Tichy Grishy

Solo Overnight hike to Virgin Falls

2012-01-16T11:28:00.009-06:00

It has been too long since I got into the woods so last Friday night (I'll never be able to say that w/o thinking of Katie Perry)...so last Friday night I left my nice warm house and drove 2 hours East of Nashville to Virgin Falls Wilderness Area. I was running late due to some confusion so as the sun was setting, yes setting, I strapped on my pack, flipped on my headlamp and headed into the woods...alone.

My view with my headlamp

The temp was about 30 degrees and there was about 1" snow on the ground. The sky was a little cloudy but clearing slowly so the snow gave the woods a nice glow until the sun was completely set and then it was pretty dark. There were a few cars parked at the trailhead and several sets of footprints in the snow so I knew someone was at one of the campsites but I figured it was probably the main campsite at the falls, which I would not make it to tonight. So I walked for about an hour weaving in and out of dense areas and hopping carefully over a couple small streams (did not need my feet getting wet) Eventually I came to this larger creek crossing.

This was taken the next day on my way out

A cable had been installed to help you balance. The water was high enough to flow over some of the rocks and I do not hike in big waterproof boots so I had to remove my shoes and socks and cross barefoot. I was a little worried about this (remember I had the equivalent of a 40 lb child on my back) but took a breathe and stepped in. The rocks were not as slick as expected so with good traction and the cable I crossed quickly, dried my feet and put my nice dry socks and shoes back on and got ready to hike only to realized my campsite was just past the creek. So I dropped my pack, laid out my plastic ground cloth and went to search for dry firewood. I was able to find what I thought was dry firewood and some dry leaves under a rock overhang. I got back to camp and tried to start a fire for about 45 minutes while I heated some water on my stove for instant soup. My fire starters had little effect on the wet frozen wood so I was not going to have a fire tonight. It would have been very nice to sleep next to a warm fire as being alone is a little unnerving...not so much that animals would bother me, but that they would try to take my food, which was right next to my head. Once my stove had boiled some water, I ate some soup and cheese and crackers and make a cup of hot tea and crawled into my sleeping bag. It was so quite...almost too quite, but the stars were amazing so I laid there in the darkness w/ my tea. So peaceful and beautiful. I pulled my bag over my head and went to sleep. I slept well until 2:30 when I woke up...no reason...just woke up feeling pretty awake. I had the tarp pulled over me but my heat and breath had cause condensation to form on the plastic and started to get my bag wet so I pushed the tarp off. It had been keeping some heat in so I was a little colder the rest of the night but really pretty good except for my feet being a little chilly. I spent the next several hours trying to sleep, missing Carey's 200 degree body sleeping next to me and my pups as I dozed off a couple times but only for about 30 minutes each. I wanted to get up at 630 am but the sun wasn't really rising yet so I waited until 7 when it was fairly light. For breakfast, I had some instant blueberry oatmeal w/ fresh semi-squashed banana chunks in it which was delicious!

Video of my campsite and morning thoughts

And then made another cup of tea, packed up and started hiking. It was about 20 degrees so packing up had chilled my toes and hands so I needed to get hiking and warm up. It was perfect out. Just me and the woods and the sun working it's way up to join me. I headed towards Martha's Pretty Point, which was the scenic overlook. After about 45 minutes I had reached the top and was greeted by the sun on my face and this view!

The horizon was very clear and I could see where I was headed. I checked out a campground up there that I might have to camp at next time...how cool would it be to wake up to that view and also have the sun hit you first thing?! I headed down and onward. I delicately passed under an overhang with icicles overhead and a frozen floor that was made up of hundreds of beautiful ice formations...but was pretty sketchy to cross.

I made it past and came up to Great Laurel Falls, a 30 foot waterfall with a huge opening behind it that you could step into. There's a campsite near here as well and a fire ring behind the waterfall. The waterfall stream disappeared back into a small cave so the river went underground until it reached the Caney Fork River a 1.5 miles away.

Panoramic of Great Laurel Falls

I snapped a couple pics and moved on as I still had two miles to go till I reached the larger Virgin Falls. The next two miles very beautiful and just a nice soothing walk through the woods.

I looped around the falls and saw another smaller waterfall fed from a stream flowing from the mouth of a cave. Up the hill is supposedly another huge overhang and cave entrance but I had to move on to the falls so I didn't see it...gotta leave something for next time. I kept going and after 20 minutes I came upon Virgin Falls! Check out video here.

Notice the two guys down to the right of the falls

It was beautiful and the rain and snow had the water levels up very high so it was gushing over the falls! The falls were about 200-250 feet tall (just guessing) and the water disappeared back into a cave you can explore during dryer times. A cloud of mist had coated the trees around the base in a layer of ice.

I spotted the group of campers tents above the falls so I dropped my pack and headed up to say hello and see the top of the falls. One guy was really nice and showed me the mouth of the cave where the water that feed the falls was streaming out. He showed me a trail that walked around the falls. We chatted and then I checked out the trail. It let me around and through the ice-covered trees, which were actually pretty dangerous because temps has risen and ice was breaking and crashing down onto the trail. I watched for a little bit and slid down the trail and made it out of harms way. I then shot this video and went back towards the falling ice and about got knocked in the head by some falling chunks.

Ice almost hits me at the falls

I sat and had an early lunch of cheese and crackers and chocolate almond butter. So good! Then strapped my pack on and headed back and was glad too as it was still pretty cold and I needed to warm back up. I passed about 20 people on the way out, most of whom were going to camp and a couple of dayhikers. As I hit a couple of the more strenuous sections I could finally feel the added weight of the pack as my legs quickly got tired and I took breaks more frequently. I averaged about 2 mph as I headed out. I tried to move quickly as I knew I had told Carey I would be headed home about this time and still had a couple miles till I was out and driving towards cell reception. I reached the campsite I had stayed at and the creek crossing were I saw a couple boy-scout/military style hikers (waterproof boots and oversized packs) and they signaled for me to go ahead and cross. I quickly kicked off my shoes and socks and crossed like I'd done it several times before and then watched them cross precariously as I put my shoes on. They of course didn't need to remove their boots but at one point I thought one of them might have stepped a little deep... I was 1.5 miles from my truck and on easy trails. The scenery was new since I could not see any of this at night when I hiked in. I snapped a shot of a small set of cascades I'd heard the night before but not seen and then covered the last bit quickly and was pretty relieved to see my truck. The parking lot was completely full now and I didn't take any time to relax since I had a very nervous wife awaiting my call. As I headed down the gravel road out I got a bit of service and saw a text on my phone from Carey that read "Call me now. I'm getting worried" which means she's about an hour away from calling the park service so I quickly called and through some static was able to tell her I was headed home and could barely make out her say "I want to punch you in the face right now" and at that point I knew I was headed back to my loving wife :)

Bathroom renovation

2012-01-02T21:31:00.000-06:00

When David and I bought our house in 2007 it was a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house. To get to that one bathroom you had to walk into and through the middle bedroom and out a second door into an awkward hallway that housed the water heater. From that hallway you could go into the only bathroom in the house or the back bedroom. The first thing David did on the house was remove the poorly constructed wall that created the hallway. The bathroom and back bedroom were then accessible from the kitchen. Eventually we closed off the extra door into the middle bedroom and there was a large space in the kitchen that was virtually unusable except as storage. The two pictures below were taken before and during the kitchen renovation just to provide proof of the awkwardness of the spot. And I should mention that when we removed the paneling from the awkward hallway we found original siding from the outside of the house. You can see this in the 2nd picture. We always knew that we wanted to add a second bathroom to the house, but I have no idea when we decided that this former awkward hallway would be the perfect spot so we would get the most out of the existing square footage of the house.

