COOKIES everywhere!!

In an effort to satisfy my need to bake and host, we had a Christmas cookie party back on Dec. 8th. (Sorry for the late post...things have been hectic here in NC!) It was such a blast as we packed in nearly 30 people and many plates of cookies. I had made punch, mulled cider, coffee, and hot chocolate to help wash down the sweets, but needless to say, we all sugar crashed soon enough. It was awesome to welcome college students, co-workers, new friends, and old ones into our home. The selection of cookies were quite impressive too: thumbprint cookies, mocha bars, peanut butter balls, haystacks, mint cream cheese brownies, white chocolate cranberry macadamia nut, double chocolate chip, regular chocolate chip, rice krispie treats, pistachio cranberry, shortbread, oatmeal crisps, peanut butter cup cookies, and more!!! Can you say YUMMMY!?! Yes, I love to bake, but I did not make all of those cookies. I made a few batches and everyone who came brought some too. There were bags to fill with leftover cookies before you went home, so no one left low on sugar. It was so much fun!!!

(pictures to come.....difficulty with wireless at the parents' house currently....)

Random Fact from Adam: "The largest temperature disparity ever recorded in a 24-hour period was in Loma, Montana from January 14-15, 1972. In that period, the temperature rose from -54 degress Fahrenheit to 49 degrees-- a 103 warm-up!!"

What a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Adam and I got to fly back home to Texas to spend a few days with our parents to celebrate Thanksgiving and my birthday! Thanksgiving day began with a funny little story actually.....Since we were staying at our parents' homes, I did not pack shampoo and such. The first night of our stay was at Adam's folks house and I woke up to get in the shower. I browsed through a couple cabinets and then found a bottle labeled "shampoo" and another "conditioner" in Adam's toiletry bag. Needless to say, I used it although the "shampoo" never lathered and the "conditioner" stunk really bad. Once Adam saw that I used it, he started busting out in laughter informing me that the "shampoo" was his hair gel and the "conditioner" was aftershave. Oh yes, I had to get back in the shower and wash the hair all over again after getting REAL shampoo and conditioner from Adam's mom. Moral of the story: never trust your husband's toiletries.

We headed from Adam's parent's house to Steph's parent's house where the feast was already in the works. We took a break from prepping the food and got to spend time with Adam's brother Scott and his wife Kristie! Once we got back to the house, I had the BEST surprise ever as my Uncle Richard was standing in the kitchen working on our turkey. Awhile back, I found out he wasn't going to be a part of our Thanksgiving meal and was very bummed out. So, when he was there, we were more than thrilled! The feast included: 1 fried turkey, 1 baked turkey, peppercorn venison (Steph's favorite), sweet potato casserole, Chinese greens, persimmon cranberry sauce, cornbread dressing, and pecan pie. YUMMMMMY!!!!

Steph and Uncle Richard

If we hadn't eaten enough, Friday's dinner was a nice birthday party for Steph at her house. We had about 16 people there and lots of food. The menu included: blackened salmon, pork ribs, chicken and prosciutto, asparagus, stir fry veggies, rosemary potatoes, and a huge black forest cake I made and decorated myself! Can't you tell our family loves to cook! It was wonderful to see so many friends. Definitely a fantastic birthday!

Birthday Party Fun!

Ooooo CAKE!

Check out those pretty flowers Adam got me!

We flew out on Saturday and ate good ole Tex-Mex at Uncle Julio's before our flight out. Let's just say we miss the Mexican food here in NC and are glad to get it whenever we can. Due to our late lunch, Adam and I didn't have dinner and chose to have a midnight snack once we got home.....ahhh, the joys of vacation...

Sunday was a day of relaxing and getting the house decked out with Christmas fun. The tree is up, garland hung, and ornaments out. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. Hope you are all doing well!!

(The picture below was taken by photographer extraordinaire, Kristen. We did a mini photo shoot to figure out which picture should go in our Christmas cards. The one below did not make the final cut. And yes, my shirt does say "I am in love with a cowboy." Keep an eye on your mailbox and you should be getting a Christmas greeting from the Parkens soon!)


Random Fact from Adam: "It's a Wonderful Life" cost $3.7M to make (quite expensive for an independent film in 1946), but only made $3.3M in its first box office run. Thanks to Internet Movie Database (IMDB) for that one.

