Monday, May 14, 2012

First Loves Blogfest

As a follow up to the Blogging A Through Z Challenge, today I’m participating in the First Loves Blogfest hosted by one of my favorite bloggers, Alex J. Cavanaugh. So today I’m going to talk a little about the first movie, music, book and person I ever loved.


It’s hard for me to say definitively which movie was the first one I ever loved, considering even as a child I was always something of a cinephile. However, my mom told me that when I was two years old and my dad had to travel a lot for work, I became obsessed with the Wizard of Oz. I became terrible upset every time he left, and the only thing that calmed me down was watching Dorothy and her friends journey across the yellow brick road. In fact, my mom got so tired of renting it for me that she finally went out and bought it, making it (I believe) the first VHS we owned.

I have absolutely no trouble remembering the first band I ever loved. When I was in elementary school, I fell in love with Losing My Religion by R.E.M. I remember playing that song on repeat on the huge stereo system in my family’s downstairs living room until my parents finally insisted that I put something else on. If memory serves me right, it was around this time I was finally given my very own CD player for my room. Wonder why . . .





My love of reading began early with one series in particular – Nancy Drew. When I was still too little to read them by myself, my mom used to read them with me before bedtime, beginning with my first (and to this day favorite), Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the 99 Steps. I was obsessed from that point on. I read Nancy Drew books day in and day out. I even used to read them on the playground at recess (that’s right, I was that kid). Thanks to Nancy and her best friends George and Bess, I am a lifelong reader. And if I ever come across a mystery that needs solving, I’ll know what to do.

Last but not least, I’m going to talk about the first person I ever loved. Now, I’m sure that the intention behind this category is to talk about romantic love, but I have something a little different in mind. To begin with, I’m an only child. I always wanted siblings, but unfortunately was never blessed with any. However, when I nearly seven years old my little cousin Allie was born. (That's her to the left. She screamed a lot as a baby. I loved her anyway). Though it wasn’t exactly the same as having a sister of my own, it always felt like it. We grew up a few miles away from one another and were basically raised side-by-side. Most of my childhood memories revolve around her tagging along after me. Though we’re six years and ten months minus four days apart (we keep track), we’ve always been incredibly close. We’ve had to be to survive some of our family get-togethers! Allie’s my cousin, my friend, and my sister all wrapped up into one, and the first person I ever remember loving. Here's us now:


Mature, right? Anyway, those are all my first loves. What are some of yours?

35 comments:

  1. Great post!

    I have mentioned on my blog before that I was not into REM when they were out and only just now have I gotten into them.


    Tim
    The Freedom of Nonbelief
    The Other Side

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have such fond memories of summers spent reading Nancy Drew and I love both those pictures of you and your cousin! Btw, fellow only child :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cuteness! I love having close cousins to survive the family get-togethers :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like how you put a different spin on the first person love part! Wizard Of Oz has been a popular choice as a first movie love today!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can see the first love appeal of the Wizard of Oz. I never read the 99 Steps book tho. During childhood, I wasn't really big on the creep factor when it came to reading fiction. I want bright stories, or else I just turn on the TV news, lol.

    Although I am familiar with R.E.M, I can't say that I know any of their songs. That was just one of the bands that I didn't pay much attention to growing up. It's so cool that you picked your cousin for your First Person. Having a family member who is your best friend is like a double-awesome because you get to share your life's adventures with someone who you're much more connected to, since she's a part of your family tree :)

    Cheers!

    ~Nicole
    Blog: The Madlab Post
    @MadlabPost on Twitter

    ReplyDelete
  6. I LOVED Nancy Drew. So so much. I read and re-read all of the books, but then when the spin-off series started, I lost interest.

    Great loves!

    ReplyDelete
  7. That you'd list your cousin is really special. And I think you're right about why you got your own CD player.
    Thanks for participating in my blogfest!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wizard of Oz is my daughter's favorite movie. She has the score on her little MP3 player and watches the movie just about every day. We keep waiting for her to grow out of it, but it hasn't happened yet. (It's been about 5 years now, LoL.

    Love REM. Always one of my favs! Great post.

    ReplyDelete
  9. REM are such an amazing band.

    It's great you're still so close with your cousin.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wizard of Oz is awesome, and I watched it over and over when I was a kid. Beauty and the Beast still beat it out for my first movie love, though :D.

    You and your cousin look like you have so much fun together! Family is always family, doesn't matter how closely or distantly related they are :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. My family used to have a tradition where we watched the Wizard of Oz every New Years! I also loved Nancy Drew :)

    Allison (Geek Banter)

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a fun relationship with your cousin! You two look like trouble.

    ReplyDelete
  13. We have some things in common. Great picks and nice to meet you.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hardy Boys was my first foray into fiction, but that was long after dinosaurs ruled the world.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I loved Wizard of Oz too. It didn't make my list for firsts, but it's high up on the list. I even got my mom to buy me some red dress shoes so I could be like Dorothy, lol. And I think it's awesome that you put your cousin. Great post :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love that picture with you and your cousin/sis.

    ReplyDelete
  17. That's cool to have a cousin so close to you. My best friend in elementary school used to lend me her Nancy Drew books. I loved them too.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Such a great entry! I'm an only child as well and wish I had a cousin to love like that!

    ReplyDelete
  19. REM is awesome. I remember that exact Nancy Drew book. I owned it too! That is a sweet story of your first love. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Those are all awesome choices!!! I read all of the Nancy Drews & the Hardy Boys books! Loved them all. Great choices :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. I've never read any Nancy Drew! gasp! Going to add this one to my list though, right now! Well, after finishing this comment...

    Love your story about your cousin, you guys look great together! Such a cute pic of you with baby Allie :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Okay, I have a lump in my throat after reading about your cousin. That's beautiful! :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. I read a lot of Hardy Boys, and keenly remember reading one during the only lemonade stand I ever operated. The Wizard of Oz joined It's a Wonderful Life and The Ten Commandments as those TV perennials we always watched growing up. (Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer is the only one I still care to watch religiously.) As an adult, I now prefer the obscure Return to Oz. R.E.M. rocks! Always did, always will.

    ReplyDelete
  24. That's wonderful that you and your cousin are so close!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Great pic of you and your cousin! My kids love the Wizard of Oz. A timeless classic that will always be a fan favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Sorry I'm late.
    As soon as I saw that cover I knew I'd seen it before. I haven't thought of a Nancy Drew book in years. I think we read them all over the summers. Love REM too. Great pictures with your cousin. Mine were always too far away. Thanks for sharing with us.
    Heather

    ReplyDelete
  27. Great choices, and I like your take on your first love :)

    Sharing the Love!
    English Speaking Zone

    ReplyDelete
  28. I LOVED Nancy Drew. I had read some mysteries before, but that one remains one of my favorite mystery series.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Dropping by again to let you know I left you an award on my blog :)

    http://readingwritingandlovinit.blogspot.com/2012/05/award-ceremony-time.html

    ReplyDelete
  30. It's hard not to love 'The Wizard of Oz.' REM is cool but whatever happened to them?

    ReplyDelete
  31. awwwww lauren! i love you too! im so glad im home for the summer! :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. That is so cool. I'd love to stand in Vader's shoes. Congrats on the award. I just found Michael's blog too and his reviews are dynamite.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Love your first love! I was close to my cousin until we moved across the country. :( Also, funny that your first movie love and your first music love got things purchased for you. Haha.

    ReplyDelete