Goodbye TBT

Hey guys. So, today's Throwback Thursday prompt is Fourth of July themed and while America's Independece is something amazing to celebrate, I don't really have any stories relating to this holiday to share with you. None of the Fourth of July celebrations we went to when I was little really stand out, and all my other kinda good stories pertaining to this holiday involve people I'd really rather not talk about. So what am I going to bring to the party?

First, if you haven't noticed, the blog went in to witness protection and got a whole new identity. New name, new look, same color scheme though, because I just really love purple.

Second. My good friend and co-host, Melissa, has a wonderful #TBT story for you that will no doubt make up for my lack of story.

And last. I'm going to explain to you why this will be the last Throwbck Thursday link-up we will be hosting. Don't cry! There's another TBT link-up that was started a few weeks ago that you can join. Click Here to check that out. This new link-up is also part of the reason our little one is being packed away. I'm not running out of stories, and I totally plan on sharing more of them with you, but I can't compete with three lovely bloggers who can offer a much greater outreach than Melissa and I can. There are a few other reasons we have for discontinuing TBT, like coming up with the fun prompts each week can be really challenging and we both have some personal issues and time management challenges we need to deal with (read: Melissa starting her new job next week, and my school work is a huge time and energy suck). Priorities people, priorities.

This is a lot of change in one week, but I figured I might as well just rip the bandaid off and get it all out of the way in one go. Forgive me?

I hope everyone has a wonderful (and safe) long holiday weekend!

Also linking up with The Grits Blog.

TBT: Family Vacation

My bad you guys. I didn't show up yesterday, even after I promised a tutorial on Instagram. Don't worry! I'm gonna get that tutorial up for you tomorrow. But on to today's post.

Family Vacations, your first one, your favorite one.

I've been on two family vacations in my whole life. One to Biloxi, Mississippi when I was eight and one to Hilton Head, South Carolina in 2010.

I don't think I appreciated that first family vacation as much as I should have. I don't remember a whole lot from that trip, mostly snap shot in my memory of things we did. I was just me, C, Mom, and her husband at the time. F was too little to bring along, so he stayed the week at my Nanna's house.

While in Biloxi, we got to see how a shrimp boat operates, went to a dolphin show, and swam at the beach once. Why only once? It was a public beach and I remember it being kinda gross. Most of the time we were pool side at our hotel, where I learned to do a back flip into the water. #momwassoproud

Hilton Head was a very different experience. I had so much fun on this trip, even though I was only able to take half the week off from work. ALL the kids (on my mom's side) went, so there was seven of us total. Hilton Head, South Carolina is a beautiful laid back vacation spot. We enjoyed multiple beach days this time, good food, and fun activities. My favorite activity was parasailing. Seriously, if you ever get the chance to go, do it!

One of the days we rented a boat and went cursing around the island. There are dolphins and lighthouses and sailboats everywhere. So picturesque. And for your viewing pleasure (or not) a sweet little video/slideshow I made back in 2010 with some pictures from the boat trip. It was the first "video" I ever made using the iMovie software on my Macbook, so go easy on me.

What was your first/favorite family vacation?

Next week on TBT: 4th of July Celebrations

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Also linking up with The Grits Blog.

#TBT: Meal Times

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Happy Thursday! It's time to link up with Melissa and me for another round of Throwback Thursday! Today we are talking about meal times. Were you a picky eater? Did you get in trouble for not eating all your food? Did you try to give your broccoli to the dog?  In what ways did your parents make meal times special?

Pawpaw, Mom, Grandmommy, Baby F, Me, and C

My mom was one of those moms that made you sit at the table util you had finished everything on your plate. That's how we learned to like a lot of foods, but it was also a form of torture to a kid like me who was very picky. I still am pretty picky about the foods I eat. Most of the time my mom made foods that she knew I would eat no problem. But sometimes... she would make Hamburger Helper *barf* and I would put up a bit of a fight.

