Precedent Has Been Set - FFTL Link-Up

Welcome to another Tuesday morning around the blogosphere, ladies! I'm sure there's a lot going on in terms of other link-ups, and giveaways and who even knows what else. But this girl is just excited about this little link-up here with y'all! I love reading y'all's posts every week, and seeing your answers to some of our firsts. This has been a fun link-up to host, and I'm still having fun with it every week! So let's get going on today's topics:

First blate you went on (or who you would like to meet if you haven't done this yet)

First daily blog you visit from your RSS feed, blog reader or blog roll

First blate I went on

This was just a couple of weeks ago, when I finally met up with my dear Angie from Happy Bean for a lunch blate one day. (For you non-bloggers, that means blogger + date = blate.) We found each other's blogs by chance one day (I don't even remember how or when) but it turns out we're not only around the same age, but we both live in Tally! So obviously there was an instant bond.

Then driving to work one morning, I just happened to see her walking across the street downtown, but wasn't 100% sure it was her. So I creepily texted her and asked if she was wearing a pink dress that day, and was she downtown, and it was her! And then we made plans for lunch the next week :) So since we both work downtown, we just walked to a nearby restaurant, 101 Restaurant, and met for lunch for some super yummy salads, and we had such a great time. We talked about weddings (she's also a bride-to-be with a really cute engagement story), and our men, and family, and all sorts of things. And it wasn't the least bit awkward for a first 'date.' ;) And sadly, even though I took pictures of everything else, we were too busy chatting to be good bloggers and take a picture together... Next time, we'll make sure that doesn't happen, and we'll snap one right away. 

And now since we had such a great time on both of our first blates, I'd say the precedent has been set for all our future blates with each other, and with other bloggers! Definitely a good first blate :)

She was so sweet and brought me an engagement present, which was a yummy candle!

First daily blog I visit 
No matter what the title of the post is, I'm always interested in what Whitney has to say. She is so funny and I always love reading her stuff. She's also a fellow Florida State fan, so of course she gets extra points for that. A few other 'big bloggers' that I always enjoy reading are: PinkLouLou, Lovely Little Things and So Shay. If you want funny stories about and conversations with a cute 7-year-old, I suggest you check out Smacksy. And then of course I always read every post my blog-friends write: Robin, Erin, Kaitlyn, Kayla, Rachel & sooo many more...I love this blogging world!

If you'd like to join in on this fun link up, check out the super simple 'rules' below, and get to writing! Can't wait to see all the new link ups this week, meet new friends, and read y'all's posts!

1. Write your own post about this week's topics & link up with us!

2. Put the new button on your post or somewhere on your blog

3. Visit some of the other links, and share the love with them on their posts!

4. Spread the word on Twitter and/or Facebook

<center> <a href="http://penguinspastapolkadots.blogspot.com/search/label/From%20Firsts%20to%20Lasts" target="_blank"><img alt="First Things First" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrwkIAid5vWXfGGkNjq6FQv4vvqZDxLXcMp670eJ2k7tfrfkBrZYiGCr0icOPCsIYvq5MR3qLifCTXPxMVdiq77A56Zq2_nIiRzk2hyphenhyphen1gEmgp6NcoBlX5TNfobmRzpUAjnkoXPjsNXIU/s1600/Firsts+to+Lasts+-+1.jpg"/></a></center>

And next week I'll be taking a break from this link-up to reevaluate, and I'll let you know later where things stand...

Parasites & Pelorosaurus: FFTL Link-Up

Well, most of us are all back at work today after a long, three-day weekend, which makes today feel like a Monday. Which isn't the greatest feeling, until you remember that it IS in fact Tuesday, and we only work four days this week! So then it's not too bad :) And since it's actually Tuesday, and not Monday, that means I'm going to skip my weekend recap for now (maybe it'll happen later this week?), and today we're doing From Firsts to Lasts link-up! And I'm excited because today is the first day we're doing the "lasts" part of this, so I'm excited for a tiny switch-up in things today!

Today's LASTS topics are:

Last book you read

Last movie  you saw in a theater

Last book I read

The last book I read was "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer. I really didn't know anything about the book, but one day Jeff's Granny gave it to me to borrow after she had finished it. She is 85 years old, and I'm 25 years old, and we have the exact same taste in books - we both love the weird, sci-fi/fantasy stuff! I let her borrow The Hunger Games series, and the Divergent/Insurgent books, and she liked those a lot, so now we share books pretty often :) 

So anyways, when I first started reading The Host, it actually took me quite a while to get into it. I had no idea what it was about, and so I was confused at first. But once I found a couple reviews and I got a feel for it, I couldn't put it down! I was constantly trying to sneak in 10 minutes here or 15 minutes there to read just a little bit more. And then once I got near the end, I stayed up till about 2 a.m. one night finishing it! It was really interesting, and I certainly liked it. If you like that kind of genre, then I highly recommend it! I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm hoping to soon, as it's currently in our "cheap" theater here in town. (They get movies about 2 months after they come out, and it's only $3 a ticket!) But anyways, it's about aliens who call themselves "souls" (although the humans call them "parasites") who have invaded Earth, and taken over 99.9% of the human bodies. Some humans still remain in hiding, and this is about their fight for survival. It's really interesting, and I would like this to have been a series so I could read more of the story!