I guess you can say we began the second bathroom October 2010 because we went ahead and framed the walls of the second bathroom during the massive kitchen renovation since the bathroom would be next to the kitchen. Not the most desirable of choices, but we put the door to the bathroom in a hallway off the kitchen and put insulation in the wall between both. We really began working on the bathroom again this past September and have slowly been finishing it around our busy schedules. During this time we've went to NYC/CT, David finished and passed his remaining architecture exams, spent lots of weekends with our framily and Thanksgiving/Christmas in AL and MS. Enough reading, below are some pictures.

Putting the shower floor in

drywall mudded and shower framed

finishing the floor (same floor in kitchen and laundry room)

cleaning up the drywall dust

painting the walls "Tennessee Chic"

David building the vanity from our the pine paneling saved from our old kitchen

setting the tile for the shower

Almost complete. (The baskets aren't staying. Just trying to get an idea of the size we will need) Gold mirror was from the habitat home store.

hanging the shower curtain

Done... Well mostly.

2 shower heads each with their own valve so you can use one head or both. Will also be a great spot to wash the dogs without having to pick them up and put them in the bathtub. David also used beautiful tropical wood for the shelf and the step into the shower.

We spray painted the gold mirror a deep purple that will be one of our accent colors.

We even put baseboard and quarter round in!!

As you can see from some of the pictures we still need to add some trim and paint the ceiling above the shower and put some kind of finish between the shower tile and the wall. We also have to caulk and paint all of the trim and the doorway (but that goes for about 75% of the rooms in our house). We are super proud of the (mostly) finished product and love having a second bathroom. This is the first time in our marriage that we have had a second bathroom. And now guests don't have to go through our bedroom to get to the bathroom. A win all around.

Year in Review, 2011 edition

2011-12-20T14:13:00.000-06:00

January - started the year off with the new found knowledge that my parents were separating. Finished a 4 month renovation on the kitchen

February - David started work with an architecture firm - 20 months after being out of architecture work

April - found out my grandfather had a tractor accident and broke his hip and was lucky to be alive

May - celebrated 4 years with David

June - went to Mexico and celebrated my 27th birthday, went to the wedding of my cousin Katie Ray Mayer

September - brought our SoCal friends to MS for Labor Day

October - I got a promotion at work, David and I went to New York City for the first time and finished off our New York trip with a train ride to CT to celebrate the wedding of our neighbors, Dave and Victoria. Parents' divorce was finalized. David bought a motorcycle to celebrate the completion of his architecture exams and learning experience.

November - 1 year since I started with the traveling position for my work, went camping with our best friends to celebrate David's 29th birthday and our SoCal friends came back to MS for Thanksgiving. Held a baby shower for my new "niece" Grace (see previous post) David found out he passed his last architecture exam

December - Christmas parties, Saints vs Titans game, Framily Christmas, Rockettes with David's family

Well, those are the highlights of our year. At least the ones that I can remember.
Overall we have had a great year and we feel very blessed for everything God has provided us.

Shower for Grace

2011-12-11T18:04:00.000-06:00

I've been wanting to blog about the baby shower I helped throw for my cousin, Melinda and her future baby girl, Grace for a while but we left our computer in MS at Thanksgiving and just got it back. So, here we go.

I've been a member of Pinterest for a while now and got most of my ideas from there. Love that site! My friend, Brittany, and I made this diaper cake for the shower.

Mom and I made this wreath and Brittany showed me how to make the bows for it.

We had lots of yummy food!!

I don't know how to turn the next picture, but these were cards that all the guests filled out and listed different wishes for Grace.

And the mom-to-be looked beautiful!!!

On a completely unrelated note: Not super impressed with Tiny Prints at the moment, as I never received any communication from them regarding the Christmas cards. Has anyone else experienced this?!

Christmas cards

2011-11-27T16:50:00.000-06:00

So, a couple of blogs that I read have posted about this amazing deal for bloggers from Tiny Prints - 50 FREE Christmas cards from their 2011 line and I couldn't help but to do the same. I've always loved tiny prints invitations for showers or birthday parties and they have such a great selection. Last year, David and I didn't do Christmas cards because of the massive kitchen renovation that we had going on at the time. SO, if you didn't get one last year - you weren't marked off our list! :) One of our best friends is an amazing photographer and took some pictures of me, David and our girls over Thanksgiving weekend and I am very excited to send out some Christmas cards this year!

If you want to participate in this awesom deal (who doesn't like free stuff?!) you can read about it here. Then once you have blogged about it, fill out the form you can find http://blog.tinyprints.com/feature-tiny-prints-christmas-cards/.

And even though it's been a while since I've blogged...I've got a couple of more up my sleeve once my mom brings our computer that we left in Jackson to us.

Spray paint is amazing!

2011-09-11T15:10:00.000-05:00

Wow, so sorry for the lack of updates. Can't believe it's been almost 6 months since I've posted. Will be very surprised if there are still any readers out there. Where has time gone? Since April, David and I went to Mexico with some friends and we watched my youngest cousin get married. David has been playing tennis 2-3 mornings a week and I've been traveling all over the country for work. David has slowly been working on our 2nd bathroom. The plumbing and electrical have been done and the dry wall has been hung. Dry wall still needs to be mudded and all the tile laid. Then a little paint and some fixtures - and we'll live in our first house to have 2 bathrooms since we've been married. :) David has also been doing a lot of studying for his architecture exams and only has TWO more left till he is able to get his license. Last weekend we went home for Labor Day. We took two of our good friends, Zach and Brittany home with us. They have two 65 lb+ dogs as well, so we had 4 total! It was chaos, but a good chaos. We had a wonderful Southern weekend, even though Tropical Storm Lee rained on us the entire weekend. While we were down there we decided to bring back a patio set that my parents are no longer using. The patio set is a hunter green and not a color that David and I wanted. So, we headed to Home Depot for an easy fix - SPRAY PAINT. I wondered if we would ever be able to agree on a paint color when David asked me, "what about a blue/teal color?" I was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so we chose Rust-oleum's Lagoon spray paint. Below are the before/after pictures. We are both quite happy with the results and love the pop of color in the back yard.

Housing update

2011-04-06T11:03:00.000-05:00

So this will be just a quick post about our most recent updates to the house. We have not done a whole lot since the kitchen because David began working full time at an architecture firm and we needed a break after the kitchen. :) David and I have been going back and forth about doing the 2nd bathroom next or the front porch. This past weekend because the weather was so dang nice and because of the relatively minor cost of doing the front porch in comparison to the bathroom; we made our decision. The PORCH! Here are just a couple of pictures. The first one is from when the porch was first put on and it is the best one I have to show the temporary posts that were holding the porch up. David and I agreed that our porch looked like it was on crutches.

David worked most of the day on Saturday and all day on Sunday to get the porch finished. The only break we took was to celebrate Mr. Addison Hickman turning one! Such a cutie and boy did he love that cake! While David was working on the porch, I was filling in the many holes and small ditches we had in our yard from when we removed a previous tree stump and from when we added our new water line. After the spots were filled with top soil, we add grass seed and covered with hay. Hopefully, the yard will soon look lush and green. Anyways, the porch only lacked around three boards on Sunday and these were added last night for a complete porch! Of course now it is even more obvious than before that we need to re-side the house and put a ceiling on the porch. But, one thing at a time. Quit rushing us. :)

Final pictures...

2011-02-06T12:44:00.000-06:00

So, here is the much awaited final pictures of the kitchen (well final enough for now) :)

But first, the before...

Now the afters...

And I tried to find some good audio for the below video transition, but couldn't get it to work. So, you just get the video.

