Throwback Thursday- Childhood Crush

Linking up with Bonnie again today for Throwback Thursday!

Childhood crushes... wow. Is it bad that I can't count my crushes from elementary school on one hand? It's definitely a two-hand number. I do remember my absolutely first crush. In Kindergarten I was totally in love with a little boy named Nathan. He was tiny, blonde, mousy, and incredibly shy. Like so shy, I'm not even sure we ever had a conversation. Really appealing, right? I have no idea why I liked him.

There was a whole lotta puppy love and heartbreak in elementary school and early middle school, but I want to talk about my main squeeze in middle school...

Just look at that stud muffin.

Our parents were in a small group together through our church and we'd always get drug to their get-togethers and forced to hang out since we were in the same grade. We clicked well and started talking more once he moved to my middle school in 8th grade. By winter of our 8th grade year, we'd talk on the phone for HOURS. I wish I could go back and hear those conversations now. I was probably full of awkward attempts at flirting. I know for sure we'd play solitaire every night. We'd each play a game on our computer and see who finished first. Clint always beat me. And yes-- we were that cool.

I had a little crush on Clint all year long. Spring came around and he decided he liked our friend, Kellye, mostly out of social pressure because she was a firey redhead too. Everybody wanted Big Red to date Mrs. Big Red. They "dated" for a couple months and right before school was over for summer, she said she "just wanted to be friends." By the way, how many people used that line when breaking up with someone in middle school or high school? I know I did!

Anyways, Clint called me that night and said he really was ok with it because he had a crush on another girl anyway and we spent way too long telling-but not telling-each other we liked each other. Well, the next day at school, Kellye found out and, long story really short, made the entire grade hate me. (Kellye is now married and in our small group and we laughed at this story just a couple of weeks ago.)

Clint and I didn't care. We were in puppy love. And one afternoon, sitting on his couch watching Pistol Pete, we held hands for the very first time. Under a pillow of course, so that his parents couldn't see.

Fast forward 10 years...

After a lot of ups and downs and a few more childhood crushes for each of us, we're still together!

Did anybody else happen to marry their childhood crush? Let me know!

throwback thursday- Nelly the Nissan

Bonnie's blog is one of my absolute faves. Always hilarious. Seriously. Check her out! So when I saw she was hosting a summer link up all about throw-backs, I knew I had to be a part of it!

This week is all about learning to drive and your first car...

Nelly the Nissan... ok, i actually don't call her Nelly, but I always said I would if I was the kinda person who named their cars... so for the purpose of this blog post, she's Nelly.

This is the only full body shot of her I can find. I wish I could find our very first picture together from 1999 where I'm posing with my parents in front of her holding not one, but two, Furbys. We go waaaaay back.

The picture above (Excuse the quality. It's back from the days of the trusty ol' LG EnV.) is from an icy day my senior year. I parked all the way up by the curb and when I walked out of school, this is what I found. Apparently my emergency brake did nothing to keep my car from sliding down the almost unnoticeable hill before the ice melted. I'm sure everybody in the parking lot loved me that day!

My favorite memory in Nelly so far happened the summer of 2008 when I worked in Naples, FL. The afternoon before I planned to drive the 18 hours home to Nashville, I turned my car on and nothing on my dashboard worked. I couldn't change radio stations, inputs, or anything else having to do with the audio. It was stuck on an AM channel that was all static. I attempted the tried and true "turn it off and turn it back on" which only made it emit a piercing beep that could only be stopped by turning the car off completely. I discovered I could put a CD in, but couldn't skip songs. I had several CDs with me so I was ok with that. Only an hour into the drive home, I tried to eject the CD I had in there, only to find out I couldn't.

 Let's just say I know the first disc of the Across the Universe soundtrack like the back of my hand.

Almost a year to the day later, after learning to live with a radio-less car, I turned Nelly on and everything was working. Just like it had never happened.

Quirks and all, Nelly's proving to be a faithful car. It'll be a sad day when she kicks the bucket, but at least now I have Henry the Hyundai as a back up...

That's his bumper only a few months after I got him. Apparently he's not an offroad vehicle and doesn't appreciate it when I totally curb it. Here's hoping he lasts a while!

P.S. If you're visiting from Bonnie's link-up, comment and let me know! I'd love to read all about your driving escapades!