Last movie I saw in a theater

I'm not 100% sure on this one, but I'm thinkin' it was Jurassic Park about a month ago. And we actually saw it one and a half times! We went on a Thursday night, and got over half way through the movie, when the power went off in that entire part of town. So they kicked us out of the theater, but gave us free readmission tickets to come back again. So we went back the very next night, and watched the whole thing from the beginning again! And it was so good - way better than I remembered! I was actually jumpy and squealy at a few parts, like I was 7 years old again! But it was lots of fun :)

If you'd like to join in on this fun link up, check out the super simple 'rules' below, and get to writing! Can't wait to see all the new link ups this week, meet new friends, and read y'all's posts!

1. Write your own post about this week's topics & link up with us!

2. Put the new button on your post or somewhere on your blog

3. Visit some of the other links, and share the love with them on their posts!

4. Spread the word on Twitter and/or Facebook

<center> <a href="http://penguinspastapolkadots.blogspot.com/search/label/From%20Firsts%20to%20Lasts" target="_blank"><img alt="First Things First" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrwkIAid5vWXfGGkNjq6FQv4vvqZDxLXcMp670eJ2k7tfrfkBrZYiGCr0icOPCsIYvq5MR3qLifCTXPxMVdiq77A56Zq2_nIiRzk2hyphenhyphen1gEmgp6NcoBlX5TNfobmRzpUAjnkoXPjsNXIU/s1600/Firsts+to+Lasts+-+1.jpg"/></a></center>

And if you'd like to prepare for next week's link-up, the two 'first' topics will be:

First blate you went on (or who you would like to meet if you haven't done this yet!)

First blog you visit on your reader, blog roll or RSS feed

Princeton, NYC & Elizabethton - FFTL Link-Up

Yesterday I took the day off work for an extra day of wedding recovery. It was much needed, and definitely a good thing for me, but I really wish I could have taken another day or two still! I'm back at work today, but absolutely wishing I was still at home. At least this coming weekend is a long one! I am excited to be back in the blog-world though, because I really haven't been since this time last week! So let's dive right into our normal Tuesday post, with my weekly link-up, From Firsts to Lasts!

Today's topics are:

First thing I do when I get to work

First vacation without my parents

First thing I do when I get to work

Unload and unpack all that I brought with me that day. Sometimes I bring in my bag of workout clothes, that's also loaded down with snacks and who knows what else. So I gotta put all that away somewhere! Then I head to the water fountain to fill up my cup of water - and then I'll do that at least four more times during the day. (And then I'll have to pee about six more times during the day...) And then I finally get my computer up and running, and get going on all the emails! I answer a public inquiry inbox for my department, so I'm always answering emails from the public. It gets real old, real fast, but at least it's pretty easy most of the time.

First vacation without my parents

Well, I went on a ton of trips to church camp and cheerleading camp and mission trips and stuff all through my middle and high school years. But I'm not sure I would really consider that a vacation. So I'm gonna say that the first vacation without my parents was probably The Great American Road Trip (The GART) that I took with my girlfriends in August 2010. Three of us (me, Jenni & Cally) started in St. Augustine, FL, drove to Charlotte, NC, to pick up another girl (Hollis), and then drove to Elizabethton, TN, to stay four days with one of our married couple friends (Megan & Dan). Then me, Jenni, Cally, Hollis & Megan all drove to Princeton, NJ, to stay with another couple of our married friends, Kaley & Zach. From there, we went into New York City for a day, and had a great time there. 

It was a 10-day long trip (maybe a little longer, I can't remember), and we had such an amazing time!! We laughed so much, and explored everything we could. We played tons of games, and went shopping, and saw a Broadway, and wore funny hats, and hiked part of the Appalachian Trail. And generally, we just had a freaking blast! We haven't been able to do a trip like that again since then, but we're hoping we can one day!

If you'd like to join in on this fun link up, check out the super simple 'rules' below, and get to writing! Can't wait to see all the new link ups this week, meet new friends, and read y'all's posts!

