Nags Head, NC Beach Trip 2015

We just got home from a beach vacation.  It was super fun.  It was incredibly exhausting.  Good times were had.  I love that prior to going on vacation, I am SO VERY EXCITED to go...

And then when it's time to come home, I can't wait to get there and sleep in my own bed...

This trip was a conglomeration of Davidsons and Acuffs and was only possible thanks to the participation of all!  The first half of the week was mostly Davidsons.

Popsicle and Reese

Reese loves it when people read to her.  If by "read" you mean "skip several pages at a time and basically flip through the book."

Aunt Julie

Gram catching some Reese snuggles.

We played on the beach.  We got sand EV.ERY.WHERE.

We avoided sharks by staying out of the water.  But we stayed ever-vigilant...

The only shark-sighting, thankfully.

The second half of the week was Acuff-filled.

The Colonel

The Memaw

Scott and Betty Anne

John and Nikki

 

We found perfectly good toddlers washed up on the beach.

We took obligatory sunset photos.

We laughed.

We cried.  

We took #pinterestfail photos.

Good, good times...

A Zoological Conversation

Reese and I went to the zoo today.  It was a beautiful, sunshiny day, not too chilly (50ish degrees), and also Fridays are free in January and February.  WIN.

Reese's favorite parts were the effuhlants and the 'bingos.  (translation: elephants and flamingos.)
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But this was my favorite conversation snippet:

Me:  "Reese!  Let's go see the meerkats!"

Reese:  "Haircuts?"

Me:  "Uhmm...close...MEEEEERKATS."

Reese:  "Key-kats?"  (kitty cats)

Me:  "Meeeeeeeeerkats."

(upon arrival at the exhibit, three meerkats go scurrying by us close to the glass where Reese can see them easily.)

Reese, pointing to the meerkats:  "PUPPEEEEE!"

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Good times, good times.  We'll keep working on our animal identification.

What is the one thing that you want to be remembered for?

What a tough question...

1) What I think I should say:  I want to be remembered for loving Jesus and genuinely showing his love to others.

2) What I want to say:  I want to be remembered for being kind, genuine, and compassionate.

3) What I hope people will say:  Betty Anne was hilarious.  Could always count on her for a laugh.

4) What I actually think people will say:  Bless her heart.

about 2:  I'm decent at being kind to strangers.  More than decent, actually.  I'm routinely very, very nice to people I don't know.  I smile when I don't feel like it.  I go out of my way to make customer service people in particular feel appreciated.  I've been in customer service roles.  I get it.  It comes pretty easily to me to show these people kindness.

Why, then, is it so hard for me to be as kind to those around me that I interact with every day??  Scott, my kids, my parents??  I can be mean in a heartbeat to any of them.  Why??  They aren't mean to me!  (well, the kids are sometimes...) Why is it so much harder for me to be consistently nice to those closest to me??

What do you want to be remembered for?