December 2, 2011 had finally arrived. We packed our suitcases, four kids and the dog early that morning and 9 hours later we were crossing the Lazaretto Creek bridge onto Tybee Island. The sun was shining bright and the sky was a deep blue. Now one of the most interesting stories that happened on this day was about the first people we met on the island. Let me back track just a bit…On our second visit, when we signed the contract on the house, I had gathered any local literature so we could do our homework on the area. I had read an article in the local monthly magazine called the Tybee Breeze. It was about a new “church” that had started congregating in a local bar. This piqued my interest enough to dig a little deeper. The article was by a man, who I had never heard of before…named Micheal Elliott. I googled his name and was lead to his blog. After being captivated by his daily writings, I  started to read the back log, and realized that he had blogged everyday for about two years. Sean and I started to follow his blog daily as Micheal’s writing gave us a little window into life on Tybee. We lived vicariously through his blog, it felt as if we already knew him. I know it sounds creepy and believe me, our 14 year old daughter told us so. So fast forward to about 10 minutes after we arrive on the island, right around lunch time, we had to kill some time before getting the keys to our house. The kids were hungry so we headed to Fannies on the Beach. A laid back Tybee restaurant right on the beach with outside eating, perfect to accommodate our dog, Tasha. We grabbed a table, and let out a big exhale…trying to believe we were actually making steps toward a better life.

We had not been sitting there more than 5 minutes, when, get this…two people walked up and sat at the table next to us, my eyes got big as I shot Sean a look. It was Micheal Elliot and his friend Dedra. What?? The person that we “stalked” for the past 6 months and knew all the personal details about his life, was less than three feet from us. Only problem, he had no idea who we were…so do I say something? and really look like creepers? I had communicated with Dedra a little bit on facebook, prior to this date, so I went ahead and introduced myself to her. With her adorable southern accent and beautiful smile, she immediately welcomed us all with big hugs, even Tasha! Hmmm…somehow I think we will like this place. She introduced us to Micheal, so it took a bit of the awkwardness out of the introductions. We became fast friends with Dedra, Micheal and his then fiance (now wife) Sarah. Since then we have actually started a new business with Micheal and Sarah, funny how some things are just meant to be and come together, huh?

Later that night more beautiful things happened with shooting stars and a Christmas magic. (continued in part 5)