1. Write your own post about this week's topics & link up with us!

2. Put the new button on your post or somewhere on your blog

3. Visit some of the other links, and share the love with them on their posts!

4. Spread the word on Twitter and/or Facebook

<center> <a href="http://penguinspastapolkadots.blogspot.com/search/label/From%20Firsts%20to%20Lasts" target="_blank"><img alt="First Things First" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrwkIAid5vWXfGGkNjq6FQv4vvqZDxLXcMp670eJ2k7tfrfkBrZYiGCr0icOPCsIYvq5MR3qLifCTXPxMVdiq77A56Zq2_nIiRzk2hyphenhyphen1gEmgp6NcoBlX5TNfobmRzpUAjnkoXPjsNXIU/s1600/Firsts+to+Lasts+-+1.jpg"/></a></center>

And if you'd like to prepare for next week's link-up, the two 'first' topics will be:

First blate you went on (or who you like to meet if you haven't done this yet!)
First blog you visit on your blog roll or RSS feed

I'm silly and forgot how to run my own link-up, and that next week is actually the last  week of the month, which means it's also the first time we'll write about our lasts!  So don't write about those firsts I gave you before, you should actually write about:
Last book you read
Last movie you saw in a theater

Public Relations - FFTL Link-Up

Guys, I'm usually super on the ball with this link-up, but things at work yesterday were crazy busy, and also - it's wedding week for my sister, so we've been doing all sorts of stuff to finish getting everything ready! So it's comin' at y'all a bit later than normal today, but that's alright. The link-up stays open for an entire week anyways, so we've got plenty of time to all get this one done! Today's topics are:

First major in college

First date success story

First major in college

Well actually, I only had one! I know some people switch back and forth between two or three majors (and sometimes even more than that!), but I was pretty firm in knowing what I was going to do. I went into college already knowing what my major would be, as well as my minor. I was going to get my degree in Communication, with a special emphasis in Public Relations, with a minor in Youth Ministry. One of the major reasons I picked Flagler was actually because of their Youth Ministry minor! And then once I got there, I realized that I wasn't going to get enough hours to graduate with just those two things, so I added on an additional minor in Advertising. 

It's her wedding week!! :)

First date success story
Honestly, I didn't really date anyone else other than Jeff . I mean, I went on a few other "dates," but they were simple and casual and didn't amount to much, so they hardly count. Jeff was my first and only "real" boyfriend, and now we're engaged! So obviously that worked out well :) So our first date was also pretty casual as well though. Y'all know we met online, so we had been texting, emailing, chatting online and talking on the phone for a few weeks, then one Tuesday morning he just randomly asked if I wanted to meet him for lunch! So in the middle of our workday, we met for a quick lunch at Zaxby's. I was definitely nervous, but he seemed so calm and relaxed, so that helped me calm down a lot too. Our conversation came easy, and my nervousness melted away pretty quickly. We already knew so much about each other, that we already had so much to talk about! I found myself wishing that the quick hour wouldn't have flown by so fast, and that I could have spent much more time talking to this cute, freckly boy! (Side note: we ended up having lunch together that week two more times!) Oh, and yes, he paid for our first "date." :)

One of our very first pictures together, circa summer 2011.

If you'd like to join in on this fun link up, check out the super simple 'rules' below, and get to writing! Can't wait to see all the new link ups this week, meet new friends, and read y'all's posts!

1. Write your own post about this week's topics & link up with us!

2. Put the new button on your post or somewhere on your blog

3. Visit some of the other links, and share the love with them on their posts!

4. Spread the word on Twitter and/or Facebook

<center> <a href="http://penguinspastapolkadots.blogspot.com/search/label/From%20Firsts%20to%20Lasts" target="_blank"><img alt="First Things First" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrwkIAid5vWXfGGkNjq6FQv4vvqZDxLXcMp670eJ2k7tfrfkBrZYiGCr0icOPCsIYvq5MR3qLifCTXPxMVdiq77A56Zq2_nIiRzk2hyphenhyphen1gEmgp6NcoBlX5TNfobmRzpUAjnkoXPjsNXIU/s1600/Firsts+to+Lasts+-+1.jpg"/></a></center>

And if you'd like to prepare for next week's link-up, the two 'first' topics will be:

First thing you do when you get to work

First vacation  you went on without your parents

Produce Aisle First - FFTL Link Up

Hello friends and bloggers and readers! I'm so excited today, because today Hallie and I are re-starting our weekly link-up, with just a slightly spiced-up version, From Firsts to Lasts! In case you missed the 'big announcement' from last week, you can read all about it back here for more information of what's going on with the changes. Today though, let's just jump right into our 'first' topics!

First aisle you hit up at the grocery store

First store you head to at the mall

First aisle you hit up at the grocery store

No matter how much or how little the amount of groceries I need to get, I almost always need something from the produce section of the store. I'm also a creature of habit, so even if I don't necessarily need something from there, I still like to start out on that side of the store, and then proceed from there... So I definitely always head there first! I almost always get bananas pretty much every time, and some of my other produce staples are: carrots, strawberries, onion, avocado, and a few others...

First store you head to at the mall

Um, well the first store I head to for any "normal" shopping would probably be Target or Kohl's. But neither of those are technically at the mall, so I guess those don't count. In the mall however, I like shopping at Old Navy (it's right outside of our mall, but it's close enough so I'm counting it), Macy's & Dillard's sometimes (sometimes they're just wayyy to pricey for this girl), Bath & Body Works for some yummy smells, Gap if they have decent sales, and honestly I still get some jewelry at Claire's from time-to-time. Judge if you must...

