Home Sweet NC - Part One

Home sweet Home! Back in NC. We were excited to be back for a couple weeks for a wedding. No surprise, but we had a list of things we wanted to accomplish on the van while we were at the cabin. Owning a van is just like owning a house, endless projects! Ha :)

It was a gorgeous few days in the NC mountains. One of the first things we did when we arrived was taking every single item out of the van. By the time we left in March, we were just throwing things wherever we could find a spot. By October, we felt like we really knew what we needed and didn’t need. So we brought everything inside the cabin and went through it all to decide what to keep and it gave us the chance to put everything back into the van strategically.

While everything was out of the van, we made a few adjustments. First up, shelves in the cabinets!! Somewhere between NC and Texas, we purchased some wire shelves from Walmart, but they weren't working as well as we needed. After losing two plates, (RIP) to the road shuffle, we decided to build custom shelves. Our plate/bowl shelf perfectly fits our exact plates/bowls. We also put a lip on all the shelves to help keep the top shelf items in place. The shelves have worked beautifully! One of the best upgrades we’ve made. When building the cabinets originally, we didn’t know what the cabinets would be holding. We also didn’t know how beneficial shelves would be. Glad we were able to make this upgrade!

Another improvement we made was adding storage holders to the back doors. We used just generic over the door shoe organizers, but we modified them to fit the doors. It has made the garage much less junky. We keep all our outdoor and camping supplies in the doors.

One of the things we were SO excited about was getting out on the river! We didn’t think we would have the time this year, but it was just warm enough on the last weekend in September for us to get a quick kayaking/camping trip at one of our favorite spots! We kayaked into the New River State Park campsites and stayed in our hammocks! This was my first time hammock camping. It was SO FUN! We have stayed at this campsite before, but we brought a tent with us in our kayak. This time, we decided not to pack the extra stuff. Well, that was our intention, but we ended up having to bring the extra raft with supplies because although it was warm enough to be in the water during the day, it was freezing cold at night!! And we were sleeping without a tent. We packed thick sleeping bags and all of our warm clothes. We were cozy and warm by the fire. Time on the New River is so special to us, and we were so thankful to have the chance to go this year!

Before ending our time on the river, I had to take a jump off the big rock! It was early in the morning, so the water and air were very cold. It was worth shivering the rest of the way home to be able to take the plunge!

A couple other cabin perks: livermush, a couch, a robe, and an air fryer!!

One of the reasons we came back to NC a week early was for our Roomie Joey’s 30th birthday!!! We couldn’t wait to spend the week celebrating our bestie guy! On Tuesday, we went to music bingo at one of our favorite spots in Raleigh- Woody’s City Market! Our neighbor friends joined us. We had the best time! We are just so thankful for the friendships we made when we lived at Stone Rock Drive. We sang Happy Birthday super loud to Joey and the whole restaurant joined in! And of course, we couldn’t forget the Key Lime Pie!!

The boys and my favorite dessert is Key Lime Pie. It’s a birthday tradition to have Key Lime Pie from the Wegmans. When we all four lived together, we used to hide the pie in the fridge, but we obviously all used the fridge. I am sure the boys saw their pie and just didn’t tell me. Ha! My last birthday in the house, TC had ordered pie a month in advance to be sure we’d have one. After work, Joey walked in with another mini Key Lime Pie. They didn’t talk about the plan ahead of time. They are the best!

On Thursday, I got to be the Mystery Reader in my sister’s first grade class! I went with my tried and true favorite, Giraffes Don’t Dance. The perfect book about how anybody can boogie!

That evening, our Andy finally made it to town!! All four roomies back together again! This was Joey’s actual birthday, so we had a family dinner at Trophy Pizza! Dinner was delicious, but the company was even better! It was the perfect evening!

On Friday, there was a fun birthday shindig planned; a surprise 30th birthday party for our Joey!! We originally planned to come into town in time for the party, but then we couldn’t resist seeing Joey the two extra times. The party was Dress-Like-A-Joey themed. All of his friends dressed like a different Joe. I chose Joe from Blue’s Clues. TC chose Joey Chestnut-Hot Dog Eating Champ. We ended up making TC’s Hot Dog trophy in the parking lot of a Planet Fitness by plugging in my sister’s hot glue gun to our battery. It was quite the adventure! The party was at The Raleigh Beer Garden. They have the best little outdoor seating area and it was a beautiful night, perfect to be outside! We played several rounds of cornhole, danced a bit, and laughed a lot! Joey was SO surprised!! He had no idea!

Saturday was filled with another activity that we did not think we would be able to do in 2022 - an NC State football game at Carter-Finley Stadium! Until 2020, TC had only missed around five home games in his entire life. His first game was at 5 months old! It was an adjustment not being at every game, but we were so happy to make it to one! While tailgating, I went into the van and took a quick nap. I was so tired from the activities of the week, and I knew I would not make it through the game without a quick shut-eye. Just another perk of driving your house everywhere you go! We ended up sleeping in the parking lot after the game. We figured it was worth a try. The worst that could happen is they kick us out and we head to our usual Planet Fitness spot. We slept so well! It was peaceful and we were exhausted.

The next day was another perfect day! We went to the Pumpkin Patch with our sweet precious niece! We were sad that our nephew ended up sick and couldn’t come to town. But, my parents were able to make it! We played in the corn pit, rode on the hayride, and picked out the most perfect pumpkins! We love being Auntie SK & Uncle TC!! Being far away is hard, so we extra enjoy every single second we get together!

Our next stop in NC was Mills River. We found a van conversion company, Sunshine Conversions, to help us with a couple upgrades. Our plan was to have our electrical system upgraded and the leaks in our roof fixed. Unfortunately, the wrong parts were sent for our electrical system, BUT they did fix all the leaks in our roof. What a BLESSING! We also got to meet the van dog that works there, Clarke! He was a cutie!

T and I enjoyed the Mills River Park after work. The walking path was gorgeous and so was the sunset! We walked down to the river. It was a peaceful spot and we had the best time! We had to test the roof the next morning for leaks, so T and I spent the night in Mills River. It was a cold one, but we bundled up.

After confirming the leaky roof was fixed the next morning, we headed to my parent’s house where we took TC to his first (and probably last!) visit to the Cleveland County Fair! The fair in my hometown is an experience. We ate some good food, saw some exhibits, and took a picture at the water wheel.

The best part of being home was my Grandma Ann was also home!! YAY! Also, my nephew that we had missed over the weekend lives down the street. Our few days consisted of lots of puppy snuggles from Finny Gene and precious time with Grandma and our nephew. The best few days. My heart needed it.

While at my parent’s, T and I slept in the driveway in the van. When we went home in June, we stayed in the house, and the change in my routine was hard for me, so we decided to keep with the consistency to help my anxiety. We did take advantage of having a bathroom and shower while we were home though!

The weekend brought a hurricane to town, so we were able to test the leaky roof - still in the clear! Yay! The weekend also brought NC football! NC State was playing Clemson which isn’t far from my parent’s, so we decided to go to Clemson for the weekend for the game.

We were lucky that ESPN Game Day was also being held at Clemson! We got there bright and early so we could get the full experience! T went to Game Day in 2004 when they were at NC State and had told me many stories. It was the coolest experience! We were able to see some family friends at their tailgate for a few minutes which was great as well.

In between Game Day and the game, T and I did some exploring around town. We ended up at The Esso Bar where the band was playing a Grateful Dead cover. We felt right at home! Such a cool place!! Before the game, we had a popsicle tailgate and I took another nap in the van. Ha!

Seeing a game in Death Valley was the wildest experience! There was so much energy! Wow! So, so glad we were able to go! It’s also during that game that I realized how much I love college football. I’ve been going to games for years - it was the one of the things that brought T and I back together every fall. Something about being at that game, in that environment, I realized I knew way more about the game than I realized, and I was hooked! This was of course a dream for Trent Cleary, NC State’s biggest football fan! I think he fell even more in love with me after that game! Haha :)

We finished our busy day by making smores in the parking lot before falling asleep. The perfect day!

We had big plans when we got back to Raleigh. T decided he was finally ready to donate his luscious locks! It was getting hard to manage in the van. He wanted to cut enough to donate, but still have a little left so it wasn’t super short. We went to his usual hair cutter. She was blown away with how far it had grown since he saw her last! I liked the cut- it was time! And he looked good 🙂 After the haircut, we met up one last time with our Joey for dinner.

Thursday night was a big night for us! It was our last week in Raleigh, and we went out on the town to celebrate and reminisce. When we left Raleigh in March, we knew we’d be back in June. When we left in June, we knew we’d be back in October. Here we were, back in October with no plans on when we’d return again.

We started our stroll down memory lane by going to our favorite trivia night at Woody’s City Market. A trivia night spot that we’ve been to 100 times with various friends. We walked the familiar streets to our favorite bar, Isaac Hunters. It’s one of our favorites because the dance floor is almost always empty. And it was this night too, the entire bar was empty. We were it- Dancing like fools on one of the dance floors where we fell in love, amusing the bartender who was the only other soul in there! After cutting a rug, we went to Moore Square Park. A park where we often met up for dinner dates when I was working late, the park I called him from on bad days at work, and the park that is just across the street from the place where we promised, with our families and friends as witness, to love each other forever.

It was an emotional night. Raleigh is our city. It’s the city that raised us from dumb college kids to semi-thriving adults. It’s the city where we fell in love. The city that brought us back to each other time and time again, until we finally realized the city was one-thousand times better when we were living the city life together. It’s the city where we shared a house with our best friends, where we built our home on wheels, where we ultimately decided on who we wanted to be as people and as a couple. Raleigh means so much to us. We can wander the world, but Raleigh, North Carolina will always be home.