Birth of a Parrothead

I'd known I wanted to be a teacher since the day I discovered office supplies. Well, initially I thought I wanted to be a receptionist at an office. Probably a doctor's office. This is due to the fact that my Uncle Jesse is a doctor, and my Aunt Normie (his wife, my mom's sister) ran his office. My sisters, cousins, and I used to play secretary in her office at their house and in the reception office at "The Office", which is what we referred to his medical practice as. While playing secretary was fun, who wouldn't love pretending to answer the phone, taking messages, and making copies?!?!, it left me wanting more. Specifically, a big, white board to write on. This is when I decided that being a teacher was my true calling. My sisters and I had mini dry-erase boards hanging in our bedrooms, we had real "teacher" grade books that we filled with the names of students from school, and several plastic cups full of pens on top of our desks at home - among other office supplies that we tended to collect.
In third grade, that all changed. I grew up hearing Jimmy Buffett songs and knew the words to all the hits, but in 3rd grade I really heard "Cheeseburger In Paradise" for the first time. What was different now? This time I'd paid attention to the back-up singers. As far as I was concerned, the girls that sang, "Paradiiiiiiiiiiiiiise," had the most beautiful voices I'd ever heard. I also decided that they were probably the most beautiful women on the planet. I pictured them with their long, shiny hair blowing gently in the ocean breeze, a tropical flower tucked behind one ear, wearing brightly colored bikini tops and sarongs, living the LIFE down in Key West. I had to be one. I found my parents' cassette tape of "Songs You Know By Heart" and listened to "Cheeseburger In Paradise" over, and over, and over again until I was convinced that I could sing JUST LIKE the girls in The Coral Reefers.
I think that's what really launched my love-affair with Jimmy Buffett, Key West, being a Parrothead, and all things coastal. When I graduated from high school I went on a cruise with 5 of my best friends (Troop 820) and our moms. We left from Miami and ended up in Cozumel, but my favorite part of the trip was our day in Key West. When we got off the boat that morning, you'd have thought it was Christmas morning I was so excited! My friend Jessie shares my love of these things, and our junior year of college we took a roadtrip that went Wilmington > Athens, GA > New Orleans > Destin, FL > Savannah > Wilmington. During the drive from New Orleans to Destin, we started passing signs for Pascagoula, Mississippi. Needless to say, we both started screaming with excitement and decided it was only fitting to roll down the windows, open the sunroof, and BLAST "The Pascagoula Run" as loud as her Volvo would allow.
Obviously, my desire to be a Coral Reefer took a backseat when I realized that my music abilities just weren't up to par. Actually, I still just really loved the idea of teaching. And I'm not a musician. Either way, now I'm a Parrothead teacher who'd love to find a way to work a pirate-themed unit into her school year, would rather be at the beach than anywhere else (even in January - I love the beach in the winter), wishes she could paint the rooms of her house varying shades of pink, blue, yellow, orange, & green, and who thinks that time spent on a boat is the BEST way for time to be spent.

"Cheeseburger in Paradise" is still one of my favorite songs, and while there are no back-up singing girls in this video, it's one of my favorite videos of the song being performed. Partly because of the lack of talking, stuffed-cheeseburger devouring Polynesian tribal heads on stage (Really, "Scenes You Know By Heart"? Really?), but mostly because I think there's something kinda sexy about the 1985 JB.

Smoothie-girl is a liar. (ok that might be a little harsh)

I got a magic bullet for Christmas.
That being said, I had seen this post on Pintrest that was an idea for pre-made smoothie packets.  I thought, "OMG that is the best idea ever!" So I bought all the ingredients, followed the directions, and tried to make a smoothie this morning. Well, it sounds simple enough except the main part of the directions is that you freeze everything, including the yogurt. I think I'm getting ahead of myself. In order to make the smoothie packets, you have to slice up all the fruit you want, measure out the yogurt into a muffin tin, and stick it all in the freezer. Once everything is frozen you have a bunch of frozen fruit (by the way, frozen blueberries are really yummy, kinda like frozen grapes) and these cute little frozen discs of yogurt. You tracking? Ok so then, you put a thing of yogurt and a couple of handfuls of fruit into a ziploc bag and put it all back into the freezer. Voila! Pre-made smoothie packets. Add ice, and breakfast is only supposed to take 30 seconds now!! SIKE! Homegirl that came up with this idea failed to mention that all that frozen stuff is not going to blend up very easily in my little magic bullet. I started making my smoothie this morning and quickly realized the truth. I bet I took that magic bullet off the little engine thing about 25 times and shook it, stirred it, or banged it on the counter. FINALLY I took out everything but the yogurt chunk and put it in a cup, then I blended up the yogurt, added the fruit and ice BACK in, and tried again.  It was a little better, but it still wasn't blending up well. Then I decided that maybe I needed something that wasn't frozen. I searched our fridge, but came up empty handed. I didn't want to add milk, cause I thought that might make it TOO milky, you know, 'cause of the yogurt being in there too, so I added some water. I probably lost a lot of flavor with this move, but at that point I did not care. My smoothie started mixing just like it should have and 20 minutes later my 30-second breakfast was ready!
Next time I'm letting the yogurt thaw in the fridge overnight.

