Week one on the Outer Banks

So, it's been one full week since we made that horrendous drive out to the ocean from Oklahoma. Things have already started to fall into a routine. Susan, her brother, and I made it to Manteo, North Carolina (where our house is) Sunday evening, and Susan and I started work on Monday. Nothing better than getting right into it and making money, right? The job is pretty fun; we're selling retail in a store called Kitty Hawk Surf Co. The store sells and rents kayaks and skim boards and all that fun stuff, but we mainly work in the clothing/shoes part of the store. The hours are kind of interesting to get used to, as the shifts for us are either 9-5 or 2-9:30. Each shift has advantages and disadvantages. With the morning shift, there is no time to go to the beach, and the afternoon shift is generally busier, so you're more exhausted at the end, with no time to do anything but sleep after you're done. Susan and I don't have any of the same shifts, and our days off don't correspond, either. So, our time to get out and do stuff is rather limited right now. We each get two days off a week, though, so we're trying to arrange all of our activities around those days that one of us has off and the other one works the late shift.
With that setup, we managed to get time to take a hang gliding lesson last Thursday, one of my days off. The lessons are held at a place called Jockey's Ridge, a state park right across from where we work that has sand dunes which are perfect for lessons. We were with a larger group, and each person got to take 5 flights. It was super fun, and both of us had it figured out by the end. My instructor even said that I was "a natural," because I apparently knew intuitively what I was supposed to do. I wasn't so sure about that, but I'll take it. And it certainly didn't hurt the whole experience that the instructors were all very attractive boys around our age. So, of course, I think we'll have to take a few more hang gliding lessons to really get the "hang" of it (ha. ha. sorry).
We're signed up for kite-boarding lessons on Friday, which should be another great opportunity. All of these lessons and rentals are free for employees working for the company, so we want to take advantage of everything that we can. Also, if we take these lessons and then take a written quiz, we'll be up for a pay raise, so we're trying to get that done as quickly as possible. More fun and more money? Excellent choice.

Summer 2011, Baby.

School's out for summer! (No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks). Oh, what a year it is has been. This semester has brought all sorts of changes to my life (some good ones, and some not so good ones), and I am certainly looking forward to taking a nice break from the usual and stepping out of my comfort zone. For those of you who don't know, I'm going to be spending the majority of my summer with the lovely Susan Stancampiano and her family on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Considering that I'm used to spending my time either in Norman or in Guymon (Oklahoma is sadly quite landlocked), this is going to be quite the new experience. To say I'm really looking forward to it would be an understatement.
Susan's mother works as the head of the HR department for Kitty Hawk Kites, a company that offers everything from hang gliding lessons to kayak tours to some amazingly cool retail, so I'm going to be working at the shop there. I'm hoping to use this opportunity to work on my self-discovery (cliche, I know) and try some new things. It's going to be a blast, and I am not going to take this once-in-a-lifetime kind of opportunity for granted.
I'm hoping to use the blog more this summer to keep everyone updated on our adventures. Hopefully, I'll post some awesome stories and some great pictures to ensure that if you're not with us, you'll be jealous. On the other hand, I'm going to be living on the beach, so if I don't post as often as I hope, that will be okay, too.
5 days and counting until we leave for our long drive to North Carolina. Adventure is out there!