Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year!!




I hope everyone has a safe night tonight!!
Have fun!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Question


Yes, yes, I know that it has been a while since I have updated everyone on my uber exciting life but before I do so, I have a quick question for everyone!

I don't make resolutions. When I was younger, it seemed the thing to do but as I grew older, I needed something more concrete to hold on to. This is when I started to make goals!

Now before you go thinking that I have my life together, last year was the first year that I set goals for myself and I think I completed one out of five of my goals! See I don't even know what I completed and what I didn't, geez. Anyways.


I have always wanted to go back and read the classics that I was supposed to read in high school but I never finished. So I have decided that one of my personal goals for 2012 is to read only classic novels! So.....

What classic novel should I add to my list?
The Great Gatsby? For Whom the Bells Toll? MacBeth?

I would really love some suggestions!

Thanks guys!!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Friday, October 28, 2011

October 28, 1919

92 Years Ago Today........

My Grandfather, Sibley Trest Richerson, was born!
My Grandaddy, bottom center with his Father, Grandfather, and Great-Grandfather

My Grandaddy was born in Stockton, Alabama to John Leslie and Bessie Mae Richerson. 
He is the second oldest of four children. 

He only had 3 years of high school education.
He was inducted into the Alabama High School Baseball Hall of Fame.

He married in 1940 and had 2 children.
He was a fireman. 

My Grandaddy, on the right, with an Army buddy.

He enlisted in the Army in 1943 as a member of the 2061st Engineer Aviation Fire-Fighter Assigned to the 406th Fighter Bomber Group, P-47, of the 9th Air Force for Duty.

He received a Dear John letter while overseas. 
He married my Grandmother in 1949. 
They had 3 children.
Total he has 5 Children, 12 Grandchildren, 9 Great-Grandchildren. 

My Dad, Uncle, Grandfather, and Uncle

To have seen everything he has seen! 
Such a great man!

Happy Birthday Grandaddy!!

Hoot Noggit!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Grown-Up Field Trip: Part 1

 A few months ago, I had several close friends come to me with questions about my birthday:

What do you have planned? 
Well, nothing yet.
What do you want to do? 
Maybe just a dinner or something. 

and then the questions followed with 

Because I have a wedding/wedding shower on your birthday.....
Oh....

With the first friend, I didn't think much of it but then when #2 and #3 came around I started to get a little upset/disappointed. Don't my closest and most loyal friends know that they are to leave October 22nd open forever and always? 

Instead of sulking about the situation, I decided to plan a trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Yes, of all the places to plan a birthday celebration, I chose Plymouth. With my love of genealogy and my connection to the area, I was determined to go, with. or without. anyone! At first, it was just going to be me on this lovely voyage but then my mom worked her magic, and was able to get off work, so she and my youngest sister were able to join me! 

The weekend started out great with a major victory for my brother. They were the big upset win over the undefeated East Paulding Raiders. The final score was 29-23! 


I can honestly say, the entire visitor section was beaming! We were all so proud of our Greyhounds! 
My Brother and his team mates singing the fight song after their victory!

Our flight the next morning was at 815 and we made it into Boston around noonish. We walked through Quincy Market to see all the yummy foods before sitting down for lunch at Wagamamas. I first fell in love with Wagamamas when I studied in London during Jan Term. The food is fresh, delicious and quick!  And just my luck, they have one in Boston! My meal was just like I remembered and what made it even better was that mom liked it too! 
Pretty view of South Quincy Market

After lunch, we drove to our hotel in Plymouth, checked in and immediately hit the road again to see the sites. Our first destination: Plymouth Rock. 

I was warned before I left about the size of the rock. "It's not very big, you know!" or "Don't be disappointed when you actually see the rock." I was realistic however; I knew that pieces of it had been chipped away by souvenir seekers and that it had been moved several times, especially during the Revolutionary War. There is still something to be said about seeing the rock, though. Maybe it means more to me because my 9th Great-Grandfather was the 'first' to step on it but I still thought it was flippin cool, in the words of my father! 
THE Plymouth Rock



After we saw the rock, we moved on to the Mayflower II. The Mayflower II is a replica of the originial that sailed almost 400 years ago. The ship, in comparison to the amount of passengers onboard (102), was tiny and with the rough seas that they endured, the Captain probably kept them all underneath for their protection. We learned the next day, that there was supposed to be a second ship, The Speedwell, going over but the Captain did not agree with what the Pilgrims were seeking (religious freedom), so he rigged the masts incorrectly and played dumb, leaving the ship unsailable and making everyone merge onto one ship, the Mayflower. 
The Mayflower II
Our first day was a little rushed because we had an early dinner reservation at the Plimouth Plantation for their Harvest Dinner. Yes, we're strange, we know. I was actually a little disappointed that dinner was inside! We have done an Irish dinner inside a castle before and so I was totally ready for that setting. I was prepared for dinner in a Pilgrim house or even just outside with a table and bench. The food was actually good and their was a lot of it! It was all family style and you were only given a pewter plate (salad size), a steel knife (with rust) and a soup spoon. I'll be honest with you, at lunch before we left Boston, we kept saying "Eat as much as you can because you don't know if dinner is going to be any good." Well, we were stuffed at the end of the night, which happened to be just after seven. 
Our menu for the Harvest Dinner
Because of our early morning wake up call and with much of Plymouth already closed, we decided to call it a night for the day. Eleven hours later though, I did not regret our decision one bit! For now we were rested for our official and exciting full day ahead!


