Thirteen Thursday # 2 Things About My Name You May Or May Not Know

Thursday Thirteen #2
Here are 13 things about my name that you may or may not know:

13.) The dictionary says:
Echo - A repetition of sound produced by the reflection of soundwaves from a wall,mountain, or other obstructing surface.
Eve - evening or day preceding a special day, such as a holiday.

12.) Greek Mythology says:
Echo was a mountain nymph who loved her own voice. Zeus, the King of Olympians was known for his many love affairs. Sometimes the young and beautiful Nymph Echo would distract and amuse his wife Hera with long entertaining stories, while Zeus took advantage of the moment to ravish the other mountain nymphs. When Hera discovered the trickery she punished the talkative Echo by taking away her voice, except in foolish repetition of another's words. Thus, all Echo could do was repeat the voice of another.

11.) Mythology also says:
Echo was a nymph who was a great singer and dancer and scorned the love of any man. This angered Pan, a lecherous god, and he instructed his followers to kill her. Echo was torn to pieces and spread all over theEarth. The Titan goddess of the earth, Gaia, received the pieces of Echo, whose voice remains repeating the last words of others.

10.) When I was a little girl I hated the name Echo. People would yell ECHOOOOOO ECHOOOOOOO. I used to cry about this. I mean really cry with real tears and all.

9.) When I was in High School and in my early 20's I hated my name because I could never get away with anything. I mean I have never met another person named Echo. So, anytime anyone was talking about Echo there was no mistake that they were talking about me. In High School I never really did anything for anyone to talk about. However, in my early 20's I did lots of stupid things to get gossiped about.

8.) When I tell people my name they usually think it is a nick name or they don't believe it is my real name. I have had the following conversations to many times in my life.
Me - 'Hi my name is Echo'
Person - 'Hi my name is whatever'
Person - 'How did you get the nickname Echo'
Me- 'Oh it's not a nickname it is really my name'
Person - 'You mean Echo is really your name, name?'
Me - 'Yes Echo is really my name. It is on my birth certificate and everything.'

7.) The other thing that gets old is that when people meet me they just can't help themselves they start repeating my name again and again. They also try to make it sound like they are in a cave with an echo. When they do this I really think they think they are the first ones to have ever done this. I just want to smack them.

6.) Sometimes I get this. So were your parents Hippies? Why not just come right and say it your parents were on drugs when they decided to name you weren't they.

5.) They story I have always told about myself goes like this:
(not really sure about how accurate it is but anyway I've been telling in for 30 some years)
You know I was born in 1975. My parents were the last of the hippies.You know peace love and all that stuff. Anyway, I was supposed to be a son. They were supposed to name me James III. They had no name picked out for a girl. My Mother had done a crossword puzzle and Echo was a nymph in this crossword puzzle. The name Echo just sort of stuck with her. So, when I turned out to be a girl Dad didn't really care what name Mom picked. She said I really like Echo. Dad said whatever Echo it is. I sure am glad Goat, or Hera, or Lynx wasn't one of the names that just stuck with here.

4.) I use Echoeve for everything that has to do with the computer. Anytime I create an account of any kind they ask for a username and I always choose echoeve. Sometimes I am surprised that it may have already been used. However, in these cases I usually find out after I put my email address in it tells me that I already have an account with them.Da!

3.) When I was naming my children I wanted them to have nice normal everyday names. I really think Bethany, and Noah cannot get anymore normal. The only regret I have in naming my children is I wish I would have named Bethany Corin, Bethany Elizabeth. Get it my name is Echo and my first born would have been BETHany elizaBETH. Hee Hee. Beth Beth. Now I am starting to sound like those stupid people I wanted to smack.

2.) Echo Star Helstrom was a girlfriend to Bob Dylan in High School. She was his inspiration for a song called 'Girl of North County'. Anyway, Mom told me just a few and I mean few years ago that she read a bookabout Bob Dylan before I was born and that's were she first heard the name Echo. She said she just loved the name right away and that it always stuck with her. So when the crossword puzzle came she just knew that was going to be my name. I totally wish I would've know about that years ago. With my love of music to have been able to say something like 'well my Mom read a book about Bob Dylan and he had a girlfriend named Echo. Blah, blah, blah.

