Carolina Called Us Home

It's been a while! Sorry everyone for the lack of excitement. This fall/ winter has been nothing short of busy. Our days were filled with work, weddings, weekend adventures and more work! The Camera Couple is finally catching up and ready to continue on with some picture and adventure blogs for ya'll. Our most exciting bit of news is the big change coming up. A new home! Cameron and I will be heading south and this time to stay! I recently accepted a job in the Carolinas and will be moving end of December. ​

To catch you up...In November Cameron and I took a weekend road trip down to North Carolina to check some areas out. I was familiar with Charlotte and northern Carolina but Cameron had never been. On our roadtrip we had chosen coast so we could literally go "coast to coast" and hit a new spot neither of us had been to. This weekend adventure included three areas of NC. We stayed in Albermarle, NC, a luscious mountain town which was absolutely gorgeous in fall. 


The views were incredible. Unfortunately, we saw some forest fires off in the distance...everything had been so dry down there. After enjoying the views we headed back down and went into the town to our hotel where we found tons of shopping to keep us occupied for the night and next day. Our next stop was Charlotte! I had to take Cameron to stay in the city so he could understand why six years ago I fell in love with this place. We stayed in downtown Charlotte by the Epicenter and had an awesome night walking around the city and enjoying the night life. We went to a live music bar for a little while and accidentally ordered two huge platters of nachos before calling it a night. 

The last stop on our trip was Moorseville. Since Cameron and I aren't quite city people...more farmish open land lovers, I figured Moorseville would be our favorite. We had so much fun taking back roads from Charlotte all the way to Moorseville. We chose the "no highway" option on the GPS to see if we could do it and we did! It was fun. We made our way through the farm land and got to explore Lake Norman. Cameron and I drove up and down the lake roads for over an hour day dreaming about the houses we wanted. The overall experience of the trip was great because we got to see new areas together and figure out where we would want to move.

Ready for a sentimental blast from the past!?

So why Carolina? Anyone who knows me would tell you that my dream since high school has been to move to North Carolina. Anyone who truly knows me would say that further more my job dream is to work events in the racing industry in North Carolina. The reason behind this is NC has been my objective for years. In 10th grade I took my first plane ride down to Charlotte for a big swim meet. It was there that I felt the feeling of home and a serious love for the city. I knew that I wanted to eventually live down there and I was going to do it.
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Why racing? NASCAR and racing isn't something I've always enjoyed. In fact I actually don't know too much about the sport at all. The connection comes from one of my role models. Growing up with 3 brothers each one guided me and helped shaped me into the person that I am today for different reasons. Phil and I always had the biggest distance because he was the oldest. Finding common interests was a bit challenging because of the age gap but I always admired him. Phil has the perfect personality full of comedic relief, seriousness and the ability to be quite logical. I've always been fascinated by his incredible artistic skills and the passion and knowledge he has when it comes to NASCAR. Phil is the ulimate Jeff Gordon fan. If there is a #24 on it...he can tell you EVERYTHING about it. I kid you not. Everything. His wealth of knowledge for the sport is unreal. In high school I decided to make racing our common joy. I found the sport incredibly fascinating from the events persepctive. Execution of events and every detail that goes in to making the races a great TV entertainment piece. I was gonna work in events for racing.

Once I decided what I wanted to do with my life it was time to pick a college. I knew I wanted to venture far away and experience being independent on my own. Surprisingly some people weren't as supportive as I had hoped but their doubts made me want to achieve it that much more. Senior year of high school I tried to pick a college in NC but thankfully my mom helped me reason through it and help me discover that the best fit was actually in Ohio. Mount Union was known for their impeccable Sport Business program and I would be able to continue to swim at the collegiate level. It killed me to not go where I had dreamed, but everything happens for a reason. During my first two years at Mount I fell in love with the school and everything it had to offer. Ohio became the first place I could call a home away from home. I grew to love my major even more than I thought possible. I loved my swim team and I grew an even bigger love and appreciation for my family back in Massachusetts.  For two years I applied to internships in NC for racing and for two years I got rejected because I was too young (that wasn't going to stop me.) When I came home for summers to work I listened to someone who I had once considered a mentor laugh at my dream. He told me I would never end up in racing and I would use my degree to work for him and help his company. Am I bitter? Not at all, I am so thankful because this pushed me to apply and try that much harder. I will never forget the call March of 2015, from Debbie Norman (who is ironically now one of my most influential mentors)  saying I was going to be an events intern at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  

Dream Complete.
It is thanks to every person that has supported (and doubted me) that I am able to add North Carolina to the list of places I call home. There is nothing more incredible than living out a dream for yourself. Even after college there were still people that didn't believe I would permanently move down south. It doesn't matter what people tell you, if it is something you want then try it. Cameron and I couldn't be more excited to take on an adventure and see what happens. It's scary to start over in a new place but life is about the experiences and growing. Stay close for some updates on the Camera Couples move and Happy Holidays! 
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