I think C got the worst of the nasty food torture. As a punishment once (I think for bad grades at school), Mom made him eat an entire plate of canned spinach. Have you dated canned spinach? It's pretty gross. He gagged a few times, but managed to get it down. Let's just say that his grades improved after that.

C had to sit on a phone book when he was really little!

My mom did try to make meal times fun for us too. She always told us that eating fish was good for the brain. So when we had fish for dinner, we got to eat by candlelight. Then we would attempt to make the flame dance with our minds because we ate all of our fish. I found out when I got older, my mom would blow on the flame to make it moved for us, but we never noticed because we were so focused on trying to make it move!

My favorite meal of the week was Friday. Mom would order pizza or Chinese food and us kids got to eat in the living room while watching TGIF, then Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, and of course, Walker: Texas Ranger. But the best part was we got to make a pallet in the floor with blankets and pillows and sleep in the living room too! My brother, F, coined the term "panc-out", like pic-nic and camp out put together.

We looked forward to that all freaking week!

What were meal times like when you were younger?

Next week on #TBT Stories: What is your first/favorite family vacation?

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Also linking up with The Grits Blog.

TBT: She's a Stubborn Old Lady

In TWO days, Casey from Love and Waffles is getting married!! I am so freakin' excited for her! This afternoon, she starts her long wedding weekend and I agreed to help her out a little with a guest post. So go check that out and wish her so much happiness on her upcoming nuptials.

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Today is Thursday, so I have a #TBT story for you. I forgot to put a prompt at the end of last week's post, and I didn't even realize it until Kathy texted me asking what the theme was for this week. After a short discussion I decided on: Favorite memories with Grandparents/Great-Grandparents.

But first let me reintroduce you to my co-host! Melissa has been on a hiatus of sorts since Google decided she didn't need her account anymore and deleted it (and therefore her blog) without her permission. BUT, we've made her a fresh new blog with a new name and a fabulous new design! The Rambling Llama fits so much better into Melissa's personality and her (future) content. AND I got the link-up tool to work again!

Ok back to topic.

Some of my favorite memories are of my maternal great-grandmother. We call her Nanna. Her house always seemed like a whole other world to me, and I was fascinated with it. I had never (and still haven't) seen a house with dark royal blue carpet, but it totally worked with her decor. My favorite part was outside. She had a honeybee hive, a strawberry patch, blueberry bushes, an herb garden, and bird feeders everywhere. Nanna's back yard looked like it could have come straight out of a fairytale. I wish I had pictures.

Four generations of women on my mom's side.

She lived across the strewn from the Tucker High School practice field and track. It was open to the public, and she would go over there every morning and walk two miles. When I was little she would take me with her and we would make fun shadow shapes with our hands. Then we would come back home and water the garden. I learned so many things about nature during my visits with Nanna. She taught me about birds, herbs, how the honeybees make the honey. She taught me how to crochet. She read me stories, played games, and sang songs. 

Nanna celebrated her 100th birthday this past January and even though her Dementia is getting worse by the day, she's still kickin'. She's a stubborn old lady. I hope she's still here to see my future child.

Next week on #TBT: Meal times. Were you a picky eater?

P.S. Here's a smaller button option!

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Also linking up with The Grits Blog.

My First Graduation

I still haven't found another Linky tool that is completely free. The one we were using has changed to subscription only, and this blog isn't bringing in enough moolah to cover the cost at the moment. So if you'd like to link-up, please leave your link in the comments! I'll be checking throughout the day today and tomorrow for links. I love to read your stories!

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Let's get down to today's prompt!

Graduations: Kindergarten, Middle School, High School, or College. Pick one (or all!).

#TBT: Prom

Sadly, Melissa will not be joining us this week. Google has decided to delete her account for no apparent reason causing her to have to start completely over. Hopefully she'll be back next week in time for TBT.

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Throwback Thursday

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This week is a free week! 

Tell us any story you want to share!

We're being a bit lazy because Melissa is out of town without her laptop and I just got home from Georgia yesterday with a car load of stuff from my storage unit. Lots of unpacking will be happening today. But, here's a picture of a six-year-old me!