I had a wonderful evening last night up at Topsail Beach with my cousin Robert and his wife Rocky. They and their two friends from 'up North a ways' had come for a week for their annual fall beach trip.

It was so nice to see family and unwind. Their beautiful beachfront home made me realize how lucky I was that the ocean is just a few minutes down the road! I told them I was living a dream come true. My vaca is every day, even though I am in the middle of exams and don't get to look at the ocean every day. I know it is just down the road.

When we were first looking for a place to live in the early spring months, we saw a billboard that said "a million miles away is just down the road". Living at the beach seemed a million miles away at one time in my life. The possibility was, well, an impossibility.

But now, it's just down the road.

Don't give up on your dream. You never know. It just might be right down the road!