If you'd like to join in on this fun link up, check out the super simple 'rules' below, and get to writing! Can't wait to see all the new link ups this week, meet new friends, and read y'all's posts!

1. Write your own post about this week's topics

2. Please follow both me and Hallie

3. Put the new button on your post or somewhere on your blog

4. Link up with us! (Link will appear on both blogs.)

5. Visit some of the other links, and share the love with them on their posts!

6. Spread the word on Twitter and/or Facebook

And if you'd like to prepare for next week's link-up, the two 'first' topics will be:
1. First major in college 
2. First date success story 

<center> <a href="http://penguinspastapolkadots.blogspot.com/search/label/From%20Firsts%20to%20Lasts" target="_blank"><img alt="First Things First" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrwkIAid5vWXfGGkNjq6FQv4vvqZDxLXcMp670eJ2k7tfrfkBrZYiGCr0icOPCsIYvq5MR3qLifCTXPxMVdiq77A56Zq2_nIiRzk2hyphenhyphen1gEmgp6NcoBlX5TNfobmRzpUAjnkoXPjsNXIU/s1600/Firsts+to+Lasts+-+1.jpg"/></a></center>

Partners in Co-Hosting

Good morning my lovely ladies! Normally today, we would be doing our First Things First link-up, and y'all would be here to read my answers, and link-up your own as well. But today is a little different, because Hallie (from Life: Oceanside) and I are sharing an announcement about some changes to our fun link-up! Let me start by saying though, how excited I am that Hallie is officially back here with me after a hiatus during the months surrounding her wedding! I had amazing guest co-hosts each week while she was gone, but I'm soo glad she's back and here to stay :)

And for those of y'all that don't know Hallie yet, you should absolutely go visit her blog, right this second. I mean it. She's super cute, super sweet, a good writer, and she's lots of fun. Like me, she lives in the beautiful Sunshine State (Florida, for those who aren't familiar with the nickname), loves FSU football, and even though our names are spelled very similarly, don't be confused... She's Hal-lie, as in Halle Barry -- and I'm Ha-lie, as in Haley's Comet ;)

So last week, we told y'all that we had an announcement about our link-up, and some changes we were making. And so today, we are actually sharing what those changes are!

First, we are going to cut back to only two "first topics" every week. We used to do three, but we're just going to do one less topic each week, in order to make it easier for y'all to write them, shorter for everyone to read when you visit other links, and we get to stretch our idea list a little further!

And second, we are adding in a new element to the link-up -- a special "Lasts" edition on the last Tuesday of each month! And instead of writing about "firsts," we will write about some of our "lasts!" For example: last concert you saw, last movie you went to at a theater, last boy you kissed, etc... These should be just as fun as our firsts, and it will throw in a good bit of variety as well! (Also, if you have any topic ideas for firsts or lasts, please don't hesitate to let one of us know, and we might add it into the rotation!)

And since we're now throwing in the "lasts" to this link-up as well, we've decided to change the name to reflect that too, so it is no longer "First Things First," it's now called "From Firsts to Lasts!"

And here's a quick summary, just to make sure we're all on the same page:

1. Back to having two permanent hosts now every week, Halie & Hallie
2. Cut back from 3 to 2 first topics every week

3. Special "last" topics on the last Tuesday of each month

4. Renamed the link-up, and made a new button - so be sure to grab the new one now!!

<center> <a href="http://penguinspastapolkadots.blogspot.com/search/label/From%20Firsts%20to%20Lasts" target="_blank"><img alt="First Things First" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrwkIAid5vWXfGGkNjq6FQv4vvqZDxLXcMp670eJ2k7tfrfkBrZYiGCr0icOPCsIYvq5MR3qLifCTXPxMVdiq77A56Zq2_nIiRzk2hyphenhyphen1gEmgp6NcoBlX5TNfobmRzpUAjnkoXPjsNXIU/s1600/Firsts+to+Lasts+-+1.jpg"/></a></center>

We are both so excited about the new changes in our link-up, and we can't wait to see where this leads now! I've really enjoyed having new co-hosts for a while, but I'm glad Hallie's back with me again, and that we are once again Partners in Co-Hosting! If you want to start preparing for next week's post, our two first topics will be:

First store you head to at the mall

First aisle you hit up at the grocery store

I can't wait to have new girls join us in the future, and of course I'm always so glad to see all the "regulars" returning back again week after week. That really does mean so much to us! So excited for y'all to join in this link-up fun with us!! Looking forward to officially kicking this off next Tuesday!

Payments, News & Pouting - FTF & An Announcement!

Happy Tuesday morning my lovely ladies! I just went back and counted, and today is Week 16 of our First Things First link-up. Wow! That's four months of fun link-ups and posts and meeting some of you girlies that were new around these parts! It's been great hosting my first link-up series, and I've really enjoyed the past four months. And to round out these past four months, we've got an exciting announcement about this link-up at the end of today's post!

