Photo.Craft.Books

It’s always so interesting to find out how couples met and fell in love. Ames requested the story after reading our “Four things” post so here is the story of how I met my husband…

My last year in high school, I was in the coop program. This is where you go to school for 4 credits/classes and go to a job the 2nd half of the day and you get grades for that (and pay). My job was working in a tuxedo/bridal store. One day, I was measuring all the men in a wedding party for a friend of a friend so we were being friendly and chatty while I measured all the groomsmen. Our dressing rooms were little cubbies with curtains drawn across the front. This one groomsman was very charming and funny and was joking around with the guys and me the whole time he was there. I gave him his pants to try on and he went into the dressing room. He then peeked around the curtain and looked at me and said “Now don’t peek!”.

I got married about a year later and it turns out the funny groomsman went to high school with the guy I married. He went through the receiving line and shook the groom’s hand and gave him a card with cash in it for our gift. He told the groom that if we ever got divorced he had to give the money back!

Fast forward about 3 years later and I’ve been divorced for about a year and have decided that I’m going to college but don’t want to get a part time job for 5 months. So, I’m working for my mom at H&R Block. Funny groomsman guy is a professional landscaper and grass cutter so he doesn’t work in the winter. His neighbor (who happens to be an office manager for my mom) tells him she needs some help at her office for a few months and would he mind coming down there and just doing some data entry. He’s bored anyway so he agrees. I just so happen to be working in that same office and we started working together.

Man, did I ever think he was cute! We both started about the end of January and I dropped some major hints that I was interested in him. We went to lunch every day together and we would talk for hours but he didn’t ask me out. About to give up, he FINALLY asks me out and our first date was to see the movie Sommersby on March 5, 1993. We had a great time and he didn’t lay a finger on me. No holding hands in the movie, no kiss good night – nothing! Our second date he took me to play putt putt and we had a blast. He took me to dinner and took me home and NOTHING! He still didn’t touch me. I’m getting a little dismayed at this point but he’s still asking me out so he must be interested, right? On our third date he finally took me home and laid the big lip-lock on me!!! Woo-hooooo! It was well worth the wait.

He said later he wanted to be a gentleman and he really really liked me and didn’t want to rush into anything. He asked me to marry him 3 months later – June 26, 1993 at a Jimmy Buffett concert and he was totally drunk. That wasn’t the only time he proposed. I’ll post sometime how his “real” proposal went. But, we finally did get married on January 24, 1998 – almost 5 years from the time we started dating.

We were talking one day and I mentioned I did all the tuxes for friend’s wedding party and he said he was one of the groomsman. I told him what happened while I was doing the measuring and he said that was him! I knew I liked that guy.

Tell us – how did you meet your honey bunch?

As tagged by Devon.

VAL:
Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Construction Estimator
2. Retail Clerk
3. student Librarian
4. Childrens Summer Reading Club Coordinator (funniest thing I’ve done! Summer job in college.)

Four movies I would watch over and over (and have):
1. Sweet Home Alabama
2. Dirty Dancing
3. Footloose
4. Days of Thunder

Four places I have lived:
1. Moncton
2. Fredericton
3. Woodstock
4. Arthurette

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Grey’s Anatomy
2. House
3. Bones
4. Desparate Housewives

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Ireland
2. Maine
3. Boston
4. Toronto

Websites I visit daily:
1. Yahoo Email
2. Blogs on my sidebar
3. SimonsSays JDBB
4. Sears Outlet Site

Four of my favourite foods:
1. French Fries
2. Nachos
3. Popcorn
4. Potatoes

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Someplace on the beach
2. Canada’s Wonderland
3. New England Six Flags
4. Even home on the back deck would work

Four friends I think will respond:
1. Jen
2. Samantha
3. Nath
4. ReneeW

JEN:

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Worked in a bridal and tuxedo shop (which is actually where I met my hubby for the first time although we didn’t figure it out until years later)
2. Sporting goods store – retail clothes
3. Assistant Manager of an apartment complex
4. Insurance Agent

Four movies I could watch over and over (and have):
1. Love Actually
2. Napoleon Dynamite
3. The Great Outdoors
4. A Christmas Story

Four places I have lived:
1. Fayetteville, NC
2. Mt. Juliet, TN
3. Hermitage, TN
4. Nashville, TN

Four TV shows I love to watch (right now):
1. Grey’s Anatomy
2. Big Brother
3. Treasure Hunters
4. The Office

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Destin, FL
2. Gatlinburg, TN
3. New York City
4. Walt Disney World

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Yahoo mail
2. Simon & Schuster Jude Deveraux message board
3. E!
4. National Geographic photo of the day

Four of my favorite foods:
1. potatoes
2. cheese
3. cheesecake
4. Italian

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. on the beach
2. in the mountains
3. scrapbooking or geocaching or out shooting pictures or reading in my library
4. with my hubby… in bed… nekkid

Four friends I think will respond:
(this is tough since we have a lot of visitors but people don’t like to comment)
1. Fickle Fiona
2. Val
3. Ames
4. Robin

A few short comments that didn’t warrant individual posts about a variety of topics:

* I am so totally in love!!! Hubby is great and wonderful and a damn good kisser. He didn’t do anything in particular (at least that I can share hehe) but, let me say, ** sigh** I just love him to pieces!