Friday night thought stream

2011-02-04T23:33:00.000-06:00

Just got finished making some white chocolate bread pudding from a recipe my cousin shared with me. Well, not really white chocolate since I picked up the vanilla candy coating from the grocery store instead of the white chocolate. But, I'm rolling with it - we'll see how it turns out. I'm also listening to the new album, Barton Hollow, by the Civil Wars - download it! Probably for the 10th time this week and the 3rd time today (album came out on Tuesday). Went with my mom and some beautiful girlfriends to their show last night in Nashville at a tiny little venue called the Basement. We arrived an hour before the doors opened and got in line about 30 minutes before doors opened. And it. was. freezing. But we had amazing places (standing room only) to watch the show. So totally worth it!!

A girl named Lucy Schwartz opened and she was fabulous - plan on buying some of her music soon as well.

Anyways, as I mentioned my mom is in town this weekend. That's one of the reasons I took off work today. She came up to see the kitchen and to help us finish the kitchen and then throw a party for all of our friends who helped out. Which can I stop and say what amazing parents I have?! Worked on our house several several times over the past couple of years and then come up to help us throw a party for the people who helped us. Wish Dad was here this weekend, but he wasn't able to get off work. :( Anyways, we worked all day today and will have a full day tomorrow before our guests arrive. One big reason I am excited about the party is that because I will finally be able to share pictures of our finished kitchen!!! We really wanted to wait and I can not believe that I actually was able to hold off not posting pictures online. But, I guess it really wasn't that hard, because I just didn't put the pictures on my computer from the camera. :)

Tonight mom made one of my favorite meals (roast, rice, gravy, peas and cornbread) at David's request....because....David got started a full time architecture job this past Monday!!! It was literally an answered prayer and proof to me that God wants to hear from me even when I feel like he's got bigger things to handle - but that's another post entirely. If this news seems kind of a sudden - it felt like that to me as well. David had met with the architect once before and was planning on having lunch with him last Wednesday to talk about maybe coming on part time if some more projects came through. We've been hearing this line since David was laid off in May 2009 so we weren't really expecting anything to come from the lunch, but just another opportunity to network. I got a call on my lunch break from training (so thankful to actually be at my desk) and it was David telling me he accepted a full-time offer. So, he's back on the path of becoming a licensed architect and he will have vacation time for the first time in 20 months. And within just one week, the guys at his firm have made him feel like a valuable part of the team. Still doesn't feel like it is really happening. As for my job, I'm actually really enjoying it. The traveling. the work. everything. Its such a nice change of pace from the assistant work that I was doing for the past three years. I still have a lot to learn, but I am enjoying the challenge and trying to embrace it. Being gone from home hasn't been terrible for me (David might think otherwise) except on the days when I am traveling all day or there are a lot of delays. Otherwise, it's pretty fast paced and a couple days have passed by before I realize it. Also, very excited because next week when it's super cold in Nashville, I'll be in sunny (and 70 degree) Miami for 3 days. :) A couple of weeks after that I will head to Buffalo, NY for a couple of days and am hoping to get to see Niagara Falls for the first time!!

Okay, so that was long and rambling - but that's what has been going on at our place lately.

House pictures coming soon - PROMISE!

almost done

2011-01-17T16:27:00.000-06:00

The kitchen has come so far since the last update! The drywall has been completed and painted. Tile has been laid, IKEA cabinets installed, granite installed. And as of this morning, we have a functioning kitchen sink! We did end up using plywood covered in tablecloth as our countertops for about two weeks, however, our granite got installed a lot faster than we could have ever originally hoped for. We had been talking with Home Depot about doing the granite and they said it would take 4-6 weeks once it was templated. Well, we ended up stopping by a granite wholesaler and ordered the countertops on Sunday. The guy came out and did the template on Tuesday and it was installed on Friday. What quick service!
I would love to provide pictures, but David and I decided that we wanted all of our friends who helped out with the kitchen to see it in person before we put up pictures. We are planning on having them over for dinner in a couple of weeks, so you'll just have to wait a little while longer. :)

In the meantime, I thought I'd share some video David sent to me while I was away for work. Enjoy.
*and make sure to watch in order.

Kitchen update

2010-12-18T11:25:00.000-06:00

When we started our kitchen renovation, I truly believed I would keep up with the blog. Sorry that I have fallen down on my duties. :)

Nevertheless, here is a most recent panorama of our kitchen. David has hung the drywall. We have a guy coming on Monday to sand/mud the drywall. Then we get to the fun stuff: painting, laying tile and installing cabinets. Seeing as how we still haven't ordered countertops, we will probably have to put plywood or sometihng on top of the cabinets so we can have a functioning kitchen - but I will happily take that over the lack of kitchen.

The holiday season has been pretty tough without a kitchen since I always want to make yummy treats this time of year.

Home life and work life

2010-11-21T09:47:00.000-06:00

Progress on the house is still continuing. A couple of David's buddies from high school came over for the weekend to help out on the house. They finished the plumbing and now our water pressure is fabulous!!

New plumbing:

With the plumbing finished, we were finally able to hook up the washer and dryer (after 5 weeks) :)

Next step is the framing of interior walls, then electrical and drywall and all the finishing touches.

While we were renovating the kitchen and fixing the roof over the kitchen and the front of the house, we knew we would have to re-do the roof. And we decided to make a change and go with a metal roof. We are very happy with the results:

While we have been working on the house - my work life has changed dramatically. I have begun traveling. The first trip was for a week of training to Phoenix. It was a long week but I learned a lot and had a lot of fun with my co-workers during our free time. Below are some pictures from the trip:

This was our dinner location the first night! Absolutely gorgeous.

One of my colleagues from NC (who has been assistant for the past couple of years also) has almost the same tattoo as me. Little twilight zone.

Some of my awesome team members:

Decided to invest in some luggage for my future life of travels and it came in the mail this past week!

My first ever eBay purchase. All I can say is nerve wracking.

Yesterday David and I made the trip to Atlanta and IKEA to order our cabinets. Let's just say we walked in with a style that we had pretty much set our minds on and walked out with something different. Hopefully I will blog about it soon. Until then....

Big Things...

2010-11-07T12:38:00.000-06:00

So, things have been pretty quiet on the renovation front. Relatively. David has been working on the house every weekend and some weeknights since we began - but the last few weeks' work has not really been picture worthy. David had to reframe the floors and has been replacing drain lines and water lines. Once those are complete, the sub floor can be installed and then the interior walls can be framed.

Below is a picture of the front of the house. We decided that we needed to reframe the roof over the living room (living room roof was as flat as the kitchen roof) and we have been wanting to add a front porch for quite a while. This was a project that after much deliberation we decided to sub out. I didn't really want David taking the time away from the kitchen to get it done. But, we needed it done immediately because we are putting a metal roof on instead of shingles and we need to reroof all at the same time instead of in sections (which we could do if we were doing shingles). So, the roof and the porch have been reframed and we will hopefully have a new roof installed in the next couple of weeks.

Day 1 of front reframing:

Day 2 of front reframing:

A lot of people have been wondering if the front portion of our house was just open to all of the construction. During the first weekend of the renovation, David put in a temporary wall to help keep out the dust. This is also helping us as the weather is getting colder.

Here is a picture of the temporary wall from the inside of the house:

Yesterday was one of the first days that I could really help out since the first weekend. Most of the things David has been doing - well let's just say I'm probably more help just getting out of the way. And with the cold weather upon us, we felt it super imporant to begin the insulation. After a little instruction from David, I began installing the insulation. We also had a couple of guys come over for a couple hours to help. Jason went with David to HD and Derek stayed with me to finish the insulation. I'm quite proud of how much we got done in just a couple of hours. The boys continued to work on some demolition and some piping - and I left to go hang out with some of my favorite girls.

