Aprils A-to-the-Zizzle: J

J is for Jess.

Let's be honest, most of us who blog think we have something interesting to say, which means we think we're interesting people.  Some of us are mistaken, but hey, we can't all be winners.  As such, I figured what better way to prove how interesting I am than by dedicating an entire post to the awesomeness that is me?  (Humor me, guys.  I need the confidence boost.)

So, for the post ALL ABOUT ME, I decided to share with you guys some of the things that make me, well, me.

Louisiana

Ah, the southern state in all of its country, backward, deep-fried glory.  Born and raised here, I have spent many a day swimming in the creek, sucking the heads of crawfish (because that really is where the good stuff is) and parading down Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras (and yes, it's a ridiculous celebration, but we just can't seem to grow out of it).

As a teen I swore that someday I'd get the flock out of dodge and see the world.  Get away from the rednecks and their pickup trucks and rebel flags.  I was so serious about moving away that anytime a relationship got to the point where the guy started talking about the future I was like, "Later."  I wasn't planting any roots, no sir.  So what happened? I turned 19 and moved to Tennessee.  Because it's SO different from Louisiana.  Ha ha ha.  Truth:  the only differences between Louisiana and Tennessee are that the food is more bland, cars are MUCH worse and people say you'ins instead of y'all.  Oh, and Tennessee has hillbillies while Louisiana has rednecks (I have no idea what the difference there is).

Seriously though, I love Tennessee.  It's one of the most beautiful places in North America that I've seen. I lived there for a year, and I never got tired of the view. I did get tired of snow and ice on the roads.  Daredevil, I am not.  Plus my Dad lives there with my stepmom and my two baby half-sisters, so I enjoyed spending some actual time with them instead of a measly two weeks in the summer and week at Christmas. I made some great friends and gained some experience, but about seven months in I realized that - gasp! - I missed Louisiana.  What?! What was wrong with me?  I couldn't figure it out, but I couldn't deny it.  The 'ol bayou was calling me home.

The older I get, the more I appreciate my home state, and I notice more things now that are beautiful and unique about Louisiana.  The trees, for example.  Louisiana has some of the most whimsical, beautiful old trees. We all know the food is better here.  Basically I could talk about Louisiana and how great it is all day, but eventually you'd get bored.  If you just crave more, check out a previous post about Louisiana and the myths surrounding it here.

Family

Mine is big, loud, obnoxious and full of some of the most crazy and fun people I know. My mother's side of the family is the side I've spent the most time with in my life.  My grandmother was one of 13 (thirteen!!) children of a poor preacher/sharecropper and a full-blooded Seminole Indian.  They had an outhouse and almost never had meat to eat and spent a LOT of time at church. My grandfather is one of 5 children, and although my great-grandmother is still living at 95, I have no idea what she or my great-grandfather did for a living.  I do know great-grandpa collected tennis balls and sent them to children in Honduras.  His entire legacy is tennis balls.

My family on my father's side spends a great deal less time together.  My dad has three brothers, one of which lives in Tennessee near my dad, one in Oklahoma and the other in Maryland.  My uncles are great, and I wish I could see them more often.  (Long-distance family is one reason I'm thankful for Facebook. Otherwise I'd never get to talk to them.  For real. Like, ever.) My dad's parents passed away in 1996 and 1998.  They had a doll shop and made porcelain dolls.  It was the coolest place, and my grandparents would take me with them to the shop and teach me how to use the kiln, how to paint the faces and dress them.  I always considered myself their favorite grandchild, and I suspect I was right because they called me Miss Priss, and the doll shop was called Miss Priss.  My dad and uncles gave me the stained glass shop sign after my grandfather passed away.  It is one of my most treasured possessions.

Altogether (counting step-family, because they're awesome and I consider them real family), I have eight uncles, eight aunts, twenty-one first cousins, seven second cousins, two brothers, four sisters, my mom, my dad, my stepmom, four grandparents, and one great-grandmother.  Whew.

Then you have MY family; that is, my husband, me and our two daughters.  I blogged about them the other day, so you know they are my whole world.  Hubs is my Prince Charming, my rock, my supporter, my sexy stud muffin   He's also a wonderful father.    My kids are hysterical, frustrating, sweet, beautiful, precious little  fascinating people.  Their personalities are so completely different, but they're best friends and are so much fun.  It's such a joy watching them grow and start to figure out who they are, what they like and don't like, what their interests are.  I love every moment of it.

