What I'll Miss About the South

Today I turned in my North Carolina license plate to the California DMV and officially became a California resident. I think this is the first time it has really felt real that I'm actually living here and that this is my home. Before I kind of felt like I was on vacation and that I would go back to North Carolina after my little "vacation". But now its all starting to sink in. I absolutely LOVE living here and I feel so so blessed. I mean the beach is literally 5 minutes from our house and if I'm not at the beach, I can spend my time watching people golf outside our window.

Although I love the sun and the sand and the overall gloriousness of California, there are definitely some things I'm going to miss about North Carolina. And I've made a list of all the things I'll miss:

1. The Southern Accent

I find myself turning on Paula Deen's cooking show just so I can hear the southern drawl and the "y'alls".

2. Front Porches



I have no idea why California and most of the West have yet to embrace front porches, but they should because they are a fabulous thing and kind of a necessity. What is more relaxing than siting on your front porch in your rocking chair, sipping on some lemonade or sweet tea and reading a book? Nothing. Someday I will have a house with a front porch... even if I have to add it myself.

3. Sweet Tea and Biscuits

Sweet Tea here means iced tea with sweetener and the biscuits are definitely not as fluffy and delicious.

4. BoJangles

Even though I only ate there twice, I miss seeing it on the side of the road and really miss hearing people say "It's BO Time!"

5. Cheaper gas-- California gas prices are killer!! And not only that, but you have to drive farther and in WAY more traffic.

6. Fireflies-- The first time I ever saw a firefly was in North Carolina. They are so beautiful!

7. The Outer Banks

The Outer Banks is such a beautiful place. Its what you think of when you think of an "east coast beach". I highly recommend visiting or camping there like Josh and I did last Fourth of July.

8. My friends!

I made such great friends and met so many amazing people in Chapel Hill. It's too bad they live across the country or I definitely would be visiting them all the time!

And Of course there are things I WON'T miss about the South:

1. THE BUGS (I hate hate hate bug bites. Not only are they annoying and itchy, but they are so unattractive)

2. The humidity! I have NO idea how people in the South cope with it. One summer of it was enough for me. It is the most miserable feeling to be hot and wet and sticky. YUCK!

There is definitely a lot that I'll miss about North Carolina and I know I missed a ton of other stuff. However, I don't want this blog to seem like I'm complaining about living here because I miss it in Chapel Hill. I LOVE it here and I really couldn't be more happy (well that's not true, if Josh was here life would be grand).

I mean just look at the view I get on my morning run now. Enough said.

Dewees Island, also known as "Heaven on Earth"

Ok, Dewees Island isn't really known as "Heaven on Earth" but to me its pretty much perfect. To celebrate our graduation from nursing school, 9 girls and I drove down to South Carolina to celebrate for a few days at the beach. One of the girls' parents have a home on Dewees Island which is close to Charleston. Dewees Island is practically deserted; you have to take a ferry to get there and there are only golf carts allowed on the island. There are no restaurants, no stores; just a few homes and a lot of alligators and birds. I think this was the first time I've seen an alligator in real life and I can say that t hey are even creepier in person.

Our poor lil' seagull friend "Peggy" because of his peg leg :(

This was the perfect end to what has been a hectic and busy year and a half of nursing school. We all busted our butts and worked hard so this was a much needed and well-deserved vacation. And what a perfect vacation it was! We did nothing but lay on the beach, play games, chat, relax, eat, drink a nd just hang out.

One of our better Apples to Apples rounds on game night. I put down "Tiger Woods" for "Touchy Feely" and lets just say I won that hands down :)

I definitely got burnt from all that fun in the sun, but definitely not as bad as some of the girls. Poor Katy!!

I LOOOVE beaches and this was probably one of the best beaches I've been to. Why? Because NOBODY was there! I'm used to crowded Southern California beaches where you have to stake out an area early in the morning just to have a place for the afternoon. But it wasn't like this at all. There was literally nobody around for miles and miles. And there were sand dollars EVERYWHERE!! I have always wanted to find sand dollar, and within the first five minutes of being on the beach I found one. So I took a few home as souvenirs.

Sand dollars galore!

I could tell a million stories about our trip and all the fun we had, but I'll let the photos do the talking.

I've got some pretty stylish friends ;) haha


With cooler and drinks in tote we're ready for the beach!

View from the house


I could spend days on this hammock. So peaceful and so serene, it felt like something from the Notebook or something.

Dewees Island was pure bliss and I miss it so much!! And I miss the company too!! :) A big THANK YOU to Kara for organizing the trip and for her family for being so kind as to let us use their house!

Miss you girls so much!!

Journey to California- Day 4

Day 4 was the shortest leg of the entire trip and thank goodness because we were exhausted! We only had to go from Albuquerque, NM to Scottsdale, AZ so it was only about 6 hours of driving. However, it was still another adventurous day because we almost ran out of gas. We both thought I could make it all the way to Scottsdale without filling up, but my gas meter likes to play tricks on me. It would say 100 miles till empty and then within an instant jump down to 56 miles till empty. I have never actually run out of gas and I know its not a big deal at all. But still, being stuck in the middle of a hot desert with a cat would not be too fun.