Saturday, October 15, 2011

Thursday Night Football

Growing up Southern is a privilege, really.  
It's more than where you're born, it's an idea and state of mind that seems imparted at birth.  It's more than loving fried chicken, sweet tea, football, and country music.  
It's being hospitable, devoted to front porches, magnolias, Moon Pies and Coca-Cola...and each other. 
We don't become Southern - we're born that way.

In our family, football has always been a part of our lives. My father was the All-Star, hotshot high school quarterback who later played a stint of college football at the University of Georgia. My sister and I grew up tailgating at the Sigma Nu house in Athens and now, my baby brother is a starting offensive lineman at Pope High School. 

My brother started playing football for Pope in middle school. From the beginning, it was evident that these boys were going to turn it around for the school. Sure enough, last year was the first time in over 10 years that Pope went to the playoffs!

My family is very involved in my brothers football career. My dad started out coaching the boys in middle school and my family has been at every game of his varsity career (minus when I missed last year for my birthday which I'm still getting grief about!). My family is also very vocal when it comes to the football games. 
My sister 
Image Courtesy of Marietta Daily Journal

This week, our game was featured on the WSB-TV Thursday night televised "Game of the Week". Our opponent was Sprayberry High School. The winner of this game would solidify their position in the playoffs for this year. Last year at Sprayberry, we won with 14-13 so this game was definitely going to be a good one! And it was! 

At half-time, the score was 14-6 Sprayberry, thanks to a last minute 73 yard touchdown from Sprayberry at the end of the second quarter. There had already been 2 turnovers on Pope's end and one for Sprayberry. No movement in the third quarter but Pope came back though in the fourth quarter to win the game with 16 seconds to go with a final score of 27-21. 


My baby brother, #72, starting Offensive Lineman
Image Courtesy of WSB-TV

So proud of my brother and the Greyhounds!!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Happy Birthday Lisa!!

 Today is my Mom's Birthday!
My mom and her father, John C. Reynolds ca. 1959

My mom and her mother, Lieselotte Balser Reynolds, Easter 1961

Today, my mother celebrates another year of her life! I personally, am very excited that she was born today! I don't think I could have asked for a better mother!

She is kind, loving, funny.
She is an amazing cook!
She is a white tornado when it comes to throwing a party together!
She loves her husband and her family.
She is pretty much the most wonderful woman I know!

My mother in elementary school

My parents a frew months after their wedding, 31 years ago, Happy Birthday Mom!!

1985 the "first family" is complete

My mom and me, Lake Martin, AL. UGA/AU Game ca.1991

Mom and all of her kids, Me (1), Sean (3), Caroline (2), and Claire (4)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Friday, September 23, 2011

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Marilyn Monroe

I have recently taken up an interest with Marilyn Monroe.

She has always been a person of interest but lately I found myself more intrigued with her. There were basic things I knew and loved about her:

I love the fact that she was not runway model thin. 

I love the fact that she was both a baseball wife and a literary wife. 

But mostly, I love the fact that she was absolutely, without a doubt, glamorous!

Well, recently, my mom and I were planning an upcoming trip to Plymouth, Mass and Boston and we were researching places to visit. We were on the Alden House website and on there they have a link of famous descendants of John and Priscilla Alden. In the list were political people such as John Adams and Dan Quayle and some other scholarly people but there was also Norma Jean Baker; professionally known as Marilyn Monroe!

Immediately, we stopped so I could add this information to my family tree! Turns out that Marilyn Monroe is my 9th Cousin 1x removed! 


My family line to John Alden comes from Joseph Alden, John and Priscilla’s third born and Norma Jean comes from Elizabeth Alden, J & P’s first born.  
I told you we were related!!
Just wanted to brag a little!
Thanks!

Friday, September 9, 2011

9/11

I cannot believe that it has already been 10 years since the most horrific and tragic day of our lifetime. It seems that every publication and television outlet is putting together their own special memorials to the thousands of people whose lives were lost on September 11, 2001.

As I read these memorials and see the pictures, it is painfully heartbreaking yet unimaginable to me how this event in history has affected so many lives and families. I was blessed to not have personally known any of the victims from those attacks but that day will still be with me forever.

When I was younger, I remember being almost envious of my parents and grandparents because they had had so many memorable and historic events in their lifetime. Together, they had witnessed the Second World War, the dropping of the atomic bomb, the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Woodstock, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. I wanted to know every detail of where they were, what they were doing when they heard the news and their reactions.

Now I have my own details.