Dang it.

I just realized that I totally FORGOT to do my annual birthday post this summer! Maybe I'm the only that is actually sad about this, but who cares, it's something that I do every year. So here goes, just in time for my half birthday (January 29).
This year I was 26. TWENTY-SIX!!! Holy mack, I'm officially closer to thirty than I am to twenty. Fran and I had only just moved into our house, but since we both weren't working we'd spent a whooolllleee lot of time together and had already gotten to be pretty good friends. She asked me for about a week leading up to my birthday what I wanted to do, and I kept saying I didn't care. I didn't really need/expect a party. I especially didn't expect someone I'd just met to plan anything for me. The night before my birthday, Frances, Ben, and I were hanging out with the Hancocks and as we were leaving they all started being really weird and vague. When I started asking questions, all they would tell me was to be back at the Hancocks' house at 9 the next morning, and to wear my bathing suit.
The next morning, Fran and I both put on our bathers and cover-ups, grabbed towels and sunscreen, and headed back over to the Hancocks'.  Lindsay jumped in the car with Fran and me, while Ben and Bryan followed in Lindsay's van with the Hancock kids. I originally thought we might be hanging out at the pool all day (which was our habit this summer), but the more we drove, I realized that we were headed to WILMINGTON! Lindsay's parents keep a boat down there and we spent the day out on the waterway. There are few things I love more than being on a boat, so I was in heaven! We first headed to one of the little islands that the Hancocks call "Party Crab Island" because of all of the sand fiddlers in the tide pools there. We anchored there, had lunch on the boat, and walked around the island for a while. If you're familiar with Wrightsville Beach, this little island is just off of the Shell Island end of WB. We walked over to the side that was closest to the ocean and swam across/ fought the current to a sand bar between Shell Island and Figure 8. Eventually we headed back to the boat, made a pit stop on "Palm Tree Island", cause you HAVE to if you're out on a boat at Wrightsville Beach, then headed over to Masonboro Island. Masonboro is an 8.4 mile long barrier island between Wilmington and the Atlantic Ocean. It is completely undisturbed and is only accessible by boat. People go over there all the time to camp, surf, or just hang out. A long time ago, the island was at least partially owned by my dad's mom's family. Throughout the years, the island was divided up between kids/grandkids, but now all of it has been sold to the state except the part that my dad and his sister's still own. We can't do anything with it, but it is funny to laugh about owning a piece of "Mase." In all the years that I lived in Wilmington, I had never actually been over to Masonboro (no one in college had a boat!). The Hancocks decided that my birthday was the day I was finally going to go! We anchored there, walked around for a little bit, then got back in the boat and headed to Rita's for some Italian Ice before making the drive back to Goldsboro. That night, a few more people came over to my parents house for dinner and cake & ice cream. It was a GREAT birthday, and I can't believe I totally neglected to mention it until just now!!

Birthday on a boat.

Frances is the best.

Hallie is so darn cool.

(Don't worry, we were going extremely slow at this point.)

MASONBORO ISLAND!

In keeping with tradition, here are some fun-facts about the number 26 (although, I still think my list at 23 might have been the best ever):

• No NBA or NFL team has retired the number 26
• There are 26 letters in the English alphabet
• If I were a guy, I couldn't be drafted anymore now that I'm 26
• In a regulation deck of playing cards, there are 26 red cards and 26 black cards
• A Rubik's Cube can always be solved in 26 moves or less

Go shawty, it's ya birthday,

We gon' party like it's ya birthday...

-50 Cent

From Hadley's Blog...

*Stole this post from my sister Hadley's blog. It's all about our family's Christmas traditions! Click on the title of her blog and check it out.
Faster Than A Speeding Bullet: Christmas Traditions:
Here's a list of all of my favorite Christmas traditions, old and new! 1. My entire family (at the time there was 17 of us) spending the n...

Mawwiage. Mawwiage is wot bwings us togevah today.

I went to 10 weddings in 2011. While this number pales in comparison to my friend Ginny's 16, it is still a lot. If this post had a sub-title, it would be "10 Weddings in a Nutshell" or "10 Weddings, 1 Blog Post."

MAY

Clint and Mary - Beaufort, NC

Mallory, Me, Leslie Wiggins, Malissa Wiggins

Clint's parents are in Supper Club with my parents, so it was fun to have all the "Supper Club Kids" together and on the dance floor! Mary looked beautiful, and it was obvious how in love they are!

Jonathan and Nancy - Mt. Airy, NC

Nan was Hadley's roommate at Carolina and best friend. She doesn't have any sisters, so she has adopted the 3 of us as her own. We LOVE our honorary sister and had such a great time celebrating her and Jonathan!!

**Not pictured: Kelly & Tyler - Goldsboro, NC

June

Justin and Georgia - Goldsboro, NC

Emily (yellow), Miller (purple), Georgia (bride), and Haley (not pictured), and I grew up in Girl Scouts together. These are the girls I'll be friends with 'till I'm 90. Georgia was the first of us to get married and it was great to have a Troop 820 reunion!

