A beautiful Saturday

We awoke entwined with each other with plans on the table to meet our new friends Glen and Lynn, who were taking us for an aeriel tour of Hampton Roads in their plane, which is housed in Chesapeake at the Hampton Roads airport. Excitement in the air was building as this was the first time for either of us would be travelling in a private plane, specifically a Cessna six-seater, dual propeller. Rushing out of the house, Kim in her best aviation gear that could be found hiding in the closet and Josh satisfied with the aviation glasses alone, we were on our way.

Arriving to the small terminal building consisting of a small cafe and shop, we met our friends and then drove out to their hanger, wonderfully missing any security procedures or lines usually present in airport terminals. This airport is not serviced by any commercial flights though and is truly a base for flight enthusiasts. The hanger door opened revealing the beautiful skies we had for flying and Glen pulled out his plane with a motorized pull. Climbing in was a bit tight and realized that private plane ownership was not designed for large people. Buckling in, Glen fired up the engines and we taxied away.

Lift off was smooth and as we banked towards Norfolk, the Great Dismal Swamp was below us, lush and full of sparkling water between the trees. Heading to Norfolk, the tower control below asked us if we could see another plane nearby and after looking around for a minute or two, the response was negative. Hmmm, I wondered to myself, does this create a problem? Apparently Kim felt the same after discussing later. We made it on regardless and headed towards Norfolk. Circling around Norfolk, we had fantastic views of downtown and as we headed towards East Beach, we heard a radio call from Norfolk International advising us that we were in the path of a departing plane and needed to divert, resulting in a hard left bank, back towards Norfolk. Once clear of this minor delay, we turned

again back towards East Beach, now on a different course,

prompting Glen to ask for permission to fly over Norfolk Naval Station, something he said he usually avoids if possible. Granted permission, we continued to fly over the Haugh house and followed the shoreline towards Virginia Beach. How glorious Hampton Roads does look from 1,500 feet!

Passing Virginia Beach and heading West again, Glen turned to the controls over to me. After a quick lesson on heading and altitude, I maintained the plane on course back towards the airfield, even through some light chop that picked up on our return. Glen taking over upon approach, we scouted for other planes nearby through our windows per his instructions. Upon seeing one, we advised Glen to insure we were not on an intercept course. Approach and landing was beautiful and was smoother than many commerical flights I have been on. After a hearty thanks and well wishes to our friends, we decided to have lunch in the terminal while planning our next move on this gorgeous day.

After getting directions from chef, we headed to a company that sells loose and broken granite pieces as we were interested in finding a piece for our home. Upon arrival 20 minutes later though, we found the company closed, only resulting in us having a tour of Downtown Suffolk. We then decided to find a boutique Kim was interested in seeing, A. Dobsons in Suffolk. On the way, we stopped at a Korean church who was having a sale. Without finding anything of interest though and realizing the Korean food specialties had been sitting in the sun for a bit too long, we made our way to the boutique.

What a beautiful little store, decorated and themed by a true lover of unique items and design. Browsing for thirty minutes, I escaped with Kim only settling for a large pearl white ring for her beautiful hand. If you are in Suffolk, this place is worth a visit. heading back home, we had duties to attend to, specifically a house cleaning to knock out.

After some rigorous house cleaning and some personal body cleaning in form of a shower, we dug into what we truly enjoy on a regular basis, cooking in our kitchen together. Using the Shelburne Farms Cookbook, we found a delicious sounding recipe for Chipotle and Maple Pan Seared Scallops. We decided a Champagne Risotto would be a great side dish and also had some dandelion greens from earlier in the week we needed to use up. So, after sauteing down the greens, cooking the risotto with some Moet Champagne and searing the scallops, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner on a porch overlooking Chesapeake Bay with a chilled bottle of Freemark Abbey Chardonnay. Retiring with a movie, we finished our day back together, intertwined and relaxing, after another day in the life of Kim and Josh.

One Year Reflection

On this day last year, it was Josh’s very first day at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside hotel. Yesterday would have been our first night in our new home, Norfolk. Though living at the hotel at the time, we felt the comfort that a home would give and an overwhelming range of emotions.

Taking in the area, one which we have never even heard of before, I hit the pavement running wanting to learn everything about Norfolk: where to go, what to do, and most importantly where to live. Flowing parallel with all this was a finding an outlet for my writing career to begin.



Josh and I felt quite overwhelmed—to say the least—but we were not going to let a new area, a new job, the distance from our friends and family, along with an infinite list of unknowns consume us. Little by little we introduced ourselves to Norfolk and allowed it to introduce itself to us. We met so many people, many who have remained close friends.

As Josh went to work during the day, I aggressively searched for what would be our first home. In doing so, I felt sad that our Keep Left road trip was over but was so excited that we were creating a new beginning for us. Over bottles of wine Josh and I laid out our plans, crunched numbers, and talked endlessly about here and now, and tomorrow; but looking back on all of those conversations we really could not have known it all. I was in search for a modest home on the beach. The thought had me teemed with delight, a house on the beach—how unforeseeable for a girl from Toronto. Thank goodness the first beach cottage fell through—it would have been a disaster. Instead we found a home that has two raised porches providing an unobstructed view of the Bay giving us sights of dolphins swimming through lulling us with its crashing waves at night. Not to mention second and third floor wood burning fireplaces—many long nights, romantic dinners, and so much more in front of them.

Oh and the blah, blah, blahs with our exes—like a pebble in each of our shoes. They tried so persistently to invade in our life with their juvenile plays and conniving attempts, awaiting the demise of our relationship. There are far too many instances to name, but they present a good laugh every now and then. We continue to wish them well in hopes that they will find their own happiness.

One year later, we could not be more in love. We continue to learn from one another and with each other and feel so fortunate to have found each other. As Josh always says, “Life could not be better.” Reflecting about the year that has passed last night, over another delicious dinner—experimenting with kale: tomato and red onion salad to start followed by kale, mushroom and blue cheese lasagna. It certainly works to our advantage to share the same pallet and willingness to experiment and invent new recipes—we realized how lucky we are. Our woes were resolved and our problems are minimal. We’ve learned to focus on our life and future together distancing ourselves from who or what could pull us down. We have truly learned to enjoy life and have executed that mantra each and every day. If you were to tell us one year ago that we would have all this, we probably wouldn’t have believed you, but we wouldn’t have put the idea past us. Coincidentally enough, just as it was last year, we are in search for a new home and are enthralled about buying our first home together. We initially gave ourselves a year in the area, but have realized that a couple of years invested into Norfolk will fetch a more than decent return—not just financially.

So as we cheers to the year past and the year to come, it’s been real—very.