I was a Senior at Alan C. Pope High School and my first period class that semester was Oceanography. This was mainly just a filler class as I had met mostly all of my requirements and was also on early release (I had only 3 classes instead of the 4 that come along with Block Scheduling). This class was more fun than educational because the majority of the class were my friends. The day before, we had started a Paper Mache Globe project. Everyone was making jokes, laughing, really goofing off for the most part. A few minutes into class, our Principal, Dr. Stowers, came over the intercom to tell everyone there had been a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York and for everyone to turn on the TV. (It came out later that Dr. Stowers’ daughter, who worked at the WTC had been running late that morning and saw the first plane hit the building and immediately called her mother).

Up until this point in my life, terrorist attacks to me meant a hostage situation so I didn’t think too heavily on the announcement until someone turned on the television and I saw the first attack on the building. Immediately, the feel in the room changed. The carefree, lighthearted feeling everyone just had was replaced with a serious grave and anxious feeling. We watched the coverage, including the second plane attack on the South Tower, until the bell rang for second period.

I basically ran to my second period class, which was Government/Econ, so I wouldn’t miss anything. We were supposed to have a test or quiz or something that I remember not feeling ready for but my teacher, Mrs. Todaro, informed the class that these events were more important. Within minutes of class starting, we watched in shock and disbelief as the South Tower collapsed. The feeling now throughout the school was very somber. I think we were all still trying to process what was happening, how this could have happened!

My third and final class was Senior Lit/College Prep Class. This class was a smaller class than my others and there were probably 15-20 kids in the class. I remember walking into the class and getting settled when my teacher told us that she was going to turn off the television because ‘nothing new was happening’. Almost in unison, the entire class protested. At this point in the day, the broadcasters were showing the celebrations that were going on in the Middle East. She put the television on mute and tried to continue with class.

The rest of the day was sort of a blur. I’m not sure if I had to work, if I discussed things with my parents; I just remember still being numb about the situation.

A few weeks after the attacks, it came out that there were documentary film makers, brothers Gedeon and Jules Naudet, following a rookie firefighter during his entire 9 month training. They were the first and only camera to capture the first plane that struck the towers and a few months after the attacks, the documentary was finally aired.

Sitting at the kitchen counter, I watched the documentary. I remember bits and pieces from the documentary but what stands out to me the most was actually, for the first time, hearing the steel bend and crunch as the towers fell. The footage of that entire day had been replayed for months but there was always some commentary covering up the noise. The minute I heard the sounds from that day, shivers went down my spine. I envisioned the thousands of people stuck inside the building; I envisioned those who made the decision to jump from the inferno; I tried to envision what it would have been like inside as the buildings collapsed.

I finally had my own details to tell my children and grandchildren but if I had known that the event which changed our country forever would have been so devastating, I’m not sure I would have been so envious of my afore-mentioned relatives. Ten years after the original attacks, I still have anxiety when viewing the images from that day and the disbelief and sadness is still as fresh as it was 10 years ago.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Girl on a Budget

Have I told you how much I love Rachel Zoe?  

 I really do! She is my daily inspiration – at least when it comes to my wardrobe. Each year when the Award shows begin, I love to see all of the dresses and guess which ones Rachel styled.

Then there is her show, The Rachel Zoe Project, which premiered last night (and, yes, I did just sing that last little bit)! I absolutely love everything about it; the clothes, the celebrities, the process, the sayings! It would be my guilty pleasure if I didn’t feel bad about watching it! Sorry I'm not sorry!

What I mostly love about Rachel Zoe, and I’m not even entirely sure that the credit should go to her but I’m feeling generous, is Piperlime! Probably 3 out of 5 days, I’m on their website just browsing! It’s where I go to daydream about my future wardrobe!
What I love most about Piperlime is their GIRL ON A BUDGET section. I love it because the company recognizes that there are people out there who appreciate the finer things in life but are not always able to have them.

They break down everything into categories (everything is under $100) and then also give you outfit ideas with the price conscious pieces. If you haven’t ever visited Piperlime because you think it is all couture, high-end pieces, I highly suggest you give it another go, or at least admire it like I do!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

When I'm Feeling Sad

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad


I got some sad news today at work so I had to destract myself and lift my spirits some.

Here's what did it for me:









<3
 
All pictures from froufroufashionista.tumblr.com

Monday, August 15, 2011

The Boys of Fall



I can not believe that Fall is right around the corner. It seems like just last week, I was excited for the arrival of summer, now, it's almost gone! I'm not complaining though because with the arrival of fall welcomes my most favorite part of the year! 


This weekend marked the beginning of Football Season (capitalized because it really is that big of a deal!). 

 
My brother will be a Senior, starting today, and with this obviously comes his last year of high school football. It's almost unreal to me that my baby brother, in just a few short months, will be going off to college. But anyways, Friday night they had their scrimmage against Hillgrove. They lost but my brother's first plays were marvelous! The next game is not for another two weeks but it should be a good one! 


BTW - My brother is #72, handsome devil!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

If I won the lottery

Sure I'd do all the normal stuff....pay off my debt, put a huge chunk in savinngs, maybe even buy a house and a new car but before I did all of that, I'd plan a trip!

Amalfi, Italy

Bonifacio, Corsica, France

Iseltwald, Switzerland

Monschau, Germany

Crete, Greece

River Liffey, Dublin, Ireland

Sicily, Siracusa

Blossoms in the park, Paris

Mont Saint-Michel, France



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