* Big Brother comes on again tonight and we finally get to see who gets evicted – Jace or the Evil Dr. Will – and we’ll find out who’ll win the next HOH. My thinking is they will more than likely get rid of Jace which would be a stupid stupid stupid thing to do as I think Will is infinitely more dangerous. However, if the houseguests are stupid enough to let him stay – they deserve to get played by him. idiots

* We’re going to read Victoria Holt’s On the Night of the Seventh Moon for our August selection of “Remembering the Classics” so be trying to get your hands on a copy. This is a really good book that most people probably haven’t read but I really enjoyed. I’ve read it twice but the last time was probably 8 years ago so I’m looking forward to another reread.

* I put a new quote up on the main page. I thought it was endearing and I totally loved this book.

* Diet and exercise regime isn’t doing so great this week because we had a lot of stuff we had to attend which included dinners. So, I’m getting back serious this Sunday but am enjoying being bad in the meantime.

* I spent $141 to get my daughter’s hair done for back to school. I think I’ve lost my ever lovin’ mind. I’ve never spent that much to have MY hair done. She did get high-lights, low-lights, and a cut but good grief!

* We’re going “back to school” clothes shopping next Friday since the state of TN is having a “tax free” day on a lot of items that day. Our sales tax is 9.25% which is the most of any state sales tax that I know of so we’re taking advantage of it while we can. Even without tax, I think I may need to take out a loan to buy dear daughter all the stuff I’m sure she’s going to decide she NEEDS to go back to school. How Abercrombie & Fitch can justify $78 for a pair of knickers is just beyond my comprehension.

From the blog of KarenS, who got it from AngieW, who got it from Lauren’s blog.

Introducing….

THE REALITY CHICK BUZZ THE BOOK contest!

The PRIZES:
(1) Your choice of either an iPod Shuffle, OR a fifty dollar Amazon.com gift certificate(2) An autographed copy of REALITY CHICK by Lauren Barnholdt(3) A copy of the August issue of Teen People, which lists REALITY CHICK as a Can’t-Miss Pick for August(4) Free tuition to a session of Lauren’s YA writing class

THE CONTEST:
STEP ONE: Simply copy and paste this whole message (including the info about the contest) into any blog, message board, email list, myspace bulletin, or anywhere a lot of people will see it!

REALITY CHICK by Lauren Barnholdt is NOW IN STORES!

Going away to college means total independence and freedom. Unless ofcourse your freshman year is taped and televised for all the world towatch. On uncensored cable.

Sweet and normal Ally Cavanaugh is one of five freshpeople shacking upon In the House, a reality show filmed on her college campus. (As ifschool isn’t panic-inducing enough!) The cameras stalk her likepaparazzi, but they also capture the fun that is new friends, oldcrushes, and learning to live on your own.

Sure, the camera adds ten pounds, but with the freshman fifteen a given anyway, who cares?Ally’s got bigger issues — like how her long-distance bf can watch herloopy late-night “episode” with a certain housemate…

Freshman year on film.It’s outrageous.It’s juicy.And like all good reality TV, it’s impossible to turn off.

IN STORES NOW!
Check out Lauren on the web at www.laurenbarnholdt.com or on her myspace at www.myspace.com/laurenbarnholdt

STEP TWO — Email Lauren at lauren (at) laurenbarnholdt.com and let her know you’ve posted about the contest and the book, and you’ll be entered to win the prize pack! The winner will be picked at random on September 1st. The more places you post, the more entries you get. Have fun and good luck!!!

Last night’s episode was probably the BEST episode in the entire history of the Big Brother show. If you didn’t watch it, stop reading now because there are major spoilers to follow…..

I can NOT believe they shaved their heads?!?!? Kaysar is so BALD. George looks about the same but I was stunned Kaysar did it.

I understood why James and Jace stopped at giving up next week’s veto – one of them could be on the block – that was a very good part of the veto challenge – very clever.

The “smurfs” reference was too funny! They looked so funny all blue!

Dr. Evil’s speech was totally amazing!! Then entire house are stupid freakin’ idiots if they don’t evict him. He said he’d throw every food challenge so every person in the house eats slop – WHY wouldn’t they kick him out? they deserve to eat slop if they don’t. Dr. Evil stood up and said he hated everyone in the house and would make them all eat slop if they don’t get rid of him – what’s it going to take to get through to them? He weats a tee-shirt that says “I’m probably lying” HELLOOOO people!!! Wake up already!!!

Marcellas lusting after Kaysar was just too funny!

Jace having his little temper trantum – WOW! That’s really all I can say – just WOW!

So, did you watch? What did you think? What a GREAT episode!

“I think every decade has an iconic blonde – like Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana – and right now, I’m that icon.” Paris Hilton as quoted in this week’s In Touch magazine.

My, my – how modest of you Paris! I think she’s the nastiest skank to walk the smutty streets of Hollywood in ages.

