HELLO
Mom to Iris. Wife to Todd. Our little family lives at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We love it here and I love sharing little bits of our life.

© 2014 sarahfortune.

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Articles written by: Sarah

(no. 2) Loving Memphis, Leaving Memphis

Number two of my top ten list of the 2000s (in no particular order).

In January of 2001, I packed all of my belongings in a Uhaul and drove towards Washington D.C. with my mom. She had moved there the previous year and I had finally decided to try living somewhere brand new. Up to that point I had lived my entire life in Midtown Memphis. The only people I knew in the DC area were my mom and new step-dad, but I quickly found a job at Urban Outfitters in Georgetown and even made a few new friends. I lived there for almost two years and spent the entire time busy. At one point I had three jobs and went to school full time at a local community college. I worked at a natural foods deli during lunch, at an after school program during the afternoon hours, and at another clothing store in Georgetown on the weekends. Whew! That makes me exhausted just thinking about it.

I certainly learned a lot about myself during my first move away from my hometown, but the most memorable part of it all was living there on September 11th. I had an early class that day and had already taken a seat at my desk. The professor came in and mentioned that “because of all the plane crashes, we’re going to have a short class today.” Someone raised their hand and asked what in the world he was talking about. He bluntly stated, “two planes crashed into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and another one in a field. There are still planes in flight, so they might hit elsewhere.” I was trying to comprehend what he had just said and what that meant for our area, but he just moved right along and began going over our class material.

As I tuned out whatever he was lecturing, my mind started reeling. The first thing I thought of was that my mom was working just a couple blocks from the White House. I wanted to get up and leave, but was frozen in my seat. Thankfully, he did let us go early and I set out on my journey home. Outside the classroom everyone was trying to figure out what was going on, where to go, and if their loved ones were okay. Cell phones weren’t working and the bus that I took home was over crowded with panicking people. I was one of the last people to squeeze into the bus and made it close to my home. During the final walk to my house, I kept my eyes peeled to the sky for fear that something else would come crashing down. There were still several planes zooming overhead, but they were clearly military jets. Still, very scary – if not scarier. It took a while for my mom to get home from downtown, but she and everyone else that I knew were safe. The next day school was closed, but the deli where I worked was open and serving free food and coffee to the National Guard, who lined the streets of D.C. From then on, everything just felt… different. My normal lunch hour on a park bench in front of the White House, turned into paranoid sessions of “what if” thoughts. My subway ride that always stopped at the Pentagon, just sped right through as I caught only glimpses of yellow police tape.

The following year I transferred to the University of Memphis and settled in again in my old Memphis neighborhood. It was good to be home, around my friends and familiar streets. It wasn’t until just couple years later than I packed my belongings in yet another Uhaul and headed west towards Fayetteville. I’ve been here ever since.

Pentagon smoking after 9/11

Pentagon smoking after 9/11

Where I worked at an afterschool program

Where I use to work. Thomas Circle.

Our old house

Our old house. Silver Spring, MD.

Dupont Circle. One of my fave neighborhoods.

Dupont Circle. Washington DC.

One of the best things about the area is that roadtrips are plentiful. This is me in front of Patsy Cline’s home in a nearby Virginia town.

Recently Found Photos

Just a few of the amazing shows I saw while living in D.C. (except for Elvis Costello. That amazing one was in Memphis.)

Old ticket stubs

And the main reason I moved back to Memphis…
I missed lazy, front porch days with my best friends.

Porch Days

(no. 1) Getting Married

This top ten list is in no particular order, but I just can’t help but start with my wedding day.

I was never the girl who dreamed of the perfect wedding day, but the moment I first saw Todd playing on stage with Lucero, I whispered in my girlfriend’s ear, “I’m going to marry that guy.” A few years later, my very first thought was confirmed. After a couple years of dating, Todd proposed to me in Eureka Springs. Thanks to the support of our amazing family and friends, we were able to have a wedding that truly fit us. Isn’t that what it’s all about, anyway? Our “ultra casual” wedding (as the invite states) was my favorite day of the decade, if not my life.

000t2ttc

Wedding favors: Stickers & Buttons.

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Front page wedding!

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marriedtoday

Top Ten of the Decade

The end of the decade was just around the corner when I found out that sarahfortune.com would get a fresh face. Coincidentally enough, the end of 2009 also marks my ten year blogging anniversary (yeah, I was a dork from early on). So I decided to start off 2010 by keeping with the “ten” theme and post my very own top ten of the 2000s. So over the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting my favorite parts of my life from the last decade.

Better get started…

These will update as I post them:
(no. 1) Getting Married
(no. 2) Loving Memphis, Leaving Memphis

Southern Girls Road Trip

Mississippi - Girl Trip!

I love a good road trip with girl friends. This past summer myself and three other friends hit the road and headed east towards my hometown, Memphis, Tennessee. Once we arrived at my mom’s house, we ordered take out from my favorite Vietnamese restaurant and visited with my favorite girls (and their babies) from M town.

Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

We spent the rest of our time in Memphis exploring thrift stores, visiting the Stax Museum, eating tons of delicious food, walking down Beale Street, and getting overdressed to go out to the local bars.

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

My mom trying to use my camera. HAH!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Memphis - Girl Trip!

Even with all that fun, my favorite part of the trip was heading down to Oxford, Mississippi for a spell. My dear friend Erin lives in an amazing 100 year house down the road in the tiny, yet oh so cute, town of Water Valley. We spent an afternoon in Oxford and then danced the night away at the only bar in Water Valley. We had to enter through an unmarked backdoor – no signs or anything. Turns out liquor sales aren’t very popular in this little southern town.

Outside of Erin’s house

Water Valley, MS - Girl Trip!

Oxford town square

Oxford, MS - Girl Trip!

B is for Brandy. S is for Sarah.

Oxford, MS - Girl Trip!

Window shopping on the square

Oxford, MS - Girl Trip!

Afternoon drinks at City Grocery

Oxford, MS - Girl Trip!

Oxford, MS - Girl Trip!

Erin with Penny

Oxford, MS - Girl Trip!

Tears at William Faulkner’s grave

Oxford, MS - Girl Trip!

How many Arkansas girls can you fit in a Mississippi phone booth?

Oxford, MS - Girl Trip!

Playing dress up in a toy store. Hillious moment of the trip was when Laura said, “Something is giving me a mustache.”

Oxford, MS - Girl Trip!

Cozy bar in Water Valley

Water Valley, MS - Girl Trip!

Water Valley, MS - Girl Trip!

The bar had awesome games.

Water Valley, MS - Girl Trip!

Water Valley, MS - Girl Trip!

Erin’s house

Water Valley, MS - Girl Trip!

Water Valley, MS - Girl Trip!

Water Valley, MS - Girl Trip!

On the drive back to Memphis from Oxford we passed a graveyard of bathtubs. We immediately made a U-turn and had an impromptu photo shoot.

Mississippi - Girl Trip!

Mississippi - Girl Trip!

Mississippi - Girl Trip!

It was a lovely summer trip. Lots of photos taken, with even more memories made. You can view the complete set of photos here.

Update!

going thru photos...
Okay, so I haven’t posted an update in FOREVER. Lately I’ve been using my Flickr account as a way to document what’s going on in my life, but it’s still not the same as having a blog. So now I’m going to try my best to combine the two. Expect a wave of quick, past dated entries from the last 6 months to get this thing caught up & hopefully from now on I can stay on top of it. Here it goes…