Faith

Like I said, my great-grandfather was a preacher, and my family has always been very involved in church activities.  As a child I probably spent more time at church than anywhere else.  Now, as an adult, my faith is extremely important to me, and I am actively involved in my church.  It is also important to me and Hubs that our kids are raised in church and know about faith and God and heaven.

My oldest child, at 5, is super-curious about where exactly Heaven is, and why do people go there, and what do they do there, and on and on and on.  It started when my stepfather passed away in 2011.  It was very sudden and she had a difficult time with it.  She was Papa's girl, so when one day he was there and the next day he wasn't, she felt very frustrated and confused and sad.  She reminds us frequently that Papa was sick and Jesus made him better, which makes her happy.  That happiness helps the rest of us to deal with it.

Each person is entitled to their own personal beliefs, and I would never force my opinions on anyone else.  If you want to know what I believe, ask me and I'll be more than happy to share it with you.   :)

History

My major.  My hobby.  My future career.  It's all wrapped up in History.   I love it, I can't get enough of it, and I can't shut up about it.  It's like this gigantic collection of stories - romance, war, comedy, mystery, drama - all rolled up into one book called Us.

There were so many fascinating characters throughout History: some leaders of nations, others seemingly insignificant people who contributed to the world in some way or left their words to help us better understand an event.  An everyday Joe who happened to be in the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time could change the course of history.  A guy who put his 99 arguments against the Catholic Church on the door of the church because nobody was home, forgetting the next day was a national holiday and EVERYBODY would be attending church....(led to the Protestant Reformation, btw.  Just in case you missed that day of class).   A little Jewish girl whose family was hiding from Nazis during WWII and kept a journal of what was happening around her... The son of a candle maker who went to work with his older brother at a printing press and learned to write, only to later be named one of the founding fathers of a nation...

Each example of one person who made a contribution to our world's history is a story, and each story is available to us to study, to learn and appreciate.  My hope is to share that love and excitement, so that others will develop an affection as well.

So, Louisiana, Family, Faith and History - four things that play a major role in who I am.  Of course there's a great deal more to me (my love for comedies, Aerosmith and vanilla oreos, for example), but you guys don't have time for that.  Neither do I, for that matter.  You'll just have to settle for a sneak peek of Jess.  For now....

April's A-to-the-Zizzle: H

H is for History.

In this crazy world we live in, some of us are more interested in the past than the present.  Seriously, who wants to hear more about how any day now North Korea will attempt to fire a weapon at the U.S. (only to have it shot down into the ocean before it gets even remotely near us, by the way)?  Not me.

I started college as an English major.  I love stories, I love reading, I love writing.  English seemed like a natural choice for me.  I soon discovered, however, that with each new English course I took, my love for it dwindled a bit more.  Such a disappointment.  There were exceptions, like American Literature and English Literature.  I could take those courses over and over.  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, anyone? Anyhoo, from that I switched to Education because deep down I've always known I wanted to be a teacher,  no matter the subject.  After one semester I decided to take a "break" which turned into six years.

When I returned to college in 2010 I picked up with the Education major, but deciding to go ahead and get the prerequisite courses over with, I scheduled two History courses and a Political Science.  I LOVED those three classes.  I never missed a day.  I showed up every day, excited to hear what the professors were going to share.  The stories captivated me, the people enthralled me.  After rambling to my husband for the seven millionth time that semester, he said, "Why aren't you a History major?  You obviously love it."  I stared at him for a moment, then the little lightbulb came on and I realized Hubs is a genius.  After spending a few days   letting it marinate, I realized Hubs was absolutely right, and felt like a moron for not figuring it out myself.  I went  to the university and changed my major.  I have never had a single moment of regret or uncertainty since.  History is my niche.

Think about it.  Studying History can take you anywhere in the world, to any time period, or any specific

singular moment that had great significance.  You can find hundreds of books on a single topic, such as the JFK assassination, or a single war, or even a single battle.  You can find dozens of books on a single significant person.  You can learn what made people who they were, you can read about why people made the decisions they made, why someone took that extra step that made them greater than the average person.

My favorite History topics are Colonial American, the American Revolution, World War II and British History.  I'm always amazed that while I cherish American history so deeply, it is such a considerably short period of time when compared to most other nations.  When I was in England and France, it repeatedly struck me that many of the homes and buildings we saw were centuries older than my own country.  Such a bizarre realization to have.

