The Bramble Banks

Also known as the Outer Banks.

I figured it's about time I share about our lovely family vacation to Hatteras Island, NC. It was a first time for us all. All as in all twelve of us. Two sisters and a friend flew in from Montana. All five Stayer sisters together at last. Add the two Steves, two dogs, two parents, two grand parents and a partridge in a pear tree. My mom was on cloud nine. It’s been close to a decade since we have all gone on a family vacation together. I know what you’re thinking. This could go well or poorly. It went extremely well! And I’m not being sarcastic.

And whose bright idea was it to bring the dogs anyway? This is where “bramble” comes into play. Is this a real word? I don’t know. I think it is. What I do know is the terrain is very cactus/desert like in the Outer Banks. At least where we were staying. Not at all dog friendly. There were little prickly tumbleweeds everywhere. They got stuck on the dogs paws, they stabbed us in the feet {mostly my dads feet}. It was a pain literally and figuratively speaking. My dad called them brambles. Just so we’re clear. By the end of the week we were calling them brumbles {blame the alcohol?}.

We had fun. Lots of fun. Plain and simple as that. I don’t think I’ve ever been as relaxed in my entire life as I was on this vacation. There was nothing to do, people. Nothing. Like the only touristy thing we did was go see a lighthouse. And we didn’t even climb up the stairs to take in the view because we are a} too cheap b} scared of heights c} ain't nobody got time for that.

Our day looked like this:

9 am-2 pm: rise and shine, drink coffee, eat breakfasts made by the father, drink mimosas, apply sunscreen, go the beach, drink mojitos/gin and tonics/beer/wine/whiskey and cokes, walk back to the house to make fluffernutters, go back to the beach, take a nap, talk about life, throw around a football, play catchphrase, jump in the waves.

2 pm-6pm: get tired of the beach, make more coffee, go to the pool, re-apply sunscreen, try to get dad to say the word “bramble” or "brumble", grab a beer, go in the hot tub, take a shower, drink five glasses of water, apply aloe vera, put on something nice.

6 pm-midnight: Go out to dinner, order a water, eat seafood, take pictures of each other/yourself/the scenery, go to DQ for buy one get one 99 cent blizzards, change into comfy clothes or swim suit, resume drinking alcohol of any variety and/or coffee, sit around and argue about what we should do next, play a game such as apples to apples “winner takes a shot” version, have drunk conversations about how going back to work and reality will suck, laugh until your sides hurt, go night swimming in the ocean, go in the hot tub, go to sleep to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Insert happy sigh {here}.

Repeat for seven days. And that's all you really need to know.

And since pictures speak louder than words…

 

 ^^^this is how one does a road trip with a dog. well pardon me, jake.

^^^safety first :)

^^^vacation= mimosas every morning

^^^take me back there

^^^the man who made us breakfast. thanks dad!

 

^^^he's all mine folks!

^^^daily DQ run

^^^mojitos

 ^^^sand bar

^^^crazy crowds

^^^Leesha "book worm" Stayer

^^^yep, I'd say this is about 4 o'clock-ish

^^^"now wave to the camera..." {???}

^^^proof of night swimming. also right before I went down and camera drowns. miraculously iPhone survives.

^^^i like turtles

^^^ <3

^^^cape hatteras lighthouse

^^^harvest moon

^^^amaw & poppy

^^^the kids table

^^^mandy. always the character

^^^don't ask how long it took to start this fire

^^^i just don't know

^^^because this makes me laugh out loud. every. time.

^^^what happens at a beach fire, stays at a beach fire

^^^on the road again

^^^the end.

We are already tentatively planning a trip for next year. It was just that enjoyable.

I'm a Sagittarius

Kerri over at Cheshire Kat has "nominated" me to partake in this fun little random facts about me post.

The rules: share 11 random facts about myself. Answer the 11 questions from the blogger that nominated you. Make up 11 more questions and tag five additional bloggers in hopes that this fun little post lives on.

Enjoy.

11 random facts about myself:

1. I'm one of five sisters. You read that right. Five. I'm the second oldest.
2. I married my high school sweetheart.
3. I've never broken a bone.
4. I've only kissed one boy. See #2.
5. I love to vacuum. One word: Dyson.
6. I can't sleep without the noise of a fan.
7. I have a self diagnosed case of OCD. See #5
8. I must have music playing. Constantly. Just ask Steve.
9. I'm scared of horses and spiders.
10. I'm an extremely light sleeper. Yawn. See #6
11. I attended Word of Life Bible Institute for one year following high school.

