Shopaholic in Alabama

One year ago today, the United States was hit with what became the worst oil spill in our history. The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig off the coast of Louisiana exploded and eleven workers perished. Oil began to gush in the Gulf of Mexico - not to stop until it was capped on July 15 and officially sealed on September 19, 2010. Total estimates of oil spilled throughout the event vary between 94 to 184 million gallons . The oil began to arrive on the Alabama Gulf Coast just prior to Memorial Day weekend. I will never forget the first day I walked outside (we live across the street from the beach) and thought "I can smell it". It was an awful feeling, to know not only was the "blob" here, but we'd have to smell it for an undetermined amount of time. The best way to explain the scent? Think freshly paved asphalt. You know - the stuff that is probably really bad for us. We could smell it for months. The images below were taken at our local beach over Memorial Da...

Happy Hump Day, everyone! I had a different post planned for today - then I remembered - December 15, 2009 was the date I started this little blog, Shopaholic In Alabama. So today; we celebrate! It's hard to believe I have been blogging for one year. In the early days, I never imagined that anyone would even want to read what I wrote; much less allow me to continue blabbing for a year! I remember begging my family and close friends to "follow me" and they were like "what are you talking about?".   All I can say is a big, huge, THANK YOU! I have met so many wonderful friends as a result of this blog and the blogging community. Many of which I expect to have for a lifetime. I look forward to my second year of blogging - let's see what kind of trouble we can get into together! :-) Thank you so much for taking valuable time out of your day to check in on little ole me. During some of the darkest hours of the past 365 days, you guys have helped keep me goin...