I've been driving Hubs crazy with the construction on my new home office, because before the room was even framed up I had already purchased replicas of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, various paintings of the American Revolution and famous historical characters, a Lincoln bust and other historical knickknacks to decorate my office with.  I just couldn't help myself.  I'm obsessed.   I also drive Hubs crazy whenever we watch anything with historical references because I'm always like, "That didn't happen like that.  That's not right.  No, he didn't say that."  Don't even get me started on Disney films...

My hope is to someday be a professor that, while lecturing students taking prerequisite courses, one of the stories I tell will captivate a student so much that he or she realizes their own love for History.  I've been so fortunate to have several professors who are so enthusiastic about what they teach that it's contagious.  They make you want to learn more.

Moral of the story?  Find something, anything historical that interests you, and study it.  Read about it.  Check out multiple books about it to get different viewpoints.  Talk about it with others.  And for God's sake, please don't believe everything you see in "historical" films.  It still pains me to let my children watch Pocahontas.  She married John Rolfe, not John Smith, Walt!

April's A-to-the-Zizzle Challenge: A-F (playing catch-up)

Apparently April is the month for the A-Z challenge.  This confuses me because there are 30 days in April, and only 26 letters in the alphabet.  Or are we using the Spanish alphabet, what with the double l's and r's and the n with the little curvy dodad over it?  Maybe the challenge just ends on the 26th?  Either way, it's 26 days of predetermined post requirements, and who am I to go against the masses?  Plus, since I'm just now getting back into the blogging habit, I figure it'll do me good having to post every day.  Practice makes perfect, they say.

Since it's already the 6th, I guess I'll have to do letters A-F today to get caught up.  Here we go....

A is for Adolescence

Oh, the misery of it all.  The acne, the hormones, the new hair growing everywhere.  Boys start smelling really bad when they sweat. For girls, Shark Week (that's what Hubs calls it) shows up and becomes a regular occurrence.  Also, Mother Nature, being the mean old hag that she is, decided to play a joke on girls by making most of us grow faster than the boys our age, so we're taller than them for at least two years.  So. Awkward.

Aside from the body changes and the challenges of being unable to wear heels to school dances because you're already three inches taller than your date, I loved those so-called awkward preteen years.  I enjoyed my youth in general.  School, sports, dances, romance (remember spending an hour coloring a note and then folding it in those weird ways? I couldn't do that today if I tried), sleepovers.  I loved it all.  Every moment.  I especially loved being twelve because that's when N'Sync came on the scene and my love for Justin Timberlake was born.  There I was watching Carson Daly on Total Request Live (you know, back when MTV actually played music) when suddenly there were five dudes in color-coordinated outfits, dancing and crooning about wanting some girl back.  Before long my walls were covered with posters of JT and his crew (next to posters of Leo DiCaprio and Ben Affleck, of course).

I gotta say, for me, adolescence wasn't all that bad.

B is for Bacon

The obsession with bacon has me completely bumfuddled. I mean, what's the big deal all of a sudden?  Why is everyone so infatuated with fried pig? It's not like this is a new invention. The hooplah is absurd.  Bacon socks, bacon wallet, bacon band aids, I heart bacon t-shirts? You can even buy bacon flavored toothpaste.  Disgusting.  And then there's the memes.  My God, the memes.  They're everywhere.  I can't even go on Facebook anymore without seeing some bacon-related photo.   I'd blame Lady Gaga for starting it with that hideous dress, but I don't think she can take full credit for the fad.

STOP THE MADNESS.

People, don't you know this greasy food made from a nasty animal is a major contributor to heart disease? It's bad for you.  Bacon = bad.  I think we need to apply some Pavlovian techniques and do negative association with bacon for people.  Maybe taser them every time they eat bacon, or poke them with needles each time we show them a picture of a bacon platter.  I'd head this operation up. I'd start with my teenage cousin and her best friend, who lead the pack in bacon debauchery.  They have bacon tube socks, earrings, shirts, wallets and bacon flavored popcorn. I think I'll use the taser on them...

C is for Craig Ferguson

I've mentioned this good-looking Scottish funny man previously because he's on my List.  You know, the list of celebrities I'm allowed to hook up with without Hubs divorcing me? Yes he's a bit older, but I think it just adds to his attractiveness.  The man is fun to look at, and even more fun to watch.  He's hysterical.  I watch his show every night. Some people don't get it, and I understand that.  You either love him or you hate him (kind of like Jim Carrey).  Hubs and I went and saw him in Gulfport, Mississippi last year.  He puts on a fantastic show.  He's a little dirty, but what Scotsman isn't?

I also love the fact that he lends his voice to animated films.  Guys who are children at heart are even hotter to me.  That's why I love Hubs.  He's just an overgrown child. (Don't tell him I said that, though I suspect he already knows.)




