of our life.  I felt that I only got a good feel for our new towns when I worked there and immersed myself in the community. My new adventure will help us do just that in the beach town of Oak Island, NC.  It is a tiny blue collar working community that just happens to lie on the Atlantic Ocean. It is not pretentious at all. It is just a sweet, southern fishing village with Atlantic salt water on one side and Intracoastal fresh water on the other.  The town manager is from Columbus, NC.  That is right down the street from Hendersonville.  I enjoy talking to him about our idea and hope of possibly retiring there.  He says that we will absolutely love it and I look forward to finding out for myself.

Our plans have been unfolding in a perfect way and our prayers are that we be in God’s will and for wisdom in knowing which way to go. First of all, a job opened right away.  I loved the look of this cute little restaurant called Bob’s Dogs.  It is very close to the beach and owned by a sweet couple that started the business from scratch about 4 years ago in order to obtain their dream of living on OKI. The hours sounded great because they usually close at 4:00. That leaves plenty of time to explore the island and surrounding mainland.  Next, we found a perfect rental for me.  It is in a safe gated community and is furnished with all utilities included.  I will be a local there for all intents and purposes.  My husband will be there on long weekends in June and almost half of the month of July.

We look forward to discovering and forming a more informed opinion about this island we might call home. If we discover this is not the place for us, we will have a journal of a unique experience and the gratification of marking it off our list without always wondering “what if”.

We discovered the island after watching the movie Safe Haven with Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough.  I love this interview they did about the movie and the area after the filming.

I have a favorite hobby of cake decorating. I especially like making flowers for cakes and cupcakes to look as real as possible. When I needed to take cupcakes to church this morning, I was wondering how I should transport these, because when we downsized I got rid of my cupcake carrier.  It was bulky and had a couple of rust spots.  So I decided to make a bouquet with a silver pitcher, floral oasis, and toothpicks.  I hope you like it.  This was an easy way to carry with just a little clear wrap over it to transport.

When putting it together, I thought that with more planning time I could next time put fake moss around the oasis to look even more real.

Going all out for the last white hot chocolate hoorah before Spring!

My sister had the Enka Sugar Jets flock my yard for my birthday.  When I came home from eating out with my hubby, I was welcomed home by a flock of pink flamingos.

Caroline and Daniel love The Great Gatsby.  Can you tell?

This year Jack is very sad and is crying pumpkin seed tears.

I thought I was finished making graveyard cakes when my children grew up.  My youngest daughter, Caroline, is coming to town this Halloween weekend and requested that I make a graveyard cake.  It was always a tradition to have chili and a graveyard cake on Halloween.  I am happy to do it and enjoyed the fond memories while decorating it.  It just proves that even as grown ups, we are still kids at heart.

The graves this year are for Ava Gardner, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Charlie Silvers, and an unknown R.I.P.