In the beginning, Hallie from Life: Oceanside and I hosted this together every week, until Hallie had to put a bit more focus on her very important wedding day. So for the past couple of months, I've had some amazing ladies co-host this link-up with me every week, while Mrs. Hallie was busy planning her gorgeous wedding. Her beautiful wedding day has come and gone, and she's ready to come back. So that means this is the last week of having new co-hosts every week, and I think these are some great ladies to be our final ones :)

This week's co-host's are Kaitlyn at Wifessionals and Joanna at Jaybird's Flight!

And this week's First Things First topics are:

First thing you would do/buy if you won the lottery

First person you call when you get amazing news

First thing you do when you've had a bad day

First thing I would do/buy if you won the lottery

(First, I would tithe my 10% to the church...& pay off my student loans...& then...) Well, since y'all know I'm planning a wedding, I would first want to use the new lotto-money for all of the wedding payments! I mean, I wouldn't go crazy with it, and I probably wouldn't even change too much about the way we're doing things. But it would certainly be amazing to get exactly what we wanted, without having to stress over the budget or finances. I would also put a large chunk of it into our savings account, and forbid us from touching it. It would be our savings, and it would be great to know we have a fall-back in case anything were to happen one day. (I tend to be extremely logical with money most of the time, and I'm also a bit of a tight-wad, so yeah - it's boring, but I would absolutely save a ton of my newly-won lotto money!) And then I would love to use some on our future house together!

First person I call when I get amazing news

It depends on what the news is I guess!? For instance, if it's something that no one else but me knows yet (for example if I were offered a new job or if I just won the lottery or someone wanted to randomly give me a brand new car for no reason), then the first person I would call would be my fiance, Jeff! But if it's something about Jeff and I (for example when we got engaged, or in the very-far-future if we ever get pregnant or if we decide we want to go couples skydiving or something), then the first person I would call would be my Mama! Then immediately after that would be my little sister, Megan :)

First thing I do when I've had a bad day

Hmmm...I'm not sure. I do tend to pout a little bit though, especially if I think I can get a little extra attention from Jeff because of it ;) Maybe I'd just want to eat a piece of chocolate cake? Or cuddle up with Jeff and watch a good movie with a bowl of popcorn. I don't really have too many bad days, but when I do, I just want to do whatever I can to be comfy and cozy and try to make it go away by flooding myself with positive things, people, and love!

If you'd like to join in on this fun link up, check out the super simple 'rules' below, and get to writing! Can't wait to see all the new link ups this week, meet new friends, and read y'all's posts!

1. Write your own post about this week's topics

2. Please follow me, as well as this week's co-hosts, Kaitlyn & Joanna.

3. Put the new button on your post or somewhere on your blog

4. Link up with us! (Link will appear on all three blogs.)

5. Visit some of the other links, and share the love with them on their posts!

6. Spread the word on Twitter and/or Facebook

Tweet

And now for our exciting announcement -- First Things First is heading in a new direction starting in May! My dear love Hallie will be coming back and joining me again as our permanent host, and we've got a few changes and things to add in. Next week, there won't be a link-up or any topics, but we will each be posting about the link-up, and what you can expect to see starting on May 7! We're both super excited about it, and can't wait to continue working on this little project of ours! So make sure you come back next week for the actual announcement of what's to come with our link-up! ;)

Parents, Sports & Injuries - First Things First

Happy Tuesday ladies! I usually try not to wish away the weekdays by only looking forward to Friday, but it's hard this week. Because this weekend I'm going to St. Augustine! I get to see some of my very bestest friends, and also take our engagement pictures! So of course I'm super excited for that!! And so it's hard to pretend I'm not happy that we're another day closer to Friday :) But first, we need to get to our weekly First Things First link-up today! And this week we have another great round of awesome co-hosts.

This week we have Emily from Be Blessed, Y'all and Breanna from Counting Blessings!

And today's First Things First topics are:

First movie you went to without your parents

First sport you played (either Little League-style or in school)

First major injury

First movie you went to without your parents:

I'm gonna go with "Titanic!" I was in 4th grade, in the spring time I believe, which means I would have been 10 years old. I'm not sure if that was appropriate for a ten-year-old at the time (I guess not since technically it was rated PG-13), but oh well! I was with my best friend at the time (who's still a great friend over 10 years later!), Amanda. Her mom brought us to the theater, but I don't remember her actually staying in the theater with us. Maybe she went to another movie or something? I don't know. But it wasn't with my mama, and so that's what counts!

Looking back on the "scandalousness" of the movie (made up that word myself #thankyouverymuch), it's really not all that bad compared with most of the crap that is in movies all the time now! Sure, as 10-year-old girls we saw some grown-up lady bits on Rose (I'd say most girls had already seen those) but that was about it. I mean the big "love scene" was all of about 30 seconds, you didn't see anything too specific, and the most scandalous part of that was a hand slapping a steamy window. Big whoop. At the time, it of course felt like much more of a big deal, but now we definitely see much much worse in movies and even on TV!