D is for Degree

As much as I desperately wanted to go straight for the obvious, easy topic - Downton Abbey - I would really rather dedicate an entire post to this most beloved series.  As such, I chose to go with something a little more personal.

I will graduate in May (42 days to be exact) with my Bachelor of Arts degree in History.  I am SO excited to finish this degree.  After a 6-year hiatus from college, I feel so proud of myself for going back and completing it.  Many people doubted whether I'd be able to do it with two small children, a husband, a house and a job to keep up with, as well as the many duties I have with my church, but I proved the naysayers wrong, and have managed to do fairly well; I've made the President's List every semester.  Mostly I'm thrilled to end this chapter because I will be beginning a new one in the fall:  Graduate School.  My new goal is a Master of Arts in History, along with certification to teach.  With that degree I'll be able to teach high school level or college courses while I go on to complete my Ph.D. later on.  Here's to progress!



E is for Europe

I went last summer on a study abroad trip, and loved every minute of it.  Our trip was called "Operation Overlord," and was an 8-day adventure beginning in London and ending in Paris.  We followed the path of the WWII Allied forces from London down to Portsmouth where we crossed the English Channel into Normandy, toured the beaches and cemeteries, then made our way into Paris.

I plan to give y'all a full recap of the trip in the near future, so I won't divulge too much right now, but I can say that it exceeded every expectation I had, and I made some fantastic friends on the trip.



F is for Family

Mine is crazy, frustrating, hilarious, ridiculous and the most precious thing in my life.  Hubs is my Prince Charming, for sure.  He and I have a marriage that many of our friends envy.  You always hear horror stories about marriage, and the list of marriage jokes is endless.  We truly do have a fantastic relationship, though.  Of course I nag him here and there, but the man has the patience of a saint.  He just says, "Okay, sweetie," then goes back to whatever he's doing and does whatever it is I was fussing about later.  Sometimes he drives me crazy because he leave his dirty clothes and towels on the floor of the bathroom and I'm starting to think he actually forgot where the dishwasher is, but other than that he's golden.  He's always kissing me, and we laugh together all the time.  We're best friends, and I know that's a lot of why we're so solid.  Also, I'm pretty hot.  Who wouldn't want this?

My daughters are a handful.  They're loud and hyper and so demanding of my time, but I treasure every moment of it.  I love every hug and kiss, especially since I've noticed that the older they get, the less inclined they are to voluntarily give them out.  The sweetest words in my world are, "I love you, Mommy."  They get along really well, which is odd for me because my older sister and I fought constantly as children. For real, like 24/7.   It was awful.  My girls are always playing together, and though they do get into little arguments here and there ("Don't touch me! Mom, she's touching me!"), for the most part they have a great time together.

Alright, enough of the sap.  Moral of the story: my family is precious and I am blessed to have them.


Well there you have it.  Days 1-6 of the April A-Z challenge rolled into one.  Later taters!

First day of school review and blog lovin'

Had my first day of school today.  (I was so excited/anxious that I woke up at 4:30am and could not go back to sleep.) I know first impressions aren't always accurate or necessarily a good indicator as far as professors go, but my initial opinions were good.  I'm taking six classes - all lecture classes.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I'm wondering what was I thinking?!, but I'm not going to panic.  Just yet. 

Of course, with my new super-busy schedule (school MWF and work T/Th) I will have a huge chunk of my blogging time cut out, which makes Jess a sad girl. 

So imagine my great delight when I got home to catch up on my bloggin pals' new posts for the day and discovered I've been given another blog award - by not one, but TWO of my blogging pals!

was given to me by both the wonderful Meg at O is Me and Amy at Life's Journey with a Smile.  THEN my pal at Jumble Mash gave me some Blog Lovin' today in her post, which is always awesome.  Nothing like some good blog lovin'! 

Thank you so much ladies!  I really enjoy reading your blogs and hope everyone will wander over and take a peek, because they'll love reading them too!

Note:  Since I just did the whole award/7 things about me/give the award away thing last week, I'm going to ask for a bye on this one.  However, in the next month or so I will be making another award and giving it out!

This day has just been a fantabulously awesome day! However, now I have to go read two chapters of my Psychology textbook and two chapters of a novel about Philosophy for Friday's classes. 

Cheers!