Friends: Old and New

A few weekends ago, we had the pleasure of hosting the Teagues as they made the drive from Boston to Texas. We absolutely love Morgan and Bruce and really, who can resist Elijah's ultimate cuteness?! Exactly. It was a blast showing them around town, sharing meals, and walking around the Duke Gardens. We continue to pray for them as they prepare to move to Morrocco in the upcoming months to serve over there long term. We miss you guys and love you tons.

Amazingly, we have yet to introduce to all 6 of our readers our first 4 Raleigh-Durham friends. We got to know them early on when we went to Providence Baptist Church (as a side note, props to the church for getting the http://www.pray.org/ URL back in 1995). And if you come to Raleigh, there’s a good chance you’ll get to partake of laughs and liquids with them.

First up: Branon and Katy Mack. Branon’s a hoss for building a 2-car garage next to his house. In case that wasn’t enough, he had the forethought to put a Man Room above it. Rumor has it that there will be a pool table and some beverages from locales such as Lynchburg. I haven’t helped yet, but I keep promising Branon that I will. Then I’ll be able to justify hanging out over there when it’s all done. And Katy is quite the wine connoisseur; she and Steph share tips and reviews. Katy also is quite knowledgeable about the area, and has given us plenty of tips for food and nightlife.

Branon and Katy

Next up: Chad and Rachel Hensley. First time I met Chad: he came over to a Bible study at the Macks house and took out a mounted albino deer head out of his truck, like it was a signed Mickey Mantle jersey or something. I thought, “I’m not in Boston anymore.” Chad is one of the funniest guys I know, period. And Rachel not only risks daily embarrassment as Chad’s wife, but also knows how to shoot her own (pink!) bow. And we thought the pink Red Sox caps were a bit much…

Rachel and Chad

Random Fact #1 from Adam: Massachusetts is the leading state in cranberry production, followed by Wisconsin, New Jersey, Washington, and Oregon.

Random Fact #2 from Adam: The official vegetable of North Carolina is the sweet potato. NC produces 40% of the nation’s crop.

Steph's comment to Random Fact #2: Do you know how many sweet potatoes we bought the last trip we made to the Farmer's Market. Not 2 lbs., not 5 lbs, but a grand total of 25 lbs. of this vegetable of NC. Umm yeah...we had a hard time passing up a large box of sweet potatoes for $8. Adam is convinced that it was closer to 30 lbs. since the box was overflowing. Let's just say, I'm finding all kinds of great ways to put them taters to use!

Letting the Yellow Mellow

What, you ask, could spur Adam to write his first blog post, taking the reigns from Steph? A few random things, starting with drought, and its consequences.

As my last Random Fact and the title foreshadowed, we’re indeed abiding by the adage, “If it’s yellow, let it mellow.” For inquiring minds, at 1.6 gallons per flush, I’m saving 8-14.4 gallons per day. Water your mansion lawn with that, Al Gore! (As a side note, 1.6 gallons per flush! Is all that really needed? No, according to this state-of-the-art commode.) The drought is bad news – specifically, once every 50 years bad news. And North Carolina is feeling it worse than any other state (not counting morons who set wildfires), though our neighbors are in bad shape, too.

As Steph mentioned, we recently went to San Antonio. No, we didn’t find Pee Wee’s bike in the basement of the Alamo. But we flew a new airline, Express Jet, that aims to connect smaller (i.e. not top 20) sized cities with direct routes, a la Raleigh-Durham to San Antonio, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Louisville, Birmingham and Kansas City. My opinion: U.S. population has reached a point where this type of airline can succeed (though not all routes, of course), and we don’t have to only rely on the old-school hub-and-spoke model to get from Point A to Point B.

Cool story about how the U.S. may have 3 times the oil reserves as Saudi Arabia, if scientists have figured out how to extract oil from our country’s massive deposits of oil shale. Still years down the road, and nothing that will lower the price per barrel yet, but quite interesting. Semi-related thought: energy conservation and “green” initiatives are finally gaining momentum not because of an inconvenient truth, but because of convenient economics. It’s finally cheaper to buy energy-efficient lightbulbs, for example, with the savings they provide over time. Make solar power cheaper than electricity and propane, and watch both Republicans’ and Democrats’ roofs get panels.

I learned as a journalism student that many of the best stories link the beginning and the end. I got learned good, Mom & Dad! In that vein, here are some Random Facts about the soda Mellow Yellow. It is:
* Available in 4 flavors: Cherry, Citrus Lemon, Citrus Punch and Watermelon. Diet Mellow Yellow is only available in Citrus Lemon.
* Sold in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Guam, American Samoa and the Mariana Islands. Diet Mellow Yellow is only sold in the U.S.
* Full of 126 Calories for 12 oz., and 231 Calories for 20 oz., according to Fazoli’s.

Random Fact – from Steph! "The Wall Street Journal has a worldwide daily circulation of more than 2 million (as of 2006), with 931,00 paying online subscribers." You too can read the Wall Street Journal by clicking on this link to read about my AWESOME HUSBAND and see him quoted in the WSJ!!!

Texas Travels

Last Thursday, we headed to the Lone Star State for a lot of fun with good friends and family. We got to stay at the Merritt Bed and Breakfast that even comes with a complimentary car during your visit! We made it to the Alamo and the Riverwalk (more than once) as we enjoyed the perfect weather in San Antonio.

Their were many great memories from the trip filled with so many amazing friends. I'll have to say the Masquerade Ball was unlike any event I've been to before. There was even a magician before dinner was served! It was a blast getting dressed up and Tara, Melissa, and I thoroughly enjoyed helping each other get ready. Check out all of our fun pictures!

Colby (went to Baylor with Steph) and his wife, Joanna

David & Beth Merritt...Such wonderful hosts! Thank you!

Steve & Tracy Preskenis...Tell Wesley hi for us!

Claire (Steph's cousin) and her husband Lucas

Us on the Riverwalk

The Fellas from Adam's high school days

Melissa, Me, & Tara

Henry VIII (Paul) and Anne Boleyn (AndreAna)

The Fellas again...

The Jolleys & The Parkens getting ready to party!

Don't you just love these masks?!

Random Fact from Adam: "About a quarter of the water used inside a house is flushed -- more than 18 gallons a day -- according to the American Waterworks Association." Thanks to the Raleigh News & Observer for that. To answer your next obvious question, yes, this Random Fact will segue into Adam's FIRST EVER post later this week.

So it's amazing...

"So it's amazing what people think is a good idea!" was my response to Adam as we discussed various nuances of life. So, here are a few things that we brought up in our conversion.

1) Why do drivers refrain from using a blinker? Are they afraid they are going to pull a muscle reaching around the steering wheel? Seriously, a little heads up as to where you are going would really be nice...

2) If you are over 45 and overweight, a license plate of "MESEXY1" isn't really the best idea we've heard of...

3) If your car breaks down on the highway, go rescue it sooner rather than later. There's no reason to leave it there for decoration (but apparently people do this A LOT here). As a side note, we've learned that placing a shirt or towel in the window is the universal sign for "Don't touch my car. I'm coming back to get it...eventually."

4) We all understand that it is hard to get up in the morning, but if we can hear your alarm when you do not live directly above us or next to us....it's too LOUD! And when it goes on for an hour, you are NOT getting enough sleep!

Random fact from Adam: These 3 buildings below look familiar? They should. They were all designed by Gregory Johnson and his architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon. From top to bottom:

• Hill Building: Durham, NC, and completed in 1937
• Empire State Building: New York (of course), and completed in 1931.
• Reynolds Building: Winston-Salem, NC, and completed in 1929

NC State Fair Fun!

Adam and I quickly got in the car after finishing our workdays at 5:00pm to head over to the NC State Fair!

Josh Turner was performing and we had bought our tickets! Upon arriving to the fair, we walked through the Old Grist Mill (and ate a free hushpuppie) and started the hunt for food. Needless to say, food at the fair tends to not be healthy. Adam dined on a fried peanut butter and jelly sandwhich and I tackled a giant smoked turkey leg. It was quite a site to see I must say. The fried PB&J sandwhich actually tastes alright if you ask me....but definitely something you shouldn't have all to often.

(notice the name of the concession I'm standing in front of...)

After dinner, we ventured to the exhibits where they had vegetables and livestock on display. Check out the pictures of the largest pumkin in NC and the largest sweet pototo (state vegetable of NC). They had displays of various types of apples, squash, gourds, and beans. It was all very interesting....

Josh Turner's concert was a blast as he opened with the song "Would You Go With Me?" Adam and I two-stepped to this song for our first dance at our wedding. Feel free to listen to part of it on the video! Once the concert was over, we began walking around to check out some rides and see if there was a dessert we could enjoy. Sure enough....we indulged by eating a deep fried Twinkie. Sounds scary....but oh so yummy. We rode a few rides including the great big ferris wheel and enjoyed the fireworks show as well. It was a terriffic evening and it was sad to see it end. I guess we'll just have to go again next year!

Josh Turner! (sorry about the darkness, but man, he sounds good!)

The Ferris Wheel

Fireworks plus Ferris Wheel

The View at the Top of Ferris Wheel

Us Riding the Ferris Wheel!

Random Fact from Adam: The female blossom of a watermelon is open for only 1 day. It takes 10-12 bee visits to that blossom to properly pollinate it. If successful, you've got a large watermelon 10 or 11 days later.

I think I'll go to Boston...

That's right, Adam and I headed back to Boston last weekend. Unfortunately, Adam had to stay there while I came home alone. It was such a blast being in Beantown and seeing some wonderful friends. After arriving at 8:00am on Saturday, we got to see the Richmond kids and have breakfast with Merri Minnich. Yay for pancakes at the Deluxe Town Diner! We even got to see Annie Kate show off here awesome soccer skills at her game where they won! Adam and I headed to Albany for a wedding Saturday evening. Congratulations Corinne and David!

Sunday morning began early as we made the 3 hour drive back to Brighton to be CFCF for Sunday worship. It was so refreshing to be amongst old friends and great fellowship. For lunch, we picked up my aunt and grandma, grabbed Mike and Beth, and headed to Chinatown for Dim Sum. It was absolutely awesome eating great food and getting to go to TWO bakeries afterwards for some treats. Our visits in Boston didn't end there as we got to see Lois and Jordan Wang and Paul and Liz Joyal before we met up with Mike and Beth for some good ole hang out time. There's nothing quite like being surrounded by people that love you...

Monday morning began with trekking to Hingham in the rain to see Samantha and Wesley Bevins. Samantha is one the cutest girls ever and definitely one of Adam's favorite. The picture below made Adam's day!

After enjoying our morning in Hingham, Beth, Mike, Adam, and I headed to downtown Boston for some lunch. We ate a great meal at Legal Seafoods, and was quickly reminded how stressful Boston can be when trying to find a parking spot!!! Needless to say, we actually parked in a garage which is the first time Adam's parking force didn't work!!

Boston has so many wonderful memories and friends there for us to visit. It was such a joy to spend time with people with love and miss dearly. We miss you all and hope to see you again soon!

Random Fact from Adam: The Boston Cream Pie was proclaimed the official Massachusetts State Dessert on December 12, 1996. The Boston Cream Donut is the official Massachusetts State Donut, as of January 31, 2003. (Yes, the official legal spelling is "donut" and not "doughnut." I check these things.) Oh, the rich history of Beantown...

Finally, the parents come for a visit!!

It was such a great time to have Steph's parents in town for a few days. They came in on a Wednesday and we got to eat dinner in Raleigh. The restaurant is called NOFO at the Pig as it used to be a Piggly Wiggly long time ago. There is a cute cafe downstairs and fun shop upstairs...the place is even decked out with a colorful pig chandelier and pig statues out front.

On Thursday, Mom and Dad came to Steph's work to watch her in action as an occupational therapist. We then spent the day in Chapel Hill eating some great North Carolina BBQ and walking around a fun kitchen store called Southern Season. And the very best part of that day....LOCOPOPS!!! We got to eat gourmet popsicles including flavors like: mango chile, raspberry hibiscus, kiwi quince, and plum cinnamon basil. These things are the BEST! At this point in the afternoon, my Dad was worn out and Mom and I dropped him back at our place to take it easy. Mom and I however head out again to go to Trader Joe's and to the Chinese Store. We stock Mom up with fun Trader Joe's treats as well as filling my pantry with goodies. At the Chinese Store, Mom shows me how to get some ingredients to make one of my favorite chinese fish dishes. It was sooo yummy!!!! (and now I know how to do it all by myself!)

On Friday, Adam and I both worked a full day, so Mom and Dad took it easy (a much needed rest for both of them). They did venture to the Chatham Hill Winery for a nice wine tasting. They even bought some to take home and one to share with Adam and I! We have to say the peach and bluberry wine there is delicious, but now we have the pomegranate one to try. Thanks Mom and Dad! For our evening out, we headed to Hillsborough which is a small down about 25 minutes away. We had a lovely dinner at Tupelo's. This place has some great southern food cooking. And the best deal of it all was that Mom got a softshell crab po'boy with TWO softshell crabs for less than $8. Let's just say there was lots of good eating while Mom and Dad were in town!

On Saturday, we enjoyed a leisure morning and I made some French Toast with my homemade bread I had made earlier that week. The weather was gorgeous and practically perfect, so we made a trip to the Duke Gardens. It was a beautiful day and it was so nice walking around. Here are a few pictures from the Gardens:

On Saturday afternoon, we did go to the Farmer's Market to get some food to take over to Kristen's house. We spent the rest of the day at her place cooking dinner and enjoying the fellowship and fun!

Sunday morning was a real treat as we tried out Bogart's for their Sunday jazz brunch for the first time. The music was great and there was TONS of food. We loved the omelette station as they had so many filling options along with 7 variety of cheeses! After filling our bellies up, we needed to walk it off. Shopping was the answer and Cameron Village was the location. We were still pretty full at the beginning of the evening, so we just snacked on some cheese, crackers, and wine.

The sad day came when Mom and Dad had to leave on Monday. We did a couple errands in the morning, I headed to work, and Adam took them to the airport in the afternoon. What a great trip. It was so refreshing to see them and show off the area we live in now! We love you Mom and Dad! Can't wait to see you for Thanksgiving!

Random Fact from Adam: "Applebee's is the world's largest bar-and-grill operator, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Yet, its traffic has fallen 14-15.5 percent over the past 4 years."

Ladies' Brunch

Since being in NC, I have greatly missed hosting and cooking for groups of people. So, I made a plan. I invited all the women I knew in NC (around 15) to come over for Brunch today. We had a nice turn out of 7 and got to enjoy yummy food. I had lots of fun making my famous cinnamon rolls, sausage balls, broccoli quiche, and cranberry coffee cake. It was fun having some of my fellow OTs from work over too. Thanks Courtney, Allison, and Alicia for coming! Of course, what would be an event without my faithful friend Kristen....she's always willing to help out and taste test some food for me! Ashley Bundy and Steph Murray joined us as well and we all had a nice time chatting once others have left. It's great to see my community slowly growing! I am so GRATEFUL to have some friends here! PRAISE the LORD!

While the ladies and I were feasting, Adam kindly left us alone and went rollerblading. There is this awesome trail in Durham called the American Tobacco Trail. We have rollerbladed there several times because the trails are relatively flat and the scenery is quite enjoyable. The trail used to be railroads that connected the major cities, but now it is used for leisure. With the weather cooling off here now, I think I'm about ready to lace of my rollerblades and visit the trail again too.

Random Fact from Adam: "The bundt pan comes from the German word 'bund' which means a gathering of people."

The First Year in Pediatrics

As I continue my first year in a pediatrics, one thing is certain.....my immune system is still adjusting. I am currently recovering from a nice case of strep throat that caused a fever for three days and a pretty achy body. Needless to say, I did not work on Monday or Tuesday, but I will face it all again tomorrow. Fortunately, I have gotten plenty of time to rest, relax, and do nothing. And for Beth out there with the flu, pray for her to get better quickly too! Being around children consistently can take a toll it seems! The children I see in my clinic range from age 2 - 12. I have more younger/preschool children which I greatly enjoy, but these little guys have yet to learn how to use a Kleenex appropriately. Hopefully, my immune system will only grow stronger and these little ailments won't come around as often anymore! I do wish you all a great week and a healthy one too!!

Random Fact from Adam: "Both Tim McGraw and Faith Hill sing the same line in the chorus of 'I Need You': 'Like my Uncle Joe in Oklahoma needs a rain.'" Maybe it's just me, but I think it's either (1) an amazing coincidence that they both have an Uncle Joe in Oklahoma, or (2) it's creepy that they have the same Uncle Joe and they're singing about how they need each other.

Home from California

We left for California the Friday before Labor Day and returned 10 days later on the red-eye flight from L.A.. Needless to say, it's been an adjustment back at home with the time change difference. (We couldn't go to sleep on Sunday night and ended up cooking up a midnight snack of cheese quesadillas!) It was an absolutely fantastic of seeing friends and family and celebrating the joyous occasion of Brandon and Melissa getting married! On our first day in L.A., we had two celebrity sightings. The first was Kristin Davis (a.k.a. Charlotte York from Sex in the City) who kindly asked us which table we were waiting for at this cute breakfast place. The second was Alec Baldwin at an Italtian restaurant in Malibu.

We headed from the L.A. area to Dana Point where we met Sara and Sully (Sara went to grad school with Steph) for dinner. We also got to spend time with Adam's aunt and parents in Orange County doing some shopping and trying to stay cool from the scorching sun. (Seriously, it was over 100 degrees the first few days in Cali.)

After getting back to the L.A. area, we got the grand tour of the Art Institute of California's Culinary school thanks to Steph's brother, Josh. We enjoyed fine dining at the Culinary school's restaurant and even got to taste some delicious food from students once their class was ending.

In our last part of the trip, we stayed in the Westwood Village area which had plenty of shops and restaurants in walking distance. During that time we got to see one of Adam's former co-workers, Rachel, and her adorable daughter Riley. A college friend of Steph's, Shannon, came for a visit as we got to eat homemade ice cream sandwhiches for $1.25!

The Rehearsal Dinner was at the Napa Valley Grille in the Westwood Village area and the Wedding on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. It was all followed by a fantastic reception at the Ebell Theatre where we all enjoyed celebrating together. The trip sadly ended on Saturday evening when we had to fly back to North Carolina. Fortunately, we were in First Class (Steph's first time and boy, did she love it) and had plenty of room to stretch out and be comfy. Delta messed up on our tickets awhile back, so we got First Class seats as compensation....not too bad of a deal if you ask me. We had some amazing food while in California including: Pinkberry frozen yogurt and Sakura for GREAT sushi. Anyhow, here are some pictures from the trip:

Riley and Rachel

Shannon and Steph

The Bride and Groom at the Rehearsal Dinner

Adam's parents and us at the Rehearsal Dinner

The Best Man and the Violinist at the Wedding

Melissa and Brandon

At the reception with Hosea and April

And.....the Random Fact from Adam: "Newborn giraffe calves fall 6 feet to the ground." Bonus points for the best umbilical cord joke.

It's been ONE whole YEAR!!!

So, Adam and I officially celebrated our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY yesterday (Aug 26th)!!! WHOOHOO! It has been such a wonderful year and we're looking forward to the many more to come. What better way to celebrate our anniversary than by starting a blog!? Ok, we did celebrate our anniversary a little more exciting than this. At the end of July, we took a trip to the Outer Banks for a long weekend. We didn't do it around our anniversary because we are actually heading to California this week (YAY Brandon and Melissa...they're getting married!). Here are a few pics from our Outerbanks trip...isn't Adam funny?! Yesterday, we did get to go out to dinner and exchange cards. Adam wrote me a cheesy poem that explains that his "paper" gift for the first anniversary will be Nutcracker Ballet tickets. What a great husband!

As far as an update of our lives in NC, we are lovin' the SOUTH! It's warm, people are hospitable, and you can park your car without putting money in a meter! Plus, southern cuisine is all over the place down here which makes me very happy! We have yet to find our favorite fajita place though (we miss Border Cafe in Harvard Square), but we do have our favorite BBQ place (Allen & Sons), popsicle place (Locopops....YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS), and pizza place (the Mellow Mushroom), and produce place (The NC State Farmer's Market). I still cook plenty of dinners for Adam and I during the week, but we enjoy trying to restaurants every now and then.

The church plant here met for the first time on Sunday! Bridgepoint Community Church is on its way to making a difference for the Kingdom as we live life together and encourage one another to be passionate in our relationship with Christ. We are so thankful to have the Bundy family (Brian, Ashley, Cameron, and Caleb) and Mick and Stephanie Murray here with us. It will be exciting to see what God has in store!

In closing, here is your random fact of the day from Adam:
"The brain is only 2% of human body weight, but it takes 20% of total blood flow."

THE PICTURES:

The Pier in Manteo

Sand Dunes at Kitty Hawk

At the largest aquarium in NC

The Elizabethan Gardens