As I said early, the temperatures have dropped around Nashville and our poor Chessie is always shivering - so we found her a hoodie at Petsmart. Even that wasn't enough on Saturday morning and we also put her jacket on her. :)

Tomorrow morning I will be leaving the cold and headed to Phoenix for a week of training with work. Looking forward to the warm up but I am also pretty excited because that means I have been PROMOTED!! When I took the job at ICON, I was told the promotion would come somewhere between 6-18 months. At 6 months I was placed on the list for promotion eligible. However, because of bad timing and the economy, the promotion didn't come. After over 37 months, I was finally told the good news. And a week ago, my promotion was made effective. This means that I will begin traveling most weeks once a replacement is found for me. I am sad that I will be away from home a good bit but am very excited for the new challenge.

So, big things going on in the Grisham household....

Models for a Day!!

2010-10-24T21:57:00.001-05:00

David and I's beautiful friend Amy has decided to follow her dream to be a makeup artist. She asked a couple of us girls to come over one Saturday and have our makeup done and have pictures taken for her portfolio! We jumped at such a fun opportunity. She asked a friend, Melissa Schipper, to take the pictures at Hannah's downtown loft. These pictures were straight out of the camera - no editing done at all. Aren't they fabulous!?! Can't wait to see the edited versions.

Let me just say, I have some gorgeous friends!!

Below are just a couple of the great pictures from the day:

Our talented makeup artist and friend, Amy (amydoesmakeup@gmail.com):

Hannah:

Me:

Miranda:

Brandy:

Blast from the Past

2010-10-16T15:45:00.000-05:00

As David and I have renovated this house over the past 33 months - we have found a couple of items of paper hidden behind counters and in walls. I'm always looking to see if they are from an interesting time long ago. Each time, I've been fairly disappointed. A Reader's Digest from 1995 isn't super excited. Well, we hit the jackpot today. David was tearing up the flooring where our laundry room used to be to replace it and re-do some of the plumbing. All of the pipes were wrapped with aluminum foil and old newspapers. The first one we pulled out was from 1948 and one of the articles talked about President Truman. Unfortunately the all of the paper around the plumbing was pretty waterlogged. And while trying to pull it off, all the papers just ripped in our hands. So, we weren't able to save it. However, down in the crawlspace beside the plumbing were a couple of rolled up newspapers that weren't wet. I pulled it out and the paper is the Nashville Banner from November 11, 1958!! So Cool!! I'd love to try and figure out something artsy to do with it for the house once it's finished. Not really sure what we can do though.

If I can figure out something cool to do with it - I'll try to remember to post it on here!

Picking out countertops

2010-10-14T19:08:00.000-05:00

David and I had a meeting with the kitchen designer at Home Depot this afternoon. After we finished meeting, we pulled more countertop samples and looked at them next to the cabinets that are our top choice. We absolutely loved one sample and had pretty much decided on that one. Then we saw it in a larger size on one of the vignettes and we did NOT like it at all. Its crazy just how big of a difference there is once you see a larger sample. After looking at probably 10 different samples, we narrowed it down to two. Once we got it down to those two, we realized how much the samples fit our personalities and styles. Both of us liked both samples, but we each liked OUR sample the best. Neither one of us want to compromise, so we brought the samples home to look at for a few days to help us decide. I personally think since it's harder for me to deal with the lack of a kitchen - we should go with my choice :)

The lighting isn't great in the picture below, but can you figure out which one of us like which sample??

David's choice is on the left. My choice is on the right. Both are mostly ivory colored. David's has a good bit of brown while mine has a hint of pale green and pink.

One thing I am learning is that certain color combinations (like pale green and pink) can go very well together (sample above) or VERY badly (bathroom before we moved in)

Which is your favorite?

Rainy days go away

2010-10-13T17:35:00.000-05:00

Prior to this week Nashville had been without rain for quite a while - several weeks at least. This was perfect for our construction project. As the day of demolition got closer, the rain chances seemed to move further away. However, by the end of the weekend - there was a 30% chance of rain for Tuesday. 30% is not much to worry about and usually it doesn't even rain with a chance like that. But, we knew we wanted to get the kitchen water tight just in case.

We were able to get most of the plywood and the tyvek on the walls by Sunday evening. David came home Monday after work and immediately began putting the tar paper on the roof and nailing it down. At about 7 pm he realized that we didn't have enough tar paper to cover our new massive roof and headed to Home Depot. The plan was to get up the next morning and finish adding the tar paper and nailing it all down before leaving for work at 7am. Well, the rain decided to come in a little earlier than we planned and at about 6am, I woke up to the rain. I quickly woke David up and he climbed up on the roof to finish the tar paper. at 6am. in the dark. in the rain. I walked into the kitchen to yell up to see if there was anything I could help with and in the process was getting rained on as the water seeped in between the cracks of the tar paper (where it hadn't yet been nailed down). David worked quickly and by the time we left for work - water wasn't dripping into the kitchen any longer.

Needless to say, this kitchen project is going to be an adventure.

First Weekend of Construction is over

2010-10-10T19:43:00.000-05:00

Wow, I honestly can't believe I'm still able to move. To say that this weekend was exhausting would be an understatement, but I am honestly very happy with what we accomplished. The kitchen has been reframed and we are in the process of putting all the plywood sheeting on the outside. Most of it is done, but there are a few more pieces to put up and a lot more nails to nail in. Then a little bit more work and everything will be water tight, which we hope to have done before Tuesday when there is a 30% chance of rain. We rented a 30 yard dumpster for the demolition and by Friday evening it was completely full and we've been just trying to shove pieces in where we can for the rest of the weekend. We never could have done it without all the help we received. It still boggles my mind that my parents are so willing to come up and spend their weekend doing manual labor with us.

Anyways - to continue with the panoramic picture journey (not as good of a picture since I didn't have mom's awesome panoramic camera setting and I had to manually put the photos together, but you should get the idea)

End of Day 4:

Kitchen Renovation

2010-10-08T19:44:00.000-05:00

So, it has been a seriously long time since I've posted anything. Over 9 months!! But, not much has been going on in our lives and we didn't really have anything to share.

That is all changing this weekend. We finally decided it was as good a time as any to begin our kitchen renovation. We set the date for the 7-10th of October and my parents made plans to come and help out. There were so many things wrong with our kitchen. We had even entered it into the ugliest kitchen contests previously. At the end of the kitchen, the roof/ceiling was only about 6'6" - not even up to codes. We weren't going to be able to do any renovations until we re-framed the walls and the roof - so that's what we've been doing. Yesterday and today has been demo. Tomorrow is reframing!

Before:

At the end of Day 1:

At end of Day 2:

I plan to continue to use this blog to show our progress (for anyone out there that still reads it) :)

Pictures from Melinda's Wedding

2010-01-14T17:23:00.001-06:00

Here is a slideshow of pictures from Melinda's wedding. We had a wonderful time and were so happy to be able to share in their special day and she of course was GORGEOUS!!

Melinda - the bride

2010-01-10T19:28:00.000-06:00

So, Melinda is married!!! Melinda and Patrick were married Saturday evening in Hattiesburg, MS. These pictures are from our bridal shoot in November on my grandfather's farm. Melinda had printed out eight photos and had them around the reception site. One of the photos in the slideshow was blown up and used as her main bridal picture beside the wedding cake. The photographer was very gracious and did a little photoshopping to the picture and blew it up.

I will hopefully be able to update about the wedding (with a few pictures) in the next couple of days. Enjoy!!