First sport you played (Little League-style or in school):

I never actually did Little League or anything when I was younger! I was in ballet and dance classes as a little baby toddler, but that didn't last long. It wasn't really my thing, y'all. And then I didn't really do too much after that, until eighth grade! At the end of my seventh grade year, I tried out for cheerleading, and made the JV squad! (Remember my school was K-12, so 8th grade cheerleaders were on the JV "high school" team). And then I did that every year until I graduated, and loved it!!

2005 - Senior Year. I'm on the front row, very center. And my friend Amanda from story #'s 1 & 3 is the blonde to my left.

First major injury:

This is actually another story that also involves my old bestie, Amanda! (We have quite a few ridiculous stories, come to think of it...) So I think we were about in 7th grade at the time, and I had spent the night one Friday at her house. They lived out in the country, and had lots of land. One of our favorite things to do was ride their 4-wheeler's! (ATV's) So we were each on our own, and we went on a big trail through the woods that circled their entire property, and got real close up to their fence at one point.

Well, I ran over a big root, and it made me swerve a little bit, and I swerved towards a tree, hit it a little bit with the front of the 4-wheeler, and kinda bounced and jolted around on the seat. I didn't fall off or anything, but my right calf was burning a bit. I didn't know why it was hurting, but I thought maybe I got it snagged on a thorny vine or something. After a couple seconds, I got ready and set off again, and we kept going. Back at the house though, we realized it was way more than just a cut or scratch. Turns out, my calf had been pushed up next to searing hot muffler, and burned very badly! In fact, it was burned sooo badly, that half of the word "Yamaha" had actually been burned into my leg. And there was a huge chunk of my skin missing that had just been burned off.

I don't remember exactly, but it may have turned out to be a third-degree burn.Or maybe my memory is exaggerating  but it was a second-degree burn at least! It was gaping open flesh people. Then it turned into a big giant pus-bubble, with multiple little ones surrounding it. Then when those popped, it was gaping open flesh again. I had to go to the doctor and get special medicines to take and creams to rub on with a Popsicle stick. It was rough. And it was disgusting. And I wish I had a picture of it! But yeah, I'd say that was definitely my first major injury!

If you'd like to join in on this fun link up, check out the super simple 'rules' below, and get to writing! Can't wait to see all the new link ups this week, meet new friends, and read y'all's posts!

1. Write your own post about this week's topics

2. Please follow me, as well as this week's co-hosts, Emily & Breanna.

3. Put the new button on your post or somewhere on your blog

4. Link up with us! (Link will appear on all three blogs.)

5. Visit some of the other links, and share the love with them on their posts!

6. Spread the word on Twitter and/or Facebook

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And if you'd like to start preparing for next week's First Things First topics and link-ups, start by checking out next week's co-hosts, Kaitlynn from Wifessionals and Joanna from Jay Bird's Flight. And next weeks topics will be:
1.  First thing you would do/buy if you won the lottery
2.  First person  you call when you get amazing news
3. First thing you do when you've had a bad day

Pantene, Pandora & Pinterest - First Things First

Happy Tuesday lovies! Today is of course one of my favorite blogging days, because it's my weekly First Things First link-up! And today as usual we have some great new co-hosts for the week as well! Today's co-hosts are Rachel at Postcards from Rachel and Tasha at A Lott to Love. Rachel is one of my good blog-friends, and I feel like we bonded over our love for books and reading. (Hopefully she feels the same ;) Haha) And Tasha is a relatively new blogger, but she's really starting to get the hang of it, and she's a pretty cool chick too :)

And today's (slightly random) first topics are:

First Pinterest project or recipe you attempted (failure or success!)

First random song that pops up on your iTunes or Pandora

First product you use in the shower

First Pinterest project or recipe I attempted

Well, technically the first thing I accomplished via Pinterest was purchasing a ring on Etsy, that I first pinned and then loved enough to buy. It was perfect, and I wore it every day for about a year and a half until I recently replaced it with my beautiful engagement ring!! But the first thing I actually did from Pinterest was make some amazingly delicious Dulce de Leche filled Banana cupcakes with Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting for my friend Sara's birthday! I let her look through my cupcake board (I love making completely homemade cupcakes!), and pick which ones sounded the best, and then I made them as part of her 25th birthday present! (Actually, since then I've done a lot of other stuff from Pinterest. In fact, I have a board dedicated to stuff that I've Already Accomplished via Pinterest, that pins get moved to once I've tried them!) Below is the process of making those cupcakes, for my first attempt from Pinterest!

The whole process of the fancy cupcakes! Maybe I should make a recipe post sometime soon!?!

First random song that pops up on my iTunes

"To Whom it May Concern" by the Civil Wars. This was the song that was playing on my iTunes, when I first opened it up just now! And that's not surprising to me, because I absolutely love them, and listen to them quite often. And it makes me so sad they they're kind of broken up right now. (No one will really say what's going on...) They were even supposed to come here to do a concert here in Tally, and I even wrote a post about it I was so excited! But then they cancelled, and that stunk big time. I hope they can get themselves put back together, because I want more music from them!!

