When I was in the 8th grade, we left the great state of Louisiana and moved to Indiana. I had lived in Louisiana all of my life and all of my friends and family were there. The move was scary, to say the least.  It was 1995 and it was 8th grade. What a horrible time for a girl, right? I’ve never felt uglier and more awkward.

I am 5’8″ and I was 5’8″ in the 8th grade. I looked like a teacher with my bob haircut. I remember that on the first day of school I wore a red corduroy jumper with a white button up underneath with black tights and my black Dr. Martens Mary Janes. Those shoes were so cool back then, but I wear a size 10 shoe. Do you have any idea how clown-like the Dr. Marten Mary Jane looks in a size 10?

So not cute.

Anyway, there I was. A giant. Not exactly thin. And dressed like a teacher in clown shoes. Perfect. What was I thinking? I felt twice the size of all the boys– because they hadn’t hit their growth spurt yet.

I was put into a regular English class and by the fourth week of school the teacher approached me and told me that I had over 100% in her class and she would like to move me to her Honors English class, which also meant moving to Honors Social Studies. I was flattered, but a bit scared, too. I have been in that school for four weeks and had gotten a little start at making some acquaintances, and now I was going to have to switch classes again? It’s hard enough to make friends once in the 8th grade at a new school!

So I decided to go ahead and do it. I needed an academic challenge and was willing to give it a shot.

On the first day of my new classes, I had Honors Social Studies first. The only available seat was in the back of the room next to all of the boys. Perfect. They think I’m a student teacher.

Then I overheard two of them quizzing each other on Saved By the Bell trivia. Oh, I know this! I was answering the questions to myself and getting them all right. For at least four years, I had watched four episodes of SBTB after school every day. Two episodes on TBS and two episodes on WGN. Then an episode of 90210 on FX. I could quote the show backward and forward and answer any question.

• What was the name of the homeless girl in the Christmas episode?
• What was the name of the fictitious school that Jessie wanted to attend?
• What was Zack’s score on the SAT?
• What was the name of the club that the gang made fake IDs to get into?

You get the picture.

I joined the boys and asked them a question. Neither one of them knew the answer, so I told them. Then they started asking me questions and I got them all correct. For the rest of that semester I sat in the back with them and that’s how I got through it. I wouldn’t say that they became my “friends” but it helped me transition into having someone to talk to and then having a little bit more courage to make some real friends.

So Saved By the Bell broke the ice for me at my new school.

I was telling this story to Todd and he said, “You know, I have a similar story. I was at freshman orientation for college and overheard some SBTB trivia and chimed in, too. It gave me someone to talk to for a few minutes when I didn’t know anyone.”

So, Mom and Dad. All of those wasted hours while watching Saved by the Bell came in handy for me.

I can find any way to justify useless knowledge of pop culture!

1. I am in the midst of television overload. And. I. Love. It! My DVR is working overtime and every night when Hudson goes to bed I watch at least one show. Then watch the others during his nap the next day. I’m watching the usual– Dancing With The Stars, Grey’s Anatomy, The Biggest Loser. My favorite shows, Lost, American Idol, and Damages don’t start until the Spring. Then there’s the super fun reality shows, Flipping Out, Rachel Zoe Project, and Project Runway.

But I have to say my newest obsession is Glee. I’m amazed every week with how much fun the story lines are and so excited that these people have an excuse to spontaneously bust into song. I’m a musical junkie, so this show is what I’ve been waiting for!

2. We have a lot to look forward to now that Fall has officially arrived. Hudson will be 4 months old next week. My birthday is in November. My mother-in-law is hosting a Sip ‘n See for Hudson and me in November. We’re traveling to Tuscaloosa and Lexington, Virginia this month. Then of course there’s Thanksgiving! Later this month we have our Christmas card photo shoot with Tracey Turpen! I’m so excited to work with her– I just need to some outfit suggestions!

I also couldn’t be more excited about being about to wear a cardigan and not be sweating. Lovely!

3. There is a home game tomorrow, but none of us are very interested in going, so we’re going to have a nice lazy day at home watching football. I’m also meeting a bunch of girl friends for breakfast. We’ve been out of town so long, I just can’t wait to see everyone!

I hope you all have a great weekend! What has you excited this week?

It’s my 2 year blogiversary! Let’s celebrate!

Two years ago I started this blog as a means to write about my wedding planning process and keep our friends and family in the loop. Two years, 451 posts, a wedding, a baby, and my own domain later it has become a great outlet for me to write about lots of different things (could I be anymore random?) and I’ve met so many great friends.