I. Love. Magazines.

2010-01-06T06:49:00.000-06:00

I know that the internet is taking over and pretty soon some printed materials will be obsolete. But, I am doing my darndest to keep magazines out of that grave site. I love magazines. I'm not sure if its that I love getting mail or what. Honestly, I didn't realize my obsession until I had dozens of food and decorating magazines. Then one day I had an idea; why not just keep the pages that I liked, found informative, etc and make my own "magazine?" So that's what I did with all of my cooking magazines. I spent a couple hours one weekend and pulled out all of the recipes that I liked, thought I might light, might one day like to try or basic recipes that I should probably just have on hand. This project has become one of my favorites. Love getting my new magazines in the mail and scouring them for possible recipes. I have pulled so many that I had to expand to TWO binders. One is for main foods (categorized by type of meal, then by type of meat) and one is for desserts, appetizers and drinks. My obsession has not slowed down and in fact has probably gotten worse.

One of my new favorite magazines is SHAPE. I somehow managed to get a free year subscription and I'm hooked. There are wonderful workout routines to try and information about food that really is beneficial to me.

And if you have been following this blog at all, you know how much renovation has been going on at our house. The more our house is becoming a home - the more I want to decorate.

So, my new projects are going to be to create a binder for all my health related articles and one for all my design inspirations.

Then I get to keep them and update them in my new office!!

Old master bedroom to new office

2010-01-04T19:13:00.001-06:00

So, I wanted to share one of my Christmas presents! David spent a lot of time getting our front room (now our office) into shape for me for Christmas. He also began working on re-finishing an old desk to put our new computer on!! So, we almost have a complete office. Well, there is still a little bit of work to be done on the room - all the trim has to be caulked and painted. I am just so excited about how things are looking - I wanted to share now!

The first picture below is looking into the room from the door. I shot at this angle to show that we took away some of the space in this room and added a closet (and left room for the master closet)

The second and third pictures are just more views in the room to show the space. The closet still needs to be finished (sanding, mudding and paint). The door and the trim needs to be painted and primed.

The picture to the left is of the entry way into the office and master bedroom. Where the brick is exposed - we are going to put in shelves. You will still be able to see the brick, but we want to make the space functional. Choosing a color for this area was a little difficult because there was no way to transition the color from one of the dining room walls to the area. So, we (David) picked out the brown and decided to paint the small hallway as well as the adjoining face of the dining room.

I really like the way the color choice turned out. The picture below is looking into the dining/living room area from the kitchen. I am so excited to finally see progress on the house and really feel like I am living in a beautiful home!!

click here to see what the room looked like before we began all of the demolition

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-01T10:57:00.000-06:00

I tend not to make New Year's Resolutions. I really am not sure why that is, but this year I am making an intentional decision to make resolutions and do my best to keep them. One of the best ways I think I can be held accountable is to write them out here, in the blogosphere, and be kept accountable when I start to slack off. So here we go. Many may seem cliche but they are honestly things that I want to work on. I'm sure there are others that can be added, but I don't want to overwhelm myself and then fail at them all. :)

1. to eat healthy and to workout to BE healthy (not for the purpose of being skinny) - this will perhaps be the hardest for me because it is more of a change in the way I think than the way I act. I have been eating healthier in the past 6 months than I probably ever have. I have been working out and thinking of ways that I can workout more. I have been encouraging people to try new workout videos and games. All in the hopes of being skinny. And what has it gotten me? Exhaustion and no weight loss AT ALL. Last year I gained approximately 15 lbs (maybe more) from the beginning of the year to the end. All my little tricks that used to help me drop pounds isn't working anymore. I'm tired. I'm tired of focusing on the little bit of flab around my midsection and my imperfect thighs.
I feel good when I work out. I feel healthy. That's what I want to focus on. I want to not get tired walking up the 4 flights of stairs to work.

2. I want to read my Bible more and I want to pray more - I have to be honest, I used to be good at this. I used to read my Bible and spend time praying every single day. Then one day I woke up and felt like it wasn't doing me any good; I was talking to the ceiling and reading words that didn't really apply to me. So, I stopped. I thought that I would miss that routine that I had so "perfected." But, I didn't. I didn't miss talking to the ceiling. I didn't miss reading just words.
I have come to realize that while I did feel like I was in a routine - there were also times when I knew God was speaking to me (whether through prayer or reading His word) and where I felt an immeasurable peace. That's what I desire. That's what I want back. I want to know what God has in store for my life and I really can't find that if I am not spending time with Him. I am thankful for a church that encourages our struggles and finds ways to help develop these habits. Cross Point has begun a 31 day challenge. Reading a chapter of Proverbs a day for each day in January. 31 chapters in Proverbs is perfect for the 31 days in January. This is my first goal - to participate in this challenge each and every day (not letting 4 days pass and catching up). A blog has been set up where members of the church staff will put their insights from the daily reading. If this is an area that you struggle in, like I do, please join us!! One of the things that stood out to me from today's reading was not found in the text of Proverbs 1, but in the notes in my Life Application Bible and that is "Wisdom is the mind of God revealed"

3. Read more - I love fiction books. I absolutely adore being transported to a different time and place. But I have quit reading. I think a lot of it has to do with resolution #4. I'm not sure my wonderful husband will be to big of a fan of this resolution. :) I tend to literally get lost in a book. I can tune out pretty much anything that is going on around me and don't like to be bothered until I am at a stopping place. I sometimes sacrifice quality time with David to finish the next chapter. So this resolution is two-fold -> read more, but remember what is more important in life - relationships

4. Watch less TV - Television is a very easy vacation from the realities of life. I think this is why so many people (me included) get sucked in and watch way more television than anyone should. I grew up in the country in central MS. In the summer, it is blazing hot. In the winter, it is (mostly) pretty chilly. All of which are not ideal and since it is too far to go into town just to poke around, television becomes your friend. I think this routine has made its way into my adult life. I can sit down in the den and turn the tv on "just for noise" and next thing I know 4 hours has passed and it's time to go to bed and I have not done anything. I don't want this. I want to cultivate my creativity. I want to invest in my relationships. This is going to be hard for me. Some of the shows that I get invested in are starting up again in January (Biggest Loser, Burn Notice, Lost, So You Think You Can Dance, Survivior). Somehow I am going to have to decide which shows are disposable and spend time on other activities. This is going to be a tough one for me.

So, wow, this post is a lot longer than I ever intended, but it feels good to open up and put it all on the table.

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

and also, What are some good books for me to read in 2010?

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T16:39:00.002-06:00

This is the first Christmas that I have spent away from my family. David and I went to an amazing Christmas Eve service at Cross Point and I cried because I hated being away from the family. We came home and had chili and watched Christmas movies until bed. Bailey woke me up about 7 and as soon as I remembered it was Christmas, I was wide awake. David and I exchanged stockings and then came the surprise gift (David is making a habit of surprising me) of a MacBook Pro!!! We had been discussing upgrading our laptop for quite a while, but the cheapskate in me would never make the leap. David make the executive decision for us and ordered it and I couldn’t be more excited. He also has been working super hard on getting our office ready and re-finishing an old secretary’s desk so that I will have a suitable home office and a place to work on my photos. We drove down to David’s families and are spending time with the family until tomorrow. Sunday, we are greeting at church and then my parents will be in Nashville to continue Christmas vacation. How blessed we are!!

More Christmas pictures

2009-12-14T18:28:00.001-06:00

These are the pictures that I didn't upload correctly yesterday

The Christmas tree set up
Bailey posing in front of the tree
Finished cookies

Christmas is all around

2009-12-13T18:18:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday David and I continued our tradition of setting up the Christmas tree and baking Christmas cookies. We also try and watch a Christmas movie sometime during the day. This Christmas, we watched part of The Holiday (and I also watched part of Love Actually while David was putting lights on the outside of the house - but hey I needed something to listen to while I was addressing Christmas cards). Since this past Sunday, we have also watched parts of Elf, Its a Wonderful Life, and National Lampoon's. I've got Miracle on 34th Street set to record on my DVR. I'm saving that one until Christmas Eve. I posted some pictures below of our Christmas tradition

David preparing the counter to roll out the cookies

All of the icing

Ready to go in the oven!