1) Now that I am a grown up I must say I absolutely without a doubt love my name. I think it totally fits me to a tee. I totally hope that it will be used again down the line somewhere. Maybe someone someday will say how did you get that name and they will say well 'my Mom's favorite aunt was' or 'My Dad's favorite Grandmother was' or 'I have a Great Aunt who lives in Georgia and she's the best.' Now that's what I call legacy.

Some of my creations

I really wanted to post this last night but for once I took the night off. I came home and slept in my chair from 5-6:30. Then Chris brought in dinner. We went to bed about 10pm and I got up this morning at 5:30am and I feel great. I highly recommend a night off once in awhile.

Now here are some of my creations that I am very pleased with.

Bethany Corin Kirkland School Picture 2006-2007



Lynsey Morgan Kirkland

Ethan Christopher Rauscher with his parents(courtney and chris)


Madi Leigh Kirkland (I still don't know how to spell Madi?)

Jonathon, Madi, and Jackson on Nanny's Farm.

Emma Mae Kirkland (Bethany thinks that this is her special baby)

TMI Tuesday #1

I am going to call today TMI Tuesday. (Too Much Information Tuesday)It is sort of borrowed and created by me at the same time. There is another TMI Tuesday however, I will not be posting on my blog the kinds of things they want to know about a person. I will be taking this opportunity to tell a story of my past. Some of you will like this while other will think it is TMI and won't care. Either way this is my blog and what I say goes. I need a place were I can write down my memories from my life story. My sister and I always joke about the fact that we are writing a book. Well here's one for the book.

(Kelsea, Lynsey,Pooh, Bethany, Echo, Noah, Christopher, and Chris. Disney July 2005)

Title: Where Did All Those Children Come From?

Chris and Debbie got married really quickly. She already had a son named Andrew. They had two daughters together really fast, Lynsey and Kelsea. Their marriage was not a good marriage. My husband then was not a good husband or a good father. In the end they divorced and things got really bad for Chris. He did not fight in court for his girls, instead they had a no contest divorce and in the decree it only gave him visitation to his daughters. That was another really big mistake in his life. He just wouldn't ask for advice and he wouldn't take any. So the next couple of years he paid his child support but he didn't really see his kids. When he was suppose to have them they went with his mother, Pat. So, Grandma played a big part in the kid's life. These next couple of years were really rocky. My husband began to smoke and drink. He was in and out of jail for DUI's and driving without insurance. The drinking got really bad. He ran around with a lot of woman. Then he met up with, Patricia. Anyway, he ended up having a son with her, Christopher. When he wouldn't marry her she had the son and did not put his name on the birth certificate. She did sue him for child support and then after she won she told him that they were a package deal. So, my husband walked away. This was one of the biggest mistakes my husband ever made. So, he started living with a woman who beat her kids and then said that he did it so he went to jail. In the end it was proven that he did not do it so they let him go. When I had met him he was living in a run down trailer, and had just go this truck and his driver's license back.

When I met him we had so much fun together. We really did a lot of talking. We just connected. He said all the right things. So, we met in early August and I took him home over Labor Day weekend to meet my family. They loved him. When we got back to Georgia he proposed. We talked about getting married in February, but my sister was already coming to stay 3 weeks with me in November. So, we got married November18, 2000. Chris and I welcomed baby Bethany into the family on August 14, 2001. Then in the spring of 2002 we went to court and got visitation set up with Christopher. Baby Noah was welcomed into the family on April 19,2004. So, every 1st and 3rd weekend we had all 5 children. On the 2nd and 4th we just had Bethany and Noah. Chris and I really wanted all the children to live with us full time. We took Debbie to court in August of 2007 and won Temporary Custody of Lynsey and Kelsea. Just recently we had a conference with Patricia's Mom, Aleta. She has told us that Christopher is to a point in his lifewere a boy needs his Father. So, Christopher is going to come and live with us full time starting in June 2008. So, now we have 4 children all the time except for the 2nd and 4th weekends when Lynsey and Kelsea are with their Mom. However, starting in June it will be 5 children at our house full time. Here are the children's ages:

Lynsey is 14. She will be 15 in June. (This means she can get her learners permit to drive.) Kelsea is 12.

Christopher will be 10 on April 18th

Bethany is 6 ½.

Noah will be 4 on April 19th

WOW! That was alot of fun. I will be making other installments at a later date. As you can see there are alot of loop holes in my story. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I have always lived my life as an open book.