Last week Fiona and I were talking about the newest hubbub between authors and readers – where she asked me if I was following it. I said that I wasn’t.

I just can’t keep up. I’ll go in and I’ll read the main blog post and comment to it but after that, I don’t have the time or the patience (or even the memory) to continue on and read through one hundred different comments THEN follow all the links the thirteen other bloggers who’ve posted about it. Then their comments as well.

Then I’m lost. I don’t know what’s going on in the bloggerland and have to rely on the little tidbits of everyone’s that’s floating around.

But even beyond that, two of my old favourite blogs – Smart Bitches and Michelle’s Romance By The Blog, I used to visit and comment more than daily, more so commenting with Michelle’s. But now, each post on both sites has over 100 comments. And for some reason for me, I tend to groan at that. I wonder if its just laziness?

Slices of Life – New excerpt.

Holy crap. Wow. Very Hot. And definitely not PG-13.

In this part though, Bella is already referenced as being Zsadist’s shellan. So I’m not sure if this is supposed to be taking place after Z’s book or what.

Two of my friends and I are what’s called “super tasters”. Some people call these types of people “picky eaters”. We are picky but more precise, we’re picky because we’re “super tasters”. Probably 7 years ago, my friend Barbara found an article in a magazine discussing people who have more taste buds, therefore, food that tastes just fine to most people (particularly vegetables) taste bitter or just plain bad to “super tasters”. The “regular tasters” just can’t taste the nastiness we can so they enjoy those foods. Poor people.

So, my other friend Kelli finds this on-line article recently that reveals “a simple tongue test” that determines whether or not you really are a “super taster”. So, my “super taster” friends, Robin and Barbara, and I decide we’re going to take the test. However, before the test commences, we agree that if the results reveal that we aren’t really “super tasters”, we aren’t fessing up to anyone.

So, I print the test directions and put them in my bag to take this weekend as I’m going to be scrapbooking with these friends all weekend long. I leave the bag – woops. But, feel certain I can remember the directions easily enough. I’m no dummy, after all.

Well, I just read the super-taster test directions and we did it totally wrong. It was hilarious though. We should have taken pictures. We were supposed to take a piece of paper and punch a 7 mm hole through it (I looked on my ruler and that’s about the size of a dime – it’s 1 mm under 1/2 an inch). Then, you were supposed to put blue food coloring on your tongue and hold the piece of paper up to your tongue and count how many papillae you could count in the hole. If you counted less than 15 it means you’re an “insensitive non-taster”, 15-35 means you’re an average taster and over 35 means you’re a super taster.

We did the test like this:

Robin tries to put a drop of food coloring on her tongue, her tongue is way out of her mouth and still she misses it and dribbles on her shirt and into the sink. We giggle (more so than we are already doing). I think she may have used 2 drops. Her teeth turn blue and we surpass giggling and start laughing. She makes a tongue print on a piece of paper. We can’t see anything but a big blue smudge. I think this is gross and funny at the same time. I try next, only using 1 drop of food coloring and I’m trying to move the dye around in my mouth by folding my tongue onto itself in different ways. I look like a total freakin’ weirdo. I then make a tongue print and it’s all smudgy and can’t be read either. Barbara tries but after placing the dye on her tongue, she then dabs it a little with toilet paper (which is really nasty and funny at the same time). She makes a tongue print and it turns out pretty well. Robin and I try about 4 times each and can’t get very good prints but keep at it. I try blotting my tongue with tissue paper and it sticks to my tongue. This is very very gross (and very funny to Robin and Barbara).

We take our pitiful tongue printed paper and try to look at the prints under the magnifying glass and can’t really tell anything. Big smudgy blue tongue prints. So, we end up bending over the counter staring at our blue tongues in the mirror. I counted 48 and then 53 which meant I was really a super taster but that was on the entire front half of my tongue.

So, I think the test will have to be repeated. Oh, what fun!

Yes, unfortunately its Monday morning. And it sucks a big one. Its pouring rain, extremely muggy and it looks like its going to be that way for the entire week. My little sister is here, I’m supposed to take some days off this week which I’ve now found out I can’t do plus its raining.

I haven’t gotten much read in the past little while, hence the reason there hasn’t been much book talk.

Was looking through our MapStats this morning and there are some odd people searching for some odd things out there. Some examples of searches that have brought people to our blog:

numbness of toes side effects of bungee jumps
“laughing gas”
Sweet Valley High “her period”
valeen why do i need you so much? —– WTF? I don’t know, why do you?
Brampton CIA midget boys photo gallery — how did this get to our blog?

I’m trying to read a review book right now, so far its going just a bit slow and its driving me insane. When I’m busy and only have little bits of time for reading, I HATE when its taken up with a slow book. It makes it even worse.

Big Brother: All Stars — is there anyone else who can’t stand Will? Christ, he’s so annoying. And I thought that he wore loads of sunscreen all the time – so how come last night he was red as a beet at nominations? I don’t want Chicken George to go home – so not fair to him, he’s just standing in the background.