Cookies in the oven

Christmas tree all set up

posing

Some of the finished products

She's Gorgeous

2009-11-30T18:58:00.003-06:00

This past week/end was Thanksgiving. On Tuesday I headed to my parents' house in Jackson, MS. Wednesday I caught up with a couple of good friends and helped get our house ready to celebrate Thanksgiving. Thursday, we ate way more than we should have and then braved the windy weather to play in our 2nd annual Thanksgiving bocce tournament. Friday may have been my most favorite day of the trip. My cousin agreed to once again be my guinea pig and let me take some bridal pictures on our grandfather's farm. And boy was she a trooper. Over a week ago, she broke her foot and yet she still trampled around all over the country for hours to allow me to take her photos. I am so thrilled with how the pictures have turned out and wish I could share them with you all - but we can't take the chance of her fiance seeing them - so you will all just have to wait until I figure something out. I have to give a special shout out to my mom, cousin (bride's sister) and my aunt, Cynde. Leigh Anne took on the role of set assistant and carried around all of our accessories for the shots. My mom did an amazing job as "artistic director." While I was focused on getting a good quality photo - mom would suggest different angles and views and locations to shoot the pictures. She had some wonderful ideas that added a lot to the photos. Cynde allowed us to use different locations in and around her (and my Uncle Billy's) beautiful home. Here is just a small snap shot of the day. Like the title said - she's gorgeous - but I guess you'll just have to trust me on that.

On Saturday, we finished up last minute decorations for Melinda's shower that afternoon. We finished up everything by 11:30 so that we could watch the egg bowl. Just in case you missed it - State won 41-27!! Anyways - guests started arriving and the attention finally focused back on the bride once the game ended. Melinda received wonderful presents and I had a great time seeing family and friends.

renovated master bedroom

2009-11-23T09:42:00.006-06:00

In late September, David and I begun renovating the two front bedrooms of our house. We used the front room as our master bedroom and the middle bedroom as our office. Well we decided to flip-flop those rooms once we renovated. We made this decision because eventually we will turn the bathroom we have now into the master bathroom and will have direct access from our room. Currently, we have not finished the new office - will get pictures of that up as soon as we finish!!

Now for the pictures:
When we first moved in:

After we did a little work to move in

Demolition:

cleaning up after demolition:

Construction of entryway and closet

Drywall being installed:

dresser and jewelry/art:

Fireplace view:

Room view:

Walk in closet!!!

There is still some work to do: finishing the crown molding and trim. Caulking EVERYTHING. Painting and installing doors and putting up art/decorations to finish out the room. But, right now, we are in the room and loving having a master bedroom!! When we are in that room, I feel like we are in a different house and it makes me very excited to continue our renovations.

My first photo shoot

2009-10-06T20:04:00.003-05:00

This past weekend I went down to God's country, aka Starkville, MS to spend some time with my cousins, re-visit college memories and most importantly take some engagement pictures. Melinda and Patrick are getting married on January 09, 2010. I wanted to take engagement and bridal pictures for Melinda as my gift to her. I've always loved photography, but it has been one of those dreams that I have not pursued so I never could fail. Well, no longer. I committed to taking the pictures and no matter what my nerves were saying - I was going to do it. So anyways - are a couple of the pictures. I am very happy with some of the pictures and not so happy with a few of the others. I know that I really need to work on lighting of pictures - but practice makes perfect. So enough about that:

New Demolition

2009-09-12T11:10:00.004-05:00

So, our posts have been very absent of late because not too much has been going on since the last post. David has been studying for and taking several of his ARE exams and I have just been working. We did go to Jackson last weekend to spend some time with the family on our long weekend and it was wonderful! I got to meet up with some wonderful friends and got to spend some relaxing time out at the pool. Going back to Jackson is always so peaceful and relaxing. Which was a good thing, because I knew as soon as we got back to Nashville, we were going to begin tearing down our bedroom. We returned to Nashville on Sunday night about 8pm and had the room cleaned out and the drywall off of the second ceiling before 10pm that same night. Boy were we motivated. The next morning we loaded up that drywall into David's truck and tore off all of the drywall on the walls before David left for work at about 9:40am. I then spent my Labor Day laboring. I tore down almost all of the plaster off of the walls by 3pm. I say almost because I couldn't reach the top 2 feet even when I had a step stool. I was worn out by the end of the day but very proud of myself for how much I had accomplished on my own. A lot of times when it comes to the house, I do not feel like I am contributing too much to the renovation, but this day - I felt I had earned my keep. David's reaction was even better than I imagined when he got home. I believe he said "wow" about 10 times in a row. Since then, David has taken the remaining plaster off and all of the strips of wood that are on the back of the plaster and loaded up his truck several times to take materials to the dump. My job today once we completely had the room cleaned of plaster was to vacuum around the bottom. I went ahead and swept and mopped so that we will be ready to get rolling tomorrow. I probably will end up mopping again today because the amount of dust that hits the floors is absurd. Anyways - Tomorrow we will begin framing one wall and the new closet as well as the window. We are actually making this room a little bit smaller with the renovation so that we will be able to add to the future master bedroom (which is currently the office). David is off of work on Monday and tuesday and he hopes to get the electrical done as well as the insulation. After that comes the drywall!! I am very hopeful that we will be able to get this room put back together soon!

So here's what you've probably been waiting for.

Before and After pictures of the demolition. There are no in-between pictures because I really didn't want to take my camera into the crazy dusty room.

Before with furniture:

Furniture is moved out, still have short ceiling:

Drywall down, plaster down, 10 ft ceilings opened up:

Hopefully, we will be better about posting updates over the next few weeks.

Possible upcoming posts:
- Trip to Fall Creek Falls with friends
- my parents coming to Nashville to help demolish our office. :)

2009-07-07T17:41:00.004-05:00

Wow - I can't believe it has been a month since either I or David have posted. Time has just gotten away from us lately. I really had planned to post about my point of view of David losing his job and then I realized that I mostly felt the same way he did. So glad he is out of a job that he didn't enjoy. That's not to say, I won't be happy when he gets another architecture job and we can go back to the salary we were used to, but as of right now - things are good and my hubby is happy - that's all I need. I didn't fully understand how David getting laid off must have felt to him. I didn't understand until the same reality almost came true for me as well. A couple of weeks ago, our company had to lay off 60 people in the US. 10 people in the TN office alone. I lost the other two assistants that I worked with. I had to take over their roles as well as train a new assistant. So, I've been super busy and haven't been in the mood to come home and post. So, that's my excuse. And david - well he's had a a sporadic work schedule and I've been putting him to work as my "house husband." Plus he just finished his 2nd ARE exam and is about to start studying for Test #3.

I promised a while back that I would post pictures of the dining room when we finished. And I am finally putting them up. The first is the dining room once we finished and painted it. The orange in the living room was before we painted it grey. The second picture is of the living room.

We are probably about 90% done. We still have the baseboards to put up. However, we want to replace the floors (and the water mane underneath) before we put the baseboards up.

Taking a leap...

2009-06-08T08:16:00.004-05:00

by David

About a year ago I began searching for a new job, while still at my old one. My current job had not turned out to be what I had hoped...far from it actually. However, there were tons of firms interested in me but the economy had started tanking and there were no opportunities so I sat and waited...which drives me even more crazy! Then a month ago I got called in to speak with two of the firm's principals..one of which was the president. I hadn't had a sit down conversation with him and only one person away from my desk the whole two years I had been there so I knew what was coming...Yes, I got laid off. They tried to explain it and rationalize it to me...but I tuned them out and let them talk since that part is more for their guilt than for me. It was a shock to be laid off for the first time...I got choked up saying goodbye to everyone but deep down I was excited! I was being forced to take the leap I couldn't make myself take.

