Things I've Learned Thus Far

I've been living in the Deep South now for 3 months. Time flies when you're having fun! I'm sure there will be many posts just like this one in the future, but here we go:

Becoming The Belle: Lessons Learned In My First Three Months

1) Everything happens earlier here. You wake up early (not a fan), lunch is at 11:00, supper at 5:00. It took me a while to adjust to this new schedule (I was used to eating supper between 7:00 & 8:00 pm) but now? I love it! The kitchen is cleaned up and lights off by 6:00 pm which leaves all evening to relax. It's glorious.

2) The above lesson was helpful as soon as I had my first "eating out" experience. I totally did not expect a 30-45 minute wait at 4:15 pm.

3) Anyone, and I do mean ANYONE, is your best friend. I had a 15 minute conversation with a lady at Target about the weather when I first moved here. We actually shopped together. She hollered at me from across the parking lot "Can you believe this sunshiney day?!" Of course I said "Huh?!" because ...

4) I firmly believe every Born & Bred Southerner should come with a translator. "Huh" has become a part of my everyday vocabulary. I have a nice mix of Mississippi and Alabama in my life and wow. I should have gone to college for that instead of Spanish.

5) "Done did" = Already have.

6) "I'll take iced tea" = Give me a cup of sugar with half a cup of tea that you boiled on the stove instead of setting outside in the sun.

7) "Yes ma'am" = Even though I'm 30 years older than you, you'll still be called ma'am.

8) Mayo goes on everything. Ew.

9) Collared Greens, Butter Beans, Black Eyed Peas. Ew again.

10) There are legit mountains here. I know. Surprised me too.

11) "Bless her heart" is not wishing someone well.

12) "Bless it" ... is.

13) In Alabama, we have War Eagle and Roll Tide. In this house, we are religiously War Eagle. Unless they aren't playing. Then we can be Roll Tide. The SEC is awfully friendly to one another.

14) Unless you're Mizzou. Then you just suck all around. :-)

15) Rock Chalk Jayhawk!! (Had to throw that in there.)

16) If you are going to yard sales, church or Winn Dixie Grocery Store, you better be dressed to impress, teased hair, serious lipstick, a monogrammed purse and 6 kids in matching outfits in tow.

17) Every other radio station is gospel. Or country. There is no rap. This is God's country after all! ;-)

18) If you spend an entire lifetime not even giving thought to the existence of Bigfoot, it will all go out the door after living in the forest. It is my goal to invite them over for tea*.

* See #6.

19) No matter where you live, you're in the perfect location. I'm within driving distance of the Smokies, the Gulf, New Orleans, Nashville and the Atlantic.

20) Life is a lot more relaxed here. It's easy to enjoy the little things because big things aren't cluttering up your life. And if they are, you can have a yard sale. Year-round in the South!

So there you have it. Just a snippet of lessons learned as a Belle so far! Every day I wake up to a scene from Steel Magnolias and every day I love it. The South is home, y'all! Come visit! :-)