Skip to main content

LOVIN' The Beach!

Absolutely nothing in this world beats a week at the beach! I absolutely love it hear at Nags Head! My grandparents rented a HUGE beach house, and our whole family is here, 21 people total! Literally if I could live in my dream house, it would be this one. It's right on the beach, has a pool AND hot tub, there's a movie theater in the basement, and the interior of the house is just plain beautiful. Oh there's also the fact that every bedroom has a T.V. and DVD player. In addition to that, the house has an ELEVATOR. I've hardly used the stairs all week. So yes, we're livin' the good life. We've spent most of our time here down at the beach. There's nothing I love more than swimming in the ocean! It's just so much fun to be in the water with my family! My cousins and I also really like to go boogie boarding. We've had some hard core wipe outs as well as some cuts and scratches, but it's worth it. We always compete with each other to see who can catch the waves, and mock the ones who miss them. However, the past couple of days, there have been some thunderstorms late in the day. These storms have brought on some pretty massive waves. Today was especially intense. The waves were climbing up to four or five feet tall. A select few of us decided that we were going to brave the seas. My cousin Jonathan and I stood at the shore for like 10 minutes deliberating as to whether or not we should get in the water. When a lull in the waves came about, we decided we were going to go for it. We sprinted out into the water, only to be greeted by a massive wave that wiped us both out. We didn't even have time to catch our breath before we had to dive another one. Then there was the fact that we constantly had to fight the relentless undertoe! We were soon joined by the other die hard kids: Amy, Jenn, and Jensen. The water was terrifying, but we had so much fun once we got used to the terror!

It's also been greate to spend time with the family. I love that we all get along so well! Last night, Matthew, Jonathan, and I decided that we really wanted to go star gazing. We ignored the fact that it was 11:30 at night and walked out onto the beach with the assurance that Amy would let us back into the house. We sat on the beach for a long time just talking about everything. We did the same thing earlier in the week after Matthew, Amy, Jonathan, and I had taken a walk to explore the pier about a half mile away. Other highlights have been: a shopping trip to Manteo which has the CUTEST shops, with Mom, Becky, Jenn, Matthew, Julie, and Michael, a classic trip for ice cream at Fat Boyz (I have never tasted better soft serve ice cream in my entire life), long walks on the beach, the fact that Matthew and I got to go to dinner with the adults at a delicious seafood restaurant last night, and so many more! This has been such a relaxing and fun week! I'm so sad that tomorrow is our last full day here!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life Changes and New Adventures

          I thought that I had the next couple of years of my life all figured out. I am a prime example of a chronic over-thinker, and the queen of the pro/con list. I had carefully thought out every recent decision I had made. I was settled at the school where I had been working, I had a good apartment and ward, and I had just been accepted to a 2 year long Master's of Education program, which would fulfill one of my long term goals. Yet something still felt off. Despite the fact that I thought I had a good direction in my life, I felt confused and unsettled. It felt like I was trapped inside a box. I would walk in one direction, hit the wall of the box only to turn in another direction and hit another wall.          The problem was, I just could not figure out what it was that wasn't right. I started taking the long way driving home from work each day and praying about my concerns. It took a couple of weeks of this before seemingly o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shipps on a Ship Part 1

        It truly feels like just yesterday my grandparents gathered our family in the living room of our rented beach house and told us that they were taking us on a Disney Cruise. In reality, it was a year and a half ago and at the time it seemed like November 2014 would never come. It still almost felt like a dream even as we boarded our plane to Orlando last Saturday after MUCH airport turmoil, i.e. Michael forgetting his carry on at security, Jonathan getting a bloody nose, and me almost losing my debit card. Against all odds, the Shipp cousins made it to Orlando in one piece. I always get teary-eyed when I see my family after a few months away, and this time was no exception! Just as we were getting settled into our hotel room, we found out that our toilet was broken, so we had to move rooms! Once we were finally settled, Uncle Dave was kind enough to take as many cousins as could pile into his van for a McDonald's run. We spent Sunday in Downtown Disney, visiti...
Post a Comment
Read more

Until We Meet Again

           On Friday, my Grandma Freeman passed away. She was almost 90 years old and lived a long, full life. She was kind, loving, a hard worker, and fiercely loyal. She taught elementary school, and I've always loved the fact that both of my grandmas were teachers, and good ones at that. We joke in our family that teaching runs in our blood, and it's an honor to be able to carry on her legacy.            For most of the years I was growing up, she lived in New York, in the small, small town of Hornell. My dad would take us on weekend trips to visit during the summers. In fact my first time driving on the highway with my learner's permit was on the way up to visit them one summer, and I remember proudly announcing that when we walked into the house. We would always start off our visits with a trip to the ONLY restaurant in town (Pizza Hut) and then stop by the ONLY grocery store in town (Wegman's) for ice cream to take home,...
1 comment
Read more