So how has it turned out?

Well, things were uncertain but I had two weeks severance pay and then could get unemployment so, with that and my lovely wife who still suffers through her 8-5 job, we are fine financially. I took about two weeks to slowly find a part time job to get me out of the house and supplement the unemployment pay so I'm not solely relying on that. And I ended up getting a job for the place that was my absolute number one choice! I now work about 3 days a week for Cumberland Transit, an awesome local outdoor sporting goods store. I do camping and mensware and am slowly getting trained in the bike shop. I get paid to play around with the gear all day and hang out with people my age (the closest guy my age at the firm just turned 39...I'm 26) and you don't realize how nice it is to have a friend at work until you don't have one... Plus I get some wicked discounts on gear...just no money to buy any with...haha. But I have gotten to split my time between finishing projects on the house and work and my mental state has been so much better! Things are really working out and aren't solid yet but I know will continue to get better and better. Things may be uncertain and get tough for awhile but I'm am seeing what really matters to my heart and what really makes me happy. So now I'm working on the house, working part-time, studying for my next arch exam and trying to do little carpentry, furniture, and handyman jobs that I hope will turn into some income one day.

Life is good.

Before and Almost After

2009-05-19T17:33:00.005-05:00

So, I was going to wait to put before and after pictures up once we completely finished, but I've had a couple of requests for pictures, so I'll just have to put up FINAL pictures later.

Enjoy our hard work!!

Barron and Tripp

2009-05-09T17:11:00.005-05:00

So, last weekend David and I headed down to Mississippi because I had a doctor's appointment and it's always nice to see the family. We spent lots of time playing with my aunt and uncle's new puppies and laying by the pool. On Saturday, we had a fish fry with the family and some friends. I was so glad that Alisa (hope I spelled that right) and Dave Mosal were able to come and bring their precious two boys. Tripp just turned 2 in January and Barron was only 4 weeks old at the time of the fish fry. Here are some pictures I took of the boys.

Don't worry Cynde - I'll post some of my pictures of the puppies soon!!

Update on the dining room

2009-04-20T19:03:00.005-05:00

Here you go, mom!!

So as David posted below, the first project after his first Architecture test would be the dining room. And we have officially begun!! We are actually about a week and a half into it. Last weekend my parents came up for Easter weekend. For some reason, they always want to help us around the house. But, we were not complaining. They were AMAZING. David had pulled all the wood panels down on Wednesday night (so my dad would not have to see that destruction).
Thursday, my parents arrived. While mom and I went shopping, David and dad took down the wood frame holding the 7'4" ceiling and began tearing down plaster.
When mom and I returned, we joined in on the fun. I mean the work. Actually, it was super fun just beating the plaster down and really taking out some frustration out (literally) on the room.

On Friday, we took out on all the wood pieces that held the plaster up.

We began about 9 am and finished about 11:30. And that includes cleaning!!
We went to Cirque de Soleil, which was amazing, that afternoon. For the rest of the weekend, we gave my parents. After they left, David took out the plaster 10' ceiling which created a terrible mess.

But, wow - how large the room seemed. We were super excited about all of the transformation going on:

This past Saturday, our wonderful friends, Jared and Cortni came over and Jared and David took to the major task of putting up beams to hold all the weight from the two load bearing walls that we wanted to tear down. Late on Saturday night, the WALLS CAME DOWN!!!
I literally was jumping up and down and even ran across the street to tell our neighbors that they just had to see what we had done!

Current view from the door:

Current view looking towards the door:

Next up is the electrical - which is what David is working on right now (that's right, a husband who can do it all) and the drywall. We are hoping to get all the dry wall up by the end of this weekend. After that it's painting and some floor patching.

One down, six to go...hopefully

2009-04-07T11:51:00.004-05:00

I took my first architecture test yesterday. 8:30am - 1pm...4 1/2 hours!....yuck...Man, I hope I passed...but I won't find out for 6 weeks...at the soonest. I'm on a schedule to take a test...then do a home project...and alternate so I don't get tired of either one.

So after my test...Last night I ripped off the first piece of paneling in the dining room! So tonight and tomorrow I will be gutting the dining room! Yep, gutting it!! Here's a pic of it in it's current state.

Nice huh? Lot's of wood! Yes, the ceiling is low. 7'4"- ish to be exact. It is a secondary ceiling installed below the original 9'0" ceiling! Why? I guess they were short and wanted to keep the heat low...but my 6'+ friends have to watch out for that ceiling fan. The scope of the project is to take the walls and ceiling down to the studs, insulate the exterior wall/ceiling, remove the wall between the living room and dining room and put in a beam so it's one big open space, install new drywall and panelling, re-wire electric, refinish floors and rebuild closet into a coat/cleaning/misc. closet...so that about sums it up. Easy right? well, this is our first major project on the actual house versus the yard so wish me good luck and Carey patience and a sense of calm as we tackle this house one room at a time.

And with my new work schedule that should go a little faster! For those who don't know, I am highly against the 40-hour 5-day work week(a discussion for another post). However, it's hard to get around that tradition in my profession. Therefore, I proposed to my firm, that I change my typical work we from five 8-hour days to four 9-hour days. It dropped my hours from 40 to 36 but I am still full-time. They agreed so I get one less vacation day and 1/2 sick day but I get EVERY FRIDAY OFF!!! Definitely worth the trade off so I have more time to focus on life outside of work!

We'll be sure to keep you updated. Demo pics coming soon!

Money to the Church, Sweat to the Community

2009-04-02T12:02:00.002-05:00

Our small group has been exploring options to volunteer within the community. Among those options was to donate food and supplies to the Rescue Mission. So giving money...and maybe some time. However, I hesitate on this option for a few reasons:

First, it seems too easy if it's just giving money or materials. There is not much of a commitment on my part. And no participation in community and little opportunity for reaching out.

Second, and my main struggle, how do I choose where to give? We are called to give without question, but why should I give to the rescue mission over adopting a Compassion child or helping fund wells in Africa?

It's not my job to decide...but you still have to. So my decision...

Money to the Church. Sweat to the Community.

Why money to the church? The church has spent a great deal more time deciding where to contribute funding and is much more qualified than I am to decide. They can put the money towards needs locally and globaly, such as the Dominican Campus. Along with this, Carey and I are following the Crosspoint's 1% Challenge example and raising our church contributions by 1% yearly. Can you imagine giving 20% of your income to your church?! Crazy to think about...but I bet not as hard as we think.

Why sweat to the community? Cause cash travels better than sweat. I can donate a few hours of work locally much more easily than I can globally. Also, relationships and community require personal contact. They require going out and getting involved. This can't be done with just money. And also, for my benefit. To humble me when I'm feeling in control and like I can do it myself. I can't...we all need community.

Of course it's not this clean cut but as a whole I feel this is a good policy. Still gonna keep some McDonalds' bucks in my pocket for the occasional run-in with the homeless. I'd be very interested in anyone's thoughts so please feel free to comment, especially Pete or Jenni or other church staff, and let me know if I'm totally off base.

Weekend Trip Home

2009-03-31T17:10:00.007-05:00

A couple of weekends ago, we headed to Jackson for the weekend. My parents and aunt/uncle decided to have a Bocce and Barbeque party, hereby named the First Annual Car-Ray Farms Bocce Tournament. We could not have asked for better weather. I think I spent more time outside than inside (and for anyone that knows me, that's a big deal). Below are some pictures I took of the weekend.

