Somehow, Jimmy and I have been married for ten years?! How! It truly doesn’t feel like ten years has gone by since we tied the knot. What’s even more wild is that we started dating in 2008, so that would mean we’ve been together 16 years. I just turned 32-years-old, so we’ve been together half of my life!

He’s definitely my person and also one of the best people I know, period. I have definitely been blessed by the Lord with such an amazing man 🩵

We went on our honeymoon (and babymoon for Sadie!) to the Outer Banks, so it was a very full-circle moment to be back at the Outer Banks on our ten year anniversary. It also happened to be my birthday (yep, we got married on my birthday!).

In the morning, I woke up to a decorated house–balloons, streamers, a banner–the works. I was truly so surprised. Jimmy wasn’t home, and then he showed up with my favorite Starbucks order. It was the perfect way to start out the day. We then did one of our favorite hobbies that we have dubbed the “bike-run.” Jimmy bikes and I run next to him and we just talk. It’s the best.

We spent the day with our family doing the pool and beach thing and ordered dinner in from one of my favorite restaurants: Outer Banks Brewing Station. Their soft pretzel with honey mustard is ~chef’s kiss~. Once everyone finished dinner, we sang happy birthday and had cake.

Since it was my sister’s family’s last night at the beach house, we kept it fairly low-key and hung out at Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head. Jimmy and I had something fun planned for the next day and wanted to make sure we had some time with them before we went out on an adventure (a crazy one…. wait till you read about that 😆).

The next day Jimmy and I had booked our first ever stand up paddle boarding session in the Roanoke Sound with Kitty Hawk Water Sports. We had both always wanted to try stand up paddle boarding and were super excited. We thought it was the perfect way to celebrate our anniversary!

We got to the dock and the owner said the conditions weren’t optimal for paddle boarding because it was super windy. He said we were welcome to try and see how it went. We got on our boards no problem and the wind was at our back as we paddled out in the sound. We even saw a sting ray swim under us and it was magical!

Then the proverbial wheels fell off. We got out further and the wind picked up and basically carried me and my paddle board half a mile out in the sound LOL. It was a disaster!! Jimmy fell off his board trying to call for help and we had to walk our boards back a half a mile to the dock 😂

Thankfully the sound water was warm and only chest deep but there was tons of seaweed and I couldn’t stop thinking about that sting ray we had just saw. It was definitely an adventure we will never forget!

It was a perfect metaphor for marriage. You’ll have seasons of ease and joy and seasons where life throws curveballs at you. As long as you stick together and trust God, you’ll do okay. You might even have fun with the situations that end up unexpectedly crazy 😉

After we dried off from the sound, we went to a local bookstore and then helped Sadie ride her bike without training wheels! Kill Devil Hills is so flat that it’s the perfect place to learn to ride a bike.

After we ordered takeout from one of our favorite restaurants in Kill Devil Hills (Miller’s!), we headed to Jockey’s Ridge State Park. If I talk to someone who is going to the Outer Banks for the first time, I always tell them if they only do one thing, they should go to Jockey’s Ridge.

It’s home to the tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic coast and is the perfect spot to watch the sun set. I’ve probably been to Jockey’s Ridge over 30 times and it never, ever gets old.

Between the sun, the sound, and the sand dunes, we were wiped out at the end of the night. Tired and content! The next day was Father’s Day, so I’ll share about that in the next post 😊

Have you ever tried something new that was a total disaster but also fun?