Dave and I met on a blind date in 2006. He was a missionary with The Charlotte Eagles, and I was a therapist at Elon University. After marrying in 2007, I joined him in Charlotte and worked briefly at Davidson College. Shortly thereafter, he took a job in the marketing department of New Hanover Regional Medical Center, now a Novant Hospital, and we moved to Wilmington. In 2009, we welcomed Annabelle to our family, followed by Katie Grace!

After the COVID pandemic, we worked remotely—Dave with Novant, and I doing Telehealth with a treatment program primarily out of Seattle and Colorado. We looked at communities from North Carolina to New England, Europe, and Central America when there was an opportunity to see a home in Hickory where a dear friend from college had settled. We saw a beautiful green two-story colonial and bought it. From day one, Hickory and Moore's Ferry have been an excellent fit for the family.

We both grew up on very different water! Dave grew up spending weekends and summers in the Adirondack National Park in Speculator, NY. It boasts gorgeous Lake Pleasant and Oak Mountain, a three-season ski resort. It has high peak hikes, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, skiing, cross-country skiing in the winter, and water skiing, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, and more in the summer. I grew up in Eastern NC and on the Pamlico River. Summers were spent with friends and family at the pool, skiing, sailing, summer camp, and playing tennis. Friends and family gatherings have been a large part of both families' stories and continue to this day. 

We vacation each summer in Speculator, NY- the girls going to camp and then spending a week or more with Dave's family. A favorite spot is the quintessential family camp, Camp-of-the-Woods, where Dave's family has vacationed since the 1940s. For over 50 years, my family vacations together annually in the first week of July. Since selling the family beach home, we have picked a lake home to rent each year in a new location. As a family, we enjoy tennis, volleyball, biking, water skiing/wakeboarding, snow skiing, and water and snow sports! You will be hard pressed to find me without a book at any given time. 

Sunday brunch after church is another Miller tradition! We love to eat out—anything from Cafe Gouda, Goldmine Cafe (on Saturday), China Moon(the best takeout!), Hickory Tavern, Backstreets, and many more. We have so many left that are unknown!

Our other treasured time together is with music. Everyone enjoys a variety of music-playing and singing. Our family enjoys Friday Family Fun Night- historically pizza and a movie or games on most Friday nights.

Annabelle, now a rising junior at UCHS, loves music, her electric guitar in particular, skiing and ski patrol, tennis, and time with her friends. This fall, she will begin classes to become a Ski Patroller with Dave at Appalachian Ski Mountain. Katie Grace, a rising freshman at UCHS, has played volleyball for 2 seasons with FCA and on her school team, SSLS, as well as tennis this year, and of course, guitar! I had the privilege of helping to coach Katie Grace’s tennis team this spring and had a grand time! They have a remarkable relationship with each other, and their laughter is infectious! Car trips, "dinner theater," piano and guitar, loving on the dog, and time with friends and family fill their schedules. They both enjoy school and have seemed to excel!

Our mission is to love and serve God and others. Our home is a sanctuary- a refuge, not just for us. Over the years, we have had the privilege of opening our home to others, sometimes for days or months. We love family, we love to laugh, and we treasure our time with friends. Stop by, knock on the door, or just come on in!