First product I use in the shower

That would be my Pantene Pro-V shampoo, for curly hair! My hair isn't technically "curly," it's probably considered more "wavey," but this shampoo gives it a little extra pizzazz in the curl department! And of course it smells delicious and takes great care of my locks. :) And not that this was a part of the question, but I'm going to share my routine, because I'm a bit OCD about it, and it basically never varies. Put shampoo in, wash my face, rinse my face off, rinse shampoo out. Put conditioner in, wash my body, rinse my body, rinse the conditioner out. Shaving my legs is always last, but definitely not an everyday occurrence. In the summer, it might be every other day, but in the winter, it's more like once or twice a week... I just hate doing it guys. Don't judge me.

If you'd like to join in on this fun link up, check out the super simple 'rules' below, and get to writing! Can't wait to see all the new link ups this week, meet new friends, and read y'all's posts!

1. Write your own post about this week's topics

2. Please follow me, as well as this week's co-hosts, Rachel & Tasha.

3. Put the new button on your post or somewhere on your blog

4. Link up with us! (Link will appear on all three blogs.)

5. Visit some of the other links, and share the love with them on their posts!

6. Spread the word on Twitter and/or Facebook

Tweet

And if you'd like to prepare and get ready for next week's First Things First link up, start by checking out next week's awesome co-hosts, Emily at Be Blessed, Y'all and Breanna at Counting Blessings.
1. First movie you went to see without your parents
2. First sport you played (either little league style or otherwise)
3. First major injury

Place to Call My Own - First Things First

Guys, I'm normally super on the ball with this link-up stuff, but this week - not so much. If you didn't notice, this is getting posted much later than it usually does, and I'm sorry about that! I actually felt a little frantic all morning trying to get it together, and then I was like, "Hey Halez, chill out already. It's not like they'll hate you if it's up two hours later than normal. If anyone even notices at all..." So I did finally chill, but it still took me a super long time. My life is kinda crazy right now, so just bear with me ladies!

Anyways, today is the 13th week of this fun link-up!! I'm so excited for how long this has lasted, and we still have more planned too :) Today's awesome round of co-hosts are some of my favorites because Erin from Love, Fun & Football is not only one of my good blog-friends, she's also my blog designer!! And Syndal from Synfully Delicious is one of the first bloggers who I really started following along with each post of hers!

And today's first topics are all about home sweet home :)

First apartment or house on your own (away from you parents!)

First room you decorated or would like to decorate

First thing you bought for it, or would like to buy

First apartment or house on your own

Right before my junior year of college, in August 2008, I moved into a three bedroom apartment, with three other girls, and one of the girls and I shared the master bedroom. It was only temporary though, because one of the other girls was getting married in November and moving out, so then I moved into her room. But I loooved that apartment, and living with those girls! We had so so much fun, and it was seriously some of the greatest times of my life! Here are a few random pictures I could find of my friends and I hanging out in that apartment at Vista Cove! I ended up living there for two full years, and had seven different girls as roommates for those two years! So much fun :)

First room you decorated, or would like to decorate

Well, for that first apartment, everything was pretty much already done by the time I moved in, so really nothing. Eventually though, all those girls moved out, and I was there for a month or so by myself before new girls moved in, so I had fun buying new trinkets and doo-dads and stuff to fill up some new empty spaces. 

Now, sometime in the not-too-distant future, I'll be moving into a house for me and my husband-to-be! And I'm thinking the first room I'll want to decorate will be my bedroom. I mean, that's where I'll want to go to feel relaxed and comfy, so I want my bedroom to reflect that. And if it's not cute and cozy and at least somewhat "decorated," then I don't think I'll feel very relaxed in there! So, when that time comes, bedroom needs to get cute first. Then definitely the living room.

First thing you bought or want to buy

Actually, Jeff and I have bought something already for our future house! Well, I bought a couple of random pots at Ross about a month ago that I love, but that's not what I'm referring to. We actually bought bedding a couple weeks ago! We are both signed up for daily emails from a website called "1SaleADay," and they had a great deal on bed-in-a-bag's, so we just went for it! The one we both liked the most and were going to get was sold out, but he surprised me by liking a light purple and gray one, so we got that one instead! It's not arrived yet, but I'll be excited to see it when it does! And so it seems that my idea of decorating the bedroom first is under way with that first purchase!

If you'd like to join in on this fun link up, check out the super simple 'rules' below, and get to writing! Can't wait to see all the new link ups this week, meet new friends, and read y'all's posts!

