And that got me thinking

Bluffton Today column, January 26, 2007

It had to have been fate. Bluffton Today launched during the first week of April, 2005 – the same week that I made Bluffton home. I picked it up right away and found that I loved the idea of a hometown newspaper. It was a lesson in contradictions for me. Having spent the last few years stopping at Quick Chek in the morning for the Daily Record and the Star Ledger (whose Sunday papers averaged 5 lbs on a light news day) I realized that I did indeed move to a small town.

And, that got me thinking …

Surely there were other recent transplants who needed some help navigating their new hometown - and the New Hometown column was born a few months later.

I’ve been writing New Hometown for almost eighteen months now and living in Bluffton for almost two years, so I figured it was time for a change. (Stop the celebration naysayers, this is not my last column.) Oh, you’ll still get the scoop on everything Bluffton, but I wanted a little extra freedom to tackle any topic. So, a couple weeks ago I asked the readers for new column name suggestions.

Thank you to everyone who sent in some great ideas – Margie Anderson, Susan Heck, Sondra Goldberg, Linda Finch, Jack Osburn, Joanne Hackett and my Southern friend “Boots” whose suggestions, while tongue in cheek, would have gotten me fired in no time.

We (my editors and moi) ended up going with “And That Got Me …” - Some weeks you’ll get me thinking, other weeks you’ll get me hollering, and some weeks you’ll get me wondering. Same content different moniker.

When I put out the call for suggestions I promised a feature story on the winning contributor. And since the winner is me (balloons and confetti are falling around me as you read), here is a closer look at the girl you call “Jersey”.

I’m addicted to Chap Stick and reality television.

I didn’t get my first cavity until I was in college and I am proud to say that since that first discovery I have had no others.

I wear a size 10 shoe (ugh).

If I don’t wear my contacts or glasses I can’t see my hand in front of my face.

My golf swing closely mirrors my field hockey swing, which is why I still have not broken 100.

I celebrated my 5th wedding anniversary this past summer.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in social work and a Master’s degree in Corporate and Public Communication.

I am a millionaire and don’t have to work. I’m kidding - just trying to see if you were still reading.

I have a loud and obnoxious laugh (more like a cackle) and chances you’ve heard me in a restaurants and thought “what the heck is so funny over there.”

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

My cousin Michael is my hero.

I am afraid of heights.

I like to paint, draw, and create.

I hope you continue to read. It only gets better from here.

To the 42 Ohio natives who moved to Bluffton yesterday – welcome, this is wonderful place to live.

Courtney Naughton is a Jersey Shore native who moved to Bluffton. She brings the Jersey attitude to the Lowcountry.