To celebrate my anniversary, I’m hosting a Blurb giveaway. Don’t you just love Blurb?!

I am giving away 4 bookmaking codes for $59.95 to Blurb.com! This is the starting price for their new 12×12 book!

You can use the $59.95 toward whatever you wish at Blurb.com, however.

The winners will receive a bookmaking code

I did this giveaway last year and it was so much fun!

To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me what kind of Blurb book you’d make. Maybe you want a wedding guest book. It could be your wedding album. Maybe it’s a book of your baby’s photos or letters you’ve written to your baby. Or maybe you want to put all of your blog posts into a book so you can have them forever.

Honestly, I’m a little behind on my Blurb bookmaking and need to make a honeymoon book, start making baby books, and I’d like to make a book of Blue-Eyed Bride up to this point.

Also, I wanted to let you all know that Blurb is hosting its very first Best Blurb Books Contest and the winner will receive $3,000! Woot! The books will be judged in three categories: family, pet, and travel (weddings, honeymoon, and kids are obviously in the family category).

So those of you that have already created a Blurb book, you just need to order a copy of your book to be eligible! Who doesn’t want $3,000?! You can also see some pretty amazing books over on the contest website.

Here are the top 5 reasons to enter the Best Blurb Books Contest:

Go to this link to enter! http://www.blurb.com/photo-book-contest

So enter my giveaway by leaving a comment and enter the Best Blurb Books Contest by going to the link above!

The deadline for my giveaway is Friday, October 2! Good luck!

WARNING: This post is definitely guilty of picture overload.

Hudson and I are still in Dallas. We miss Todd terribly, but we’re having a great time.  Here are the highlights of the past two weeks:

1. We left last Tuesday for our tour of Louisiana to see family and friends.  We stopped in Shreveport for lunch at Cheesecake Bistro with one of my very first blog friends and the author of one of my favorite blogs, Cyndi of Southern Daze.  Cyndi and I had been trying to meet up for a long time.  We “met” when she found my blog and saw that I was from Louisiana originally.  Then she found the amazingly talented Kelly Moore through my blog and realized that Kelly lives right down the road from her.  She hired Kelly to take some family photos and then our e-relationship started.  We were going to meet up last Thanksgiving, but I was suffering from severe morning all-day sickness and was in the beginning of my pregnancy.

We had so much fun on Tuesday. When I hugged her I told her that I feel like we’ve met a million times before.  How can it be possible that I feel like I know someone so well but had never met her before? She has always been such a source of encouragement and inspiration for me. If you don’t read her blog, you should. I’m looking forward to the next time we get together!

2. We continued on to Ruston, Louisiana and Quitman, Louisiana to visit with my mom’s brother and his family. My cousin and her sweet baby girl were also in town, so it was a lot of fun watching the babies meet for the first time. Lily, her daughter, is 8 months old and is a ball of energy and all about playing. She was so into Hudson, but he is still only rolling over and only occasionally reaching to grab things.  He wasn’t much of a playmate for Lily.

 

3. When we left Ruston and Quitman a couple of days later, we travelled on to Baton Rouge where we visited with my great-aunt and got to see my other cousin and her husband for a few minutes. We also visited with some great family friends down there. And, of course, we didn’t hesitate to eat as much amazing food as possible.

We left Baton Rouge and went to New Orleans for the afternoon to see my mom’s best friend and her beautiful house and have lunch.

 

When we left New Orleans, we drove back to Ruston so Hudson could attend his first Louisiana Tech football game and hang out with his Uncle Walker (my brother). We also met up with one of my bridesmaids and her sister at Waffle House the morning after the game. A baby should experience Waffle House at a young age, right?

 

 

4. We came back to Dallas on Sunday night, and on Monday we met Mrs. Preppy and her precious baby girl, A.  They came over for dinner and a play date.  Again, A was great at playing, but Hudson was still just interested in lying there and babbling. The babbling is adorable, by the way. So glad we got to meet these two.  I wish we lived closer so the babies could play more often! 

 

5. On Tuesday night, I got to participate in the infamous Champagne Thursday– yes, on Tuesday– at Dali with Mojito Maven, Kate, Maggie, and Slynnro. These girls are so much fun and, again, I wish I lived closer so I could play more often!

6. Last night, I had dinner with my best friends, Catherine and Jennifer.  Of course we had a fantastic time. Fortunately, we had just seen each other for a weekend in Columbia, so we were able to do lots of chatting with having to do a lot of “catching up.” I miss these girls so much! Unfortunately, we still don’t have a picture of Jennifer and Hudson!

 7.  And you must see Hudson with his KK.  She and Poppie love him so much!