Knowing Where You Come From

In 2009, a deadly salmonella outbreak swept across the nation. That outbreak was traced back to a peanut plant in my hometown. The plant was subsequently shut down, and all the bad press threatened to dry up our town.

In response, city leaders decided to put on a festival to bring awareness to the greatness of peanuts. Georgia is, after all, one of the biggest peanut producers in the world.

This past weekend was the festival's fourth year. I believe it to have been the biggest and best yet.

With the help of an area radio station, word of the Peanut Proud festival spread and vendors were excited to get in on the action.

In fact, so many vendors applied to be a part of the festival, some had to be turned away. Next year organizers plan to let them overflow from the square onto Main Street.

This was the most people I have ever seen in Blakely.

Local businesses participate by decorating peanuts of their own. The firefighter and Flo-nuts were my favorites.

Didn't you know? Peanuts grow on trees.

There was a peanut planting station. I would have planted one if I didn't have to drive 45 minutes.

Peanuts are a huge part of who we are down here. With that being said, it's impossible not to be Peanut Proud.

Wedding Planning: The Dress

I had my first dress fitting last week.

Right at 6 months to go.

Obsession: Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin is my new favorite television obsession.

ABC's Once Upon a Time is by far one of my favorite shows on the air right now. What's not to love? All your favorite fairy tale characters come to life and all of their stories are inter-connected in a way that makes sense even if it's not traditional.

Here's the plot in a nutshell: the town of Storybrooke is filled with people who are in fact fairy tale characters, but they don't know it. They were sent to our world by the evil queen, who believes Snow White is the root of all her problems. The evil queen is the mayor of Storybrooke and in complete control until Emma comes along. Emma is Snow White's daughter and has the power to break the evil queen's spell.

All your favorite fairy tale characters are there - Jiminy Cricket, the 7 Dwarves (with special emphasis on Grumpy), Little Red Riding Hood, Belle and Gaston, King Midas, Prince Charming, and my favorite - Rumpelstiltskin...

or Mr. Gold - lawyer, antique shop owner, lessor of nearly every building in Storybrooke and [spoiler alert] the one other person who knows about the queen's spell.

Robert Carlyle's character is a piece of work, and I mean that in a good way.

He starts out as a father figure trying to keep his son out of the ogre wars, but being nothing more than a spinner has little hope of saving his son. In an effort to save his only remaining family, Rumpelstiltskin kills the Black Knight and inherits all of his power - making him the most powerful person in the world.

He makes deals with nearly every other character - deals for power, deals to forget, deals for anything you can think of ... but with Rumpelstiltskin, everything comes with a price, even for him.

You watch his character turn into the corrupted Rumpelstiltskin we've come to know from childhood storybooks ... and you watch Belle nearly rob him of his power and turn him back into a mortal man, all with a kiss.

He's funny, cynical, diabolical and so much fun to watch. I can't wait to see where his character goes in the series.

If you haven't been watching Once Upon A Time, I highly recommend it. The way the writers wove all the different characters' stories into one plot line is truly amazing, and how they intermingle the fairy tale world with the modern world is sure to keep you on the couch.

Driving Through the Old South

We Southerners love our traditions, especially when they present themselves in the form of a festival. This past weekend kicked off the Spring festival season down here. There were actually two festivals, but we took our engagement pictures on one day so we only got to one of them.

The Azalea Dogwood Trail is in its 48th year. It's a chance to show off the downtown area of our town while giving riders a taste of the Old South. It's sponsored by the Corvette Club, which takes area queens through the trail in a parade of sorts. Residents are invited to ride through the trail of Southern Belles. After being cancelled last year due to inclement weather, the participation wasn't as great as in previous years but there was still a pretty decent turnout. At any rate, I enjoyed our trip.

 

 Such a little lady.

 

That face is priceless.

 

There were lemonade stands set up all along the trail. One kid was even selling popcorn... or at least eating it.

Digital Digital Get Down

It's officially the end of an era. Encyclopedia Britannica will no longer produce a printed edition.

After 244 years of taking up an entire shelf at the library, the company will be going entirely digital.

As for the final 32-volume set, it's up for sale on the company's website for a measly $1,400.

Now it may not seem like I'm old enough to have ever used an encyclopedia, but all of my high school papers included encyclopedic references, as did several of my college papers.

Although I find myself using Google multiple times a day to track down information, I prefer printed copies of most things.

There's nothing quite like the feel and smell of an old book, or even a new one.

A world without encyclopedias is hard to imagine. They've been around for as long as I can remember - a source of certified and verified knowledge.

Now it looks like Google will reign forever supreme as the gateway to information. We are officially no longer living in a printed world. The digital age has finally taken over.

Too Far?

Being proud of your body is one thing. Posing nude while you're pregnant for a magazine cover?

Well, I just don't know I feel about that.

Also, I'm pretty sure that photo was airbrushed.

I'm #1

I've won my first award!

My 6:00 show was just selected as the Best Regularly Scheduled Newscast by the Alabama Broadcasters Association and Associated Press in the small market division.

Ever since I was promoted to the 6 and 10 producer, I've been striving for this.

If you'd like to see the show that won, click here, and be sure to check out some of the other stuff in my portfolio.

Behind the Scenes: Justification

It's one thing to write a story about criminals doing bad things to people.

It's something completely different to write a story about criminals doing bad things to people you know.

It's not that the first situation doesn't affect you. It's more along the lines that it's easier to detach yourself from a story that's about strangers.

I've written countless stories about home invasions, but never have I written about a home invasion involving someone I know. That makes it so much realer.

Contrary to popular belief, we don't like covering stories like this. We would much rather talk about puppies, butterflies and babies.

But when I do have to include this type of story, it's satisfying to learn that the intended victims didn't roll over and let themselves be taken advantage of. They fought back and saved themselves. Yes, they have scars and will probably have nightmares for a long, long time, but they are alive and relatively uninjured.

It's stories like those that justify my owning a gun and knowing how to use it and use it well. You just can't trust people anymore.