Back to School

Yessirree, I am going back to school tomorrow.  I know I've talked about this incessantly the past few weeks, and I apologize.  It'll be over soon, I promise. I've got my stuff all ready to go, my morning schedule all figured out (because I am having to completely change it up since I won't be able to sleep until 8 every morning anymore.  Sigh).  I haven't picked out my wardrobe for tomorrow yet, but I'm thinking casual.  Jeans, cute shirt and flip flops, maybe.  Don't want to overdo it and act like that creepy chick who has pocket protectors and a highlighter in ever color available (I only bought yellow, thank you).

Because I've been in education mode for months days, it's worn off into my subconscious. I'm dreaming about school-related movies, probably because I've wanted to watch nothing but school-related movies.  Last night I watched Dazed & Confused, followed by Porky's.  Starting to think maybe it's a sickness.  Or an addiction of some sort....

It wouldn't be right to keep my current affection for the institution of higher learning all to myself, so today I'm going to share with you my top 15 favorite college-based movies.

Editor's Note:  I originally thought about including high school movies in this list, but it would take forever to rank them, and there'd be way more than 15. 

15. Sorority Boys

This film is probably not on most people's favorites list, but it cracks me up.  I think maybe it's due to a lingering crush on Barry Watson from his 7th Heaven days.... 

It also has Heather Matarazzo, who I love.

 

14.  Sidney White

One of my guilty pleasures.  I think Amanda Bynes is just adorable in general, and she's super-cute in this film as well.  Modern-day Snow White, only at college and with sororities, dorks and an evil blonde girl. 

13. Back to School

I was a kid the first time I saw this, and it was shortly after "Ladybugs" came out, so I thought Rodney Dangerfield was pretty cool (hey, I was too young to appreciate him on his own). 

12. Dead Man On Campus

Zack Morris returns, but as an older, much hotter dark-haired version who parties.  Hard.  Tom Everett Scott is great as the serious student who gets mixed up in roomate suicide scheme. 

11.  Rudy

Poor kid who just wants to go to Notre Dame more than anything in the whole world.  It takes him practically forever to finally get grades good enough to get in, then he's so tiny that the football guys just beat the hell out of him for two years before he gets the chance to play ball for what, 9 seconds?  I just love Sean Astin.  He's like Scrappy Doo.

10.  American Pie 2

I know the majority of this film is over summer break at the beach, but it starts the last day of college...so there.

This is my most favorite installment of the American Pie movies.

9.   The House Bunny

I'm a huge Girls Next Door fan.  I also like Anna Faris.  I knew from the previews that I'd love this movie.  Pretty funny.  Not to mention Colin Hanks plays do-gooder love interest.  He's so adorable.

8.  Road Trip

Can't stand Tom Green.  LOVE Breckin Meyer and Seann William Scott.  Hilarious movie.

7.  Son-in-Law

One of my all-time faves.  I think I'm probaby outnumbered against the people who hate Pauly Shore, but I can't help myself.  This movie is great.

6. Revenge of the Nerds

I didn't see this one until I hit my twenties.  Don't know how I went so long without watching it, because I love it.   I'm a sucker for nerds.

5. Animal House

No explanation needed.

4. Accepted

First time I saw Justin Long in a film, and loved his character.  Jonah Hill is also hilarious.  Not to mention funnyman Lewis Black as a professor is awesomeness.

3.  Legally Blonde

Reese Witherspoon is one of the cutest chicks Hollywood has ever found.  Great movie.  Also, Luke Wilson is in it. Cutie!

2. Van Wilder

Ryan Reynolds - one of my addendum freebies.  YUM.  One of the best National Lampoon movies ever made (next to Christmas Vacation and Animal House, of course).

1. Old School

I think I love this film so much because the idea of partying with Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson is just crazy.  How fantabulous would that be?!  Plus, Will Ferrell doing that ribbon gymnastics routine is hilarious. 

Since I feel like it would be a disgrace to have a school post without mentioning my favorite high school films, I'm obligated to include them.  I'll just give a quick list because otherwise you'd be here all day.  In no particular order, my top 30 favorite high school movies:

Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Dazed & Confused
Can't Buy Me Love
Breakfast Club
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Grease
Clueless
Porky's
Bring it On
Better Off Dead
Never Been Kissed
Weird Science
Teen Wolf
Hiding Out
Varsity Blues
Say Anything
Hairspray
The Hot Chick
Scream
Just One of the Guys
10 Things I Hate About You
Mean Girls
Cry-baby
Superbad
John Tucker Must Die
Once Bitten
The Faculty
American Pie
Carrie
Juno

Do you have any idea how many high school films there are?  It's ridiculous.  It was REALLY hard to only pick 30!