Ben went with me to G's wedding. We had such a fun time dancing all night!

Jay and Eva - Goldsboro, NC

Emily!

Margaret Lee, Ginny, Anna, and I spent 3 weekends in a row dancing the night away at weddings this spring.

September

Matt and Meredith - Cornelius, NC

Meredith was one of my best friends growing up, so it was really special to get to stand up beside her as she married Matt. Mallory and Meredith's sister Laura Lee are also best friends from growing up!

Daniel and Miller - Goldsboro, NC

Miller (the 2nd of the "Girl Scout Girls" to get married) got married on the same day as Meredith. I hated that I couldn't be there to celebrate with her, but I had a great time hanging out during her bridal portraits shoot!

October

Blake and Katherine - Emerald Isle, NC

Katherine is a good friend from high school and her beach wedding was beautiful!

**Not pictured: Jordan & Robbie - Fremont, NC

November

Graham and Lindsey - Goldsboro, NC

Ginny and me after the wedding!

Grace!

Due simply to the fact that there was a photobooth at the wedding, I have zero pictures from the reception, but I do have a lot from the post-wedding festivities! A bunch of us went out after Lindsey and Graham's wedding and had such a good time laughing and singing karaoke!

David and Emily - Goldsboro, NC

Doesn't my mom look so gorgeous?!

I caught the bouquet!!

Troop 820

The Love Byrds

...and wuv, twue wuv, will fowwo you fo'evah... so tweshah your wuv...
The Princess Bride

Off to the races!

I am an "aspiring runner." At least, that is what my twitter bio says. Someone recently asked me what that meant, and all I could come up with was: I would like to be a runner, but I'm not... but sometimes I try. That being said, I think it goes without saying that although I went to Wilmington for the Beach to Battleship Iron Man last weekend, and the Battleship Half Marathon this weekend, that does not mean that I was a participant. My friends were though.
Last weekend, I went down to Wilmington for the day because Josh was racing in the Beach to Battleship. He did the half, which is still a WHOLE LOT.

Bekah was an awesome cheerleader/photographer/race-lingo translator!

Josh, a couple miles into the run portion, doesn't even look tired! (He might HAVE been, but you couldn't tell!)

I always have a hard time managing my time in Wilmington because I want to do everything and see everyone every time I go! Sometimes, I manage to accomplish this task. MOST times, I don't. This past weekend, I wanted to go down to surprise Bekah because she was running the Battleship Half Marathon. My friend Lindsay was also running, along with my friend Michael and his roommate Dallas. I decided this would be an "on the sneak" trip. That means I tell basically no one that I'm coming, and I just see who I see. I texted Josh and told him I was coming, but not to tell Bekah. I told Lindsay that I'd find her at the finish line, and I told Michael I'd find him too. As I was walking up, I heard people calling my name and saw Andrea, Mo, and Jami!! It was so fun to hang out with them and cheer people on at the finish line.

MICHAEL was the first of my friends to finish!

(Followed closely by Dallas.)

Bekah (yellow shirt - on the left), much like her husband, didn't even look tired when she crossed the finish line.

LINDSAY!!! I think Noah, Mills, Hallie, and I started screaming for her when she was still a quarter mile (ok maybe not that far) away. The best part of that moment was when all 3 Hancock kids jumped into the race, grabbed their mom, and ran across the finish line with her!

Post-race breakfast with the Asselins at The Basics in downtown Wilmington.

I haven't gotten to really spend quality time with the Asselins much lately, so it was good to just sit and have breakfast and talk. They're my faves. After breakfast, just as I was about to leave town, Michael called to tell me to come have lunch with him and Dallas. Even though I'd just left breakfast with Josh and Bekah, I went and sat/hung out with the boys. We laughed, drank coffee, and rode around the beach with the top off Michael's jeep. I'd say it was a good day.

Swing Your Corner Lady

Not only has Young Life provided me with a roommate - FRANCES is one of the new YL interns here in Goldsboro - it has also brought BEN back to town! Ben is one of my very best friends and an adopted cousin. In all honesty, he's really more like a brother. His family moved to Goldsboro 14 (?) years ago, and my entire family immediately adopted them as our own because my family's mountain house is across the street from where the Johnson's grandparents lived. Ben and his sister Lindsay quickly became the 9th and 10th grandchildren in the King family and we've been cousins ever since.
Lindsay's birthday is this week, so this weekend I went with Ben to his parents' house in Lynchburg, VA for Lindsay's square dance birthday party! It was SO GOOD to get to spend some quality time with the Johnson fam.

I got to help launch and catch a hot air balloon!

The view from the Johnson's porch.

Lindsay's party was a hit! Everyone had a great time dancing and sitting around the fire. It was fun to meet so many of Ben and Lindsay's friends!

Lindsay's college roommate, and best friend (on the right), flew in from Texas to surprise her for her birthday!

I am so thankful to have friends like the Johnson family. They make me feel like one of their own and are always so much fun to be around. Thanks Linds, for letting me crash your birthday party!!