Wishing You Lots of Ladybugs

Originally I had decided to name this blog "The Princess Diaries." It was a throwback to one of my favorite movies while at the same time reminiscent of one of my nicknames in a previous life. However, in looking for a good image at iStockPhoto.com to use in my profile photo (alas, I only have pictures of my husband or our wedding.. none really of ME), I came across some cute illustrations of ladybugs and it changed my whole outlook on this blog thing.

My ladybug fascination started in the fall of 2001. My future husband and I were making plans via the internet to get married down in Gatlinburg that October. Being the girl that I am, I was constantly looking up things about weddings like traditions, and superstitions, and dresses, and flowers, and .. you name it, I found it.

One of the things I came across was a superstition regarding ladybugs and weddings. It's said that if you find a ladybug on your wedding dress on the day of your wedding, you will have a long and happy marriage. So, I read this, smiled, and prayed for ladybugs. Someone must have heard my prayer.

So, like I said, we were married in Gatlinburg, TN, in October -- an amazing time to be surrounded by those mountains. As part of the wedding package, we rented a cabin near town. My dad and his girlfriend rented a cabin from the same place, and it just so happens that their cabin was just up the hill from ours by about one hundred feet. I could literally throw a rock from our front door and hit their back porch. Very close. It's a good thing I love my dad. :)

Anyway, our cabin was infested.. and I mean infested.. with ladybugs. They were everywhere. Hundreds of them. Probably thousands. Some dead, most alive. All over the place. Everywhere. Needless to say, I had more than a few on my wedding dress the day we got married. My dad's cabin that was oh-so-close didn't have one single tiny ladybug the entire weekend. Can you believe it? None at all.

For some reason, a lot of people get freaked out when I mention all these bugs all over the place. Maybe I'm just strange, but I took it as a token of good luck and just knew Lars was the guy for me for ever and ever and ever. And ever. :) Oh, and thanks to the folks at Sugarland Weddings for helping us have a fantastic wedding!

So here's wishing you lots of ladybugs...:)