Inspiration

The other morning, I woke up at about 5:00 am. I have been recently trying my best to become a jogger, without too much success, and 5:00 am is the only time in my day I stand a chance at fitting it in.
I had read about a lunar eclipse that was beginning at 4:51 am. Not so long ago, I would have scoffed at the thought of rising so early in the morning!
But, to my surprise, there was something about this event that caused me to get up out of bed eagerly, put my tennies on and head out for my jog.

As I began my warm up walk, the moon was clearly in an early state of an eclipse. I started jogging, and my focus remained on this spectacular event. By the time I had finished at 5:45, it had almost completed it's eclipse and was on the wane. I was able to share this with my groggy 12-year-old, and though he was half asleep, he thought it was "cool".

This was an inspirational event for me - not only the beauty of it, but also the fact that I had jogged the entire time I was outside!! Almost 2 miles straight! And I have been able to do it every day since.

I am on a mission! The moon told a story from start to finish - being invaded, shadowed, and finally engulfed by what seemed a dark moment. But then...it became whole again, bright and full and able to light the way for someone else...

I will remember this eclipse and know that it was and can be a turning point.

Pics from OBX!

My sisters (Maria and Susan) and Megan - having a great time! This was from the top of a lookout being built at another house. Hi, that's me when I don't do my hair. :)

It is totally a buyer's market here at the beach. Beachfront property is down to about $750k (um, the LAND, that is!). The houses run in the millions, but still a deal right now by comparison!

We are staying in Rodanthe, which is on Hatteras Island (our second visit to this area, fourth visit to the Outer Banks). Not only hit by a hurricane in 2003, but also made famous with the book by Nicholas Sparks "Nights in Rodanthe". There is an ocean side with dunes (where we are), and the sound side which is much calmer.

Ian and Megan, hanging out at the pool. The rough life, indeed!

So, here is our house. Just built in June. It's different from the ones we have had in the past, in terms of layout and attention to detail, with it being new (there are more things wrong with it!). Still, we are just a few steps to the beach and have a great view. Our other houses in the past have been larger, but we have had more people. We only have 18 on this trip. :)

The Rodanthe Pier, literally where our street ends.

Bright and early fishermen. I got up very early for a stroll on the slight chance I might find my sunglasses,which were swept away the day before by a wave overtaking me. Man, I loved those sunglasses!

My darling daughter, Megan! Rodanthe beach.

I can't think of anything more fun than digging my way to China in the sand. The hole got larger and larger. Many stopped to stare, and some stopped to play! Here is Megan with her cousin, Cassie, and a friend that is with us, Cameron.

Just an early morning view of what I saw...

The view of our neighborhood...behind the house on the far left end is the Sound.

This is our pool. A bit plain, having just been built, but a pool and hot-tub just the same!

Today's update!

SKYBUS!

Yes, we have taken the plunge. The long-awaited $10 Skybus tickets came to fruition this week! The kids and I left Saturday morning at 6:30 am, Richmond-bound for the Outer Banks for North Carolina.

Skybus was great! The planes are new, quiet, and well configured to haul a bunch of people cross-country for next to nothing. The flight was so short, we thought something was wrong and we were landing early! That is great when that happens!

My one piece of advice if you are flying Skybus, is to listen their advice about checking in - arrive the full 2 hours ahead of your departure. That would have meant we would have needed to be there at 4:30 am. We arrived at 5, earlier than I would EVER have tried (ie The Late Game!). We barely made it in line before boarding began!

The rest of Saturday was a mix of an IHOP breakfast (delicious!), shopping at Wal-mart for all of our needed supplies for a week at the beach, and sitting in traffic...*YAWN*. That part was a bit much. What should have been a 3.5 hour drive turned into a very long day.

We arrived at the realty office on Saturday about 6 pm. Fortunately, our house was just being finished cleaning, so despite the traffic delays, we arrived "right on time"!

Our house has 6 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms. The kids are all in bunk beds and we have our own pool. We can see the ocean from each of the 3 decks. Pictures to follow!