Questions from Kerri:

1. What is your favorite color? Red. Or Blue. Bled?
2. If you could have any super power what would it be? Why? The power to make myself a fertile myrtle. Because I want a baby.
3. Can you play any instruments? I used to play the piano. AND clarinet.
4. What is your favorite thing to do on the weekend? Sleep in.
5. Favorite vacation destination you’ve been to? Dream destination? Bermuda! Dream: Italy.
6. What’s your sign? Astrological that is. Sagittarius. According to this: “The great strength of the Sagittarius-born is their philosophical, wide-open and curious nature. These folks seek both knowledge and truth, and they are eager to share their explorations with others. Their optimistic and generous spirit makes them a pleasure to have around.” Ok yes.
7. Who is the first blogger you connected with (that you didn’t know) after you started blogging? Probably Hey Natalie Jean, formally known as Nat The Fat Rat. But, let's be honest. It was Laurie who connected me to the blog world. So all of the credit goes to her. LYLAS! Literally. :)
8. What is your favorite smell? It was a tie between automobile grease and my parents house on Thanksgiving Day. The smell of grease reminds me of my dad. He's a mechanic. The scent gives me a sense of security and love. I know, I'm getting emo here and it's a bit strange, but it's the truth. Love you dad! <3  And, the smell of turkey and food cooking on Thanksgiving Day speaks for itself. Happy Sigh.
9. What’s your favorite guilty pleasure (food)? Lots and lots of pizza.
10. Ocean or mountains? This one is tough. But, if I had to choose it's the Ocean. Hands down.
11. Silver or gold? Gold.

Questions for the lucky nominees: 

1. sweet or salty?

2. What's your least favorite chore/to-do item?

3. Morning person or night owl?

4. What's one of your favorite bands/musicians?

5. Saver or spender?

6. What are you reading right now?

7. What is your favorite season and why?

8. Where did you go on your most recent vacation?

9. If you had one wish what would it be? (wishing for more wishes doesn't count!)

10. What's the most recent thing you tweeted?

11. Introvert or extrovert?

And the nominations go to:
Christy at Life: Snowflakes from above
Jessica at a heart full of frost
Shannan at Flower Patch Farmgirl
Freya at Nishaantishu  
Amanda at The Lady Okie
 
 

Tour De Olsen East

We have this thing going with Steve's two brothers. We've titled our residences Olsen West, Central and East.

We are a creative bunch.

Since we are located in the eastern most part of the country, our home has been dubbed Olsen East. The eldest of the Olsen clan resides just just a hair to our west, hence Olsen Central. 2,800 miles even further west lives Steve's younger brother Dan. Process of elimination = Olsen West.

Now that I've bored you out of your gourd >>> {insert fall shout out here}, let's move along to the house tour. Compliments of my sister-in-law's sweet camera. Side note: these were taken at our housewarming party, hence the food spread in the dining room. Stay tuned for more on the party...it was a success. Also, I may have never been as tired as I was following that shin dig. Four words: a lot of tours. It didn't take long to change out of my flats and into my flip flops. I've still got a bad case of summer feet. They need freedom and fresh air. Also, I have self diagnosed case of the bunions. You're welcome.

As you can see we've pretty much set up house. Scratch that, we HAVE set up house. I'm OCD like that.

^^^la familia room

^^^view into family room from the kitchen. love the tile flooring :)

^^^where i cook

^^^great views from the dining room. and, I know....the chandelier needs to go.

^^^formal living/we don't use room. the theme is travel. it's a work in process.

^^^finished walk-out basement, gas fireplace included. sold!

^^^guest room. come stay with us! I'm serious.

 ^^^where dutch ovens are perfected and Olsen night terrors are common

 ^^^rear view from the patio

 

^^^the patio and backyard and four Olsens looking confused.

^^^there's a reason we have a recycling bin on our patio. i'll give you one guess.

Many more pictures were taken that night. You can check them out here. I'll also be posting about the party soon. Soon is such a broad term, isn't it? I'm just impressed at how much I've accomplished so far this month. And it's only been one day! For example, I woke up at 6:15 to work out...and I liked it. Shocking I know, said the most non-morning person ever. I even had time to make myself scrambled eggs. Because one who works out needs protein. And last but not least, I blogged! This merits attention due to the fact that I only blogged once in September.

Feeling good, people! Here's to October. The best month ever. At least that's what everyone on social media is saying.