Our official bocce court

the yummy barbeque

watching the games

playing the games

Justin and Brittany

Melinda and Patrick

Mom and Justin

watching some more

Conversation went into the night

All the ladies teasing Justin

My husband, the model

sweet moment

Sweet grandfather

Love this girl!! And so pretty too!

Family - if you want a copy of any of these, let me know what size and I'll get it before I come home!!

Bike Messenger in Nashville!

2009-03-18T08:57:00.003-05:00

This post is just to give a shout out to my friend Austin Bauman and Green Fleet Messengers. Austin has started Nashville's first bike messenger service called Green Fleet Messengers. Being a bike messenger has been something I have always fantasized about but never done. For some reason, I love urban riding in and around traffic and always thought I would make a great bike messenger. Well, this guy did what I would never do. He quit his job and started GFM. So if any of you need a short delivery within the metro area please give him a call. He's a great guy who for 3 years has organized an annual cross-country charity ride to children's hospitals nationwide to visit children with cancer and bring them goodies and attention! What a stud! Check out his website and blog and keep him in mind when you need a delivery.

www.GreenFleetMessengers.com

Article in Tennessean

And just yes...I included a blog pun. The text font is "courier". HAHAHAHAHA!!! Courier...like bike courier. I crack myself up...

"Sex"ting

2009-03-12T10:26:00.002-05:00

Sex + text messaging = SEXTING

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/15/national/main4723161.shtml

This article discusses the latest problem trend among high schoolers. They are texting dirty pictures of themselves to each other, and sometimes they leak to the rest of the school which leads to public humiliation and criminal charges!

Wow...how do you deal with that? They are just kids that want to be adults, just as I did in high school, but could seriously affect their futures with one text message. Luckily, all I had in high school was a bag phone.

not a bad idea for us married folk though ;)

Spring Forward!!

2009-03-02T13:40:00.003-06:00

If you don't know...I love to be outside. In the summer I am outside from dawn till dusk. Therefore, during the winter when I am stuck at work and it's dark and cold and often wet when I get home...my personality takes a nosedive. I feel tired much more often and just more impatient and discontent on a whole. But this Sunday is my favorite holiday of the year...Daylight Savings Time!!! I start the countdown several weeks in advance...it was around mid-January this year. And now it's almost here! This week is going to be gorgeous! And I get to celebrate by getting my wisdom teeth removed!!! whoopie... maybe I'll get some studying done...

What I do? The life of an Intern Architect.

2009-02-20T08:01:00.007-06:00

Being an intern architect has it's high and it's low moments. Right now it seems a lot more low moments but hopefully that will change before long. I'm not sure how many of you know what a typical intern architect does during the day so I thought I would share. Be aware...it's not as glamorous as some make it too be. Most of my time is spend doing monotonous tasks such as adjusting construction drawings, measuring existing buildings, researching codes, etc. Some days I get to design! Below are some Photoshop renderings of mine and the house at the end is one I have been helping design and hope to break ground on soon

This was for The People's Church in Franklin, TN showing our re-design of their Children's Wing Entry.

Before

After

Children's Worship space at The People's Church.

Before

After

Future Worship Space Design rendering for local church fundraising.

Before

After

Mixed Use Building

Before

After

My current project has been helping design a private residence. Below are some images rendered using our 3D software, not Photoshop like the ones above.

Front View

Rear View

Living Room

Back Patio View

Right now I am studying for my first Architecture Registration Exam (ARE) which is on structures which I think will be the hardest. The ARE is made up of seven exams that last 3-6 hours each. I hope to take one a month and have the tests done by later summer along with my experience requirements so that I will officially be an architect and can take off that blasted intern title and take on more responsibility and hopefully have my own firm one day. But until then...I'm the intern...

Giving up

2009-01-22T21:15:00.002-06:00

Some of you may know that one of my favorite fiction authors is Jodi Picoult. Her books always captivate me. Most of the ones I have read (maybe all - I can't really remember all the ones I've read) have some controversial element at its center. She writes from the perspective of several of the characters giving each one their due time so that reader completely understands where they are coming from on issues.

The reason that I titled this post giving up is because while I have read 3 of her books, I have been confronted by the same issue in a different media at the same time.

The first time this happened was on April 16, 2007. I began reading her book "19 Minutes" on April 15, 2007. The next day was the horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech. "19 Minutes" was about a school shooting.

Second occurrence - I read her book "Mercy" about a young woman who had suffered from cancer a very long time. That same weekend David and I watched the Bucket List, where Morgan Freeman was dying from cancer as well. I cried a lot that weekend and wouldn't leave David's side. I"m sure he thought I was crazy.

This last time, I read her most recent release "Change of Heart." I did not know exactly what the book was about when I borrowed it from the library but soon realized that the center of the novel was focused on a convicted killer who wanted to give his heart to the sister of his victim. And many of you may already see where else the issue arose - the past three episodes of Grey's Anatomy where a serial killer tries to give his organs to a dying little boy.

I'm starting to get a little weirded out.

I may not give up completely on Jodi Picoult books, but I do think it's going to be a while before I pick up the next one.

Homeless for the weekend

2009-01-16T13:37:00.005-06:00

No, I'm not going dumpster diving for the weekend or taking a nap on a park bench or picking up a couple forties at Rick's Market "Coldest Beer in Town." Carey has left for the weekend to visit with family and a good friend and her twin newborns! You can see pics here. So that leaves me and the girls at home. For those who may not know...once you are married you very rarely get a night, let alone a weekend, to yourself. Some see it with anticipation...some see it with anxiety. I am split between the two. I have always been very independent and perfectly fine hanging out by myself. But I love spending time with Carey. In anticipation of the weekend, I knew I wouldn't miss her till I went to bed and she wasn't there next to me. However, I didn't know I would miss her when...

... I left my empty bottle sitting on the counter and all I heard was my guilty concience...

...or when I changed the channel during every commercial break and didn't hear "oh just pick one!"

...or when I was playing my James Bond Wii game and made a sweet shot and turned to tell Carey for her candid response "...that's great sweetie..." (The dogs acted excited but I think it was just cause I was...)

...or when I got focused and didn't realize it was getting late because she wasn't there to kiss my cheek and say "I'm getting ready for bed" which actually means...."it's getting time for bed but I'm not going to sleep until you get in beside me"

I'm not near as independent as I think I am. All through college I moved yearly and got new roommates every time. Over my architecture sebaticle I lived with my Aunt. I've always had someone to come "home" to. My family, my roomate, and now my wife. These people have always been the key to it feeling like "home". So for this weekend while Carey is gone, I will be homeless. So the girls and I have planned a trip to my parents as well as to finally visit a good friend in Birmingham. Staying busy and away from the house will keep us from missing "home" too much. It's good every now and then to be homeless so you can see exactly what it is that means the most to you and all the ways it affects you. But I can't wait to be back home again where the counter (and my concience) stays clean and the channel stays tuned. Where I don't play games alone and I get plenty of sleep. So I will appreciate my time alone because it makes me appreciate the time I'm not even more.

Design inspired

2009-01-03T11:46:00.003-06:00

David and I bought our "handyman special" last December and we moved in last January. We have made a good number of changes, but the number we still need to make far outnumbers what we have done so far. One of the first changes I made to the house was removing the cabinet doors in our kitchen. The entire kitchen is some shade of brown. Brown and white laminate flooring, a low 7 ft (on one side and it slopes DOWN) brown ceiling, and ponderosa pine cabinets and drawers. I couldn't handle it anymore. I needed something different...so that was my temporary solution. The lack of cabinet doors was not meant to be a long term thing. David and I both had hoped to re-do the kitchen entirely in the first year. As others have noticed, things have not gone according to our plan (or any one elses) this year. As the year-mark has come and