1. Write your own post about this week's topics

2. Please follow me, as well as this week's co-hosts, Erin & Syndal.

3. Put the new button on your post or somewhere on your blog

4. Link up with us! (Link will appear on all three blogs.)

5. Visit some of the other links, and share the love with them on their posts!

6. Spread the word on Twitter and/or Facebook

And if you'd like to prepare and get ready for next week's First Things First link up, start by checking out next week's awesome co-hosts, Rachel from Postcards from Rachel & Tasha from A Lott to Love. And next week's topics are:

1. First Pinterest project or recipe you attempted (fail or success!)

2. First random song that comes up on your iTunes or Pandora

3. First product you use in the shower

Ponce Hall, Roommates & College Days - First Things First

It's another cold day down here in Florida, and they said on the radio this morning that it's actually 15-20 degrees colder this year than our usual averages for this time of year. That's not cool! Where did my glorious spring weather go? Not that I can complain too much, because half of the country just got half a foot of snow or more, including one of my lovely co-hosts... More importantly than the weather though, is another week of our First Things First link up! And this week we of course have another round of amazing co-hosts, Jess at Jess Is More and Veronica at Passion, Pink & Pearls!

First Roommate (s)

First Time Living Away from Home

First Dorm Room at College

First Roommate (s)
Well first of all, I wasn't able to go to Flagler my very first semester, because they had no room for me. It's a requirement for freshmen to live on-campus in the dorms, and they were full by the time I would have been accepted. So instead, I was accepted for the spring term in January, and I just went to community college for a semester here. So while that was happening, my future roommates had issues with the third girl in their room, and she was leaving, and they got to look through and pick out a new replacement - and they did an awesome job picking me out, because they were some fun first college roommates!

After the Christmas break, I was to move in about 4 days before the returning students, and I got there to find that Emily and Linnea had left cute notes and pictures all of the room for me :) Those first few days alone without them were hard and boring, and so when they finally got there, I was sooo dang excited!! They welcomed me with open arms, and we kicked off that first semester with a game night in our dorm room, with a group of some other girls. We had so much fun that semester together. We went to the beach, had game night every single week, had fire alarms go off three times in one night, dealt with the awful laundromat, visiting the Jax zoo, watching tons of movies on our laptops, and so many more fun memories!

First Time Living Away from Home
This goes hand-in-hand with the first question, because the first time I lived away from home was that spring semester of my freshman year, at Flagler College! Like I mentioned before, I moved in about four days before my roommates did though, and that was close to torturous. Talk about major homesickness! It was super quiet in the entire dorm, but also in my tiny room, and it was rough. But once the girls got there, the fun never seemed to stop. I met soooo many amazing girls that first semester I lived away from home, and seriously had a blast. There was just so much fun and freedom and opportunity and adventure! And I made sure I took advantage of all of that as often as I could. I mean, I was only taking 12 hours that first semester, and I didn't have a job, so I had plenty of free time to just live it up as a care free 19-year-old! And I loved every second of it.

First Dorm Room at College
First I just want to share some background info about my school, Flagler College. (I'm only going to share a little bit, but there is some amazing history and interesting facts about it, so take time to visit the links I provided!) It was originally built as the beautiful Ponce de Leon hotel by Henry Flagler, and opened in 1888. It was quite a fancy place, and definitely a popular destination. Then during WWII, it was used as a training center for the coast guard. It was also a very prominent part of the Civil Rights movement. Then in 1968, it was finally opened as Flagler College. (I could go on and on with cool stuff about the college, but I think I'll save that for another post - because now I'm so excited about sharing that with y'all!)

When the hotel was turned into the college, the main building of the hotel housed the girls' dorms. It was called Ponce Hall, but usually just shortened to Ponce. So like I mentioned before as well, Emily and Linnea had prepared the room for me, and left cute notes for me for when I moved in. It was a good-sized room with one bunk bed, and one additional twin bed. There were two real closets and I had the free-standing wardrobe. Then we each had a desk and a small dresser. There was even a cute fireplace in the room! (But it didn't work, it just looked pretty.) And we shared our suite-style bathroom with the room next to us. Luckily we really did have one of the bigger dorms, so we had tons of open floor space in the middle of the room. Even though it was a little bit cramped, it was still a great dorm room in general, and we had tons of fun in it! Our favorite thing to do was find ways to creatively hop up into the top bunk with flips and jumps and chairs and hoopla. That was fun times. I loved my dorm room days, and would definitely recommend it for at least a year in college. SO much fun. :)

If you'd like to join in on this fun link up, check out the super simple 'rules' below, and get to writing! Can't wait to see all the new link ups this week, meet new friends, and read y'all's posts!

1. Write your own post about this week's topics

2. Please follow me, as well as this week's co-hosts, Jess & Veronica.

3. Put the new button on your post or somewhere on your blog

4. Link up with us! (Link will appear on all three blogs.)

5. Visit some of the other links, and share the love with them on their posts!

6. Spread the word on Twitter and/or Facebook

And if you'd like to prepare and get ready for next week's First Things First link up, start by checking out next week's awesome co-hosts, Syndal @ Synfully Delicious and Erin @ Love, Fun & Football. Next week's topics are all about home sweet home:

1. First house or apartment on your own (either rented or owned, just away from your parents!)

2. First room you decorated in it, or would like to decorate

3. First thing you bought for it, or would like to buy