Thankfully we made it without running out of gas. Getting to my grandparents and being able to relax and not have to worry about getting on the road again the next day was the best feeling. I definitely think a trip across country should be a definite once in while thing. Why is it that sitting in the car, doing nothing and driving all day exhausts you so much? Deda and I just sat around and did nothing when we got to Arizona because we were just so tired.

I'm so excited to be in AZ! I'll be here for the next few days to visit friends and family. I lived in AZ since I was 10 and went to college in Tucson, so I have a lot of friends who still live there. Honestly I'm so happy I'm going to be living close enough to drive to AZ!! This means lots of trips to go visit there!

With friends in Zona! :) They make me so happy and I miss them so much!!

Funny story about this picture. I was driving in Scottsdale and literally these families of geese just start waddling out in the middle of the road and traffic had to stop. And Papa Goose (or maybe it was Mama Goose) was in the back keeping an eye on everything and making sure all was safe. So adorable!!

Journey to California- Day 3

Day 3 was a great success!! 11 hours of traveling and 758 miles!! We drove through four different states: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and ended in New Mexico. It was a LONG day and by the end of the day I was definitely getting cabin fever.

There should be a picture of the Texas sign right here, but apparently not everything is "big" in Texas and it must have been too small because we missed it.

Deda and I passed along the time by listening to some podcasts and doing crosswords. We also recorded a few of our conversations on some audiotapes. I've always wanted to audio or video record my grandparents as they tell me about their lives, how they grew up and how they came to America. So this was my first attempt at that. I'd really like to interview them and videotape them and put it on a DVD so I always have it and I can show it to my kids. But that's for future.

When we got to New Mexico we decided to make a pit stop to visit my old house. I only lived there for a year when I was in 4th grade so I don't remember much. The house didn't seem to have changed much. There were still the rocks lining the driveway that my dad had done and the ginormous rock in front of the house that my dad also did. Seeing the house definitely brought back a lot of memories. Like when my sister and I got locked out of the house as it started to snow. And the time that my sister found a dead lizard in her closet. Oh and I can't forget the time I found a rattlesnake in the backyard coiled up and ready to strike and my dad had to come home from work early to kill it. Apparently I have a lot of dramatic memories of New Mexico. Although I do remember the coolest thing was that we lived really close to a ski area (a 5 min drive) so every Wednesday during the winter, school let out early for ski school! It was pretty much the best thing ever!

My old house

Deda and Tyson (my car) in New Mexico

Definitely glad the marathon day was over. Tomorrow should be an easy day. I'm pretty excited to be going to Arizona and I know Deda is itching to get out of the car for good and to be back home. Poor Beans has had enough too I think. Today he was crawling on the suitcases in the back and they weren't very secure so when we turned a corner he and the suitcase went flying across the car. Luckily Beans landed in his litter box and the suitcase fell next to him and NOT on top of him. Poor lil guy!

Clinging onto dear life with every turn. I really don't know why he insists on sitting like this. It can't be very comfortable.

Journey to California- Day 2

Day 2 started out fabulously because we met Anna for breakfast in Nashville. We went to Fido which is this fun and hip coffee shop where apparently lots of stars go (Taylor Swift and Jake Gyellenhal had their first date there and Darius Rucker has been spotted there). According to Anna they have the BEST oatmeal there and boy was she right! In case you don't know, I am OBSESSED with oatmeal (seriously, I have it every morning for breakfast). I love discovering new toppings and new ways to prepare it (yes dork alert). For example, in the fall I LOVE to have pumpkin butter and pecans in it and in the summer, berries and brown sugar. Yum!! The oatmeal at Fido was so fluffy and delicious, topped with yummy fruit toppings. I honestly wish I would have taken a picture of it because it was probably the best oatmeal I've ever had at a restaurant. Thanks for meeting us for a scrumptious breakfast Anna!!

After Nashville we headed back on the road towards Memphis and towards all the flood waters. Apparently the Mississippi River is expected to crest at 48 feet which is the highest level in 70 years! We definitely saw a lot of flooding as we were driving. Some houses were partly underwater and sandbags were everywhere. Part of the 40 in Arkansas was flooded so we had to take a 2-hour detour around the flood waters. We ended up going through a lot of small towns on the detour which was fun and pretty interesting. We drove through one town, Hardy, AR with a population of 152!! That's less than the number of girls in my sorority! However seeing all these small towns was pretty sad because there was a lot of water coming in. I remember seeing one family who was busy surrounding their house with sandbags. It was so sad to think that these people might lose their homes which they've probably lived in for their entire lives and which hold all of their possessions. So please keep all these people in your prayers!

Flood waters

The tilt on this picture is not to give it a more dramatic effect. My grandpa just has a hard time taking a straight picture. But in his defense we were traveling at like 65 miles per hour when this picture was taken.

After we got through the flood waters we stopped in Fort Smith, AR for the night. I'm not going to lie I'm not the biggest fan of Arkansas (I'm sorry Chelsea Jo I really tried to love it for your sake but it just didn't happen). There were lots of dead armadillos on the side of the road and I definitely saw two big women fishing in a DITCH on the side of the road... yes a ditch! I'm sure there are probably really cute parts of Arkansas, but I think I might have missed them. So Chelsea Jo I think we may need to take a trip to Arkansas sometime so you can change my mind about it. :)

We didn't end up going as far as we wanted because of the 2 hour detour but I think we'll end up making it up tomorrow. And Beans didn't make any more escape attempts so I guess it was a pretty good day :).

Journey to California- Day 1

Nursing school is done! I really can't believe how fast it all went by! Now that I've finished its off to California to move into our house and find a job (oh and finish wedding planning too). To celebrate graduation, me and 9 other girls from my nursing school class went to a small beach island in South Carolina to celebrate (you'll read all about that trip in a later blog). Once I got home from South Carolina, I packed up my apartment and my car and headed to California. On the journey with me is Beans (my cat) and my grandpa (I call him Deda, which is Russian for "grandpa"). I needed a travel buddy and Deda was super excited to fly out from Arizona to drive with me. And I was pretty excited myself about getting to spend some quality time with him. I told him to bring his audio recorder so I could record our conversations and to be able to document our trip. While we were driving, I came to find out that this is actually the first vacation he's been on without my grandmother. Can you believe that, after 52 years of marriage not even one vacation without her?!? I don't know why I find that hard to believe but it amazes me.

And we're off!

Getting out of my apartment was a bit hectic but Deda and I managed to get the whole place clean and everything packed up. I have no idea how I came to Chapel Hill with just 2 suitcases and left with a car full of stuff. Granted I did ship some packages from California and did bring more stuff from home over breaks and did acquire a million textbooks, but still, my car was pretty packed. We got a late start out of Chapel Hill, but we made it to our goal destination of Nashville. I really wanted to see Anna if we had the time and it ended up being a perfect stopping point so it worked out great. We didn't end up seeing Anna on Day 1, but we planned to meet up with her for breakfast on Day 2.

Traveling with a cat has been surprisingly pretty easy. When I first moved out to North Carolina Beans traveled with me on the plane. He did pretty well and only meowed a little bit on the plane. He's never really traveled in a car for long distances so I was a little nervous about how he would do. This first leg of the trip he did great! He was sitting on Deda's lap and on the armrest and walking around the car and exploring. He seemed to really like it and didn't really mind it that much. When we stopped for the first time we put him on a leash (yes they do make leashes for cat). However, Beans isn't much of a walker on the leash; he just kind of sniffs around and then sits on the ground. Anyway, Deda took him out of the car to try to walk him around and get him out of the car but of course, "Mr. Houdini" (aka Beans because he literally tries to sneak out and escape whenever possible) decided to get out of his leash and run underneath the car. Luckily Deda caught him before he was able to run out of the gas station and onto the road. In a second escape attempt, at the hotel later that night Beans ended up sneaking out of the hotel room and ran down the hallway. Deda and I chased after him but he didn't get far before I caught him. I swear that cat was Houdini in a past life. I'm really surprised he hasn't gotten away for real yet. As long as we don't have anymore attempted "prison breaks" from Beans, I think the trip will be pretty easy with a cat.

Beans loves this whole traveling thing. I think he thinks the car is his castle and he is definitely the king of it. (Note: He did NOT sit here while driving. I know my mom would probably freak out if she saw this pic and thought he stayed there the whole trip)

The first night Deda and I had dinner at Shoney's. Deda started talking about this restaurant before we even got into Tennessee. He told me this story about how 40 years ago when he lived in Virginia he and Babushka (my grandmother) started to like this restaurant and they especially LOVED the Strawberry Cream Pie there! One time when my grandparents were living in Hawaii, Deda had a business trip in Virginia and while he was there he went to Shoney's and got a Strawberry Cream Pie to bring back to Hawaii. He took it on the plane and gave it to the flight attendant to store in the fridge. When they had landed on one of the legs of the flight the fridge was getting emptied and Deda noticed it. He told the flight attendant who quickly grabbed the Strawberry Cream Pie in the nick of time, but as she was doing so, she fell and landed on her back. However, she kept the pie upright and it was safe. In the end, the pie made it safely from Virginia to Chicago to San Francisco and finally to Hawaii in one piece and my grandparents were able to enjoy Strawberry Cream Pie from Shoney's together. Now that is what I call A) dedication to a pie and B) being a really awesome husband and bringing your wife pie all the way from Virginia. Anyway, we stopped there and Deda and I shared this famous Strawberry Cream Pie. I asked him if it was as good as he had remembered it to be and he said it was good but he couldn't really remember how it tasted 40 years ago.

Shoney's famous "Strawberry Cream Pie"

It's been a great first day of our probably 4 day journey to Arizona (I'm dropping Deda off there and spending a few days there to visit friends). I'm pretty excited about our adventures! We're going to try to stop at some interesting sights along the way so I'll blog about anything fun that we see.

Deda mapping out our route on the maps. I really love that he doesn't rely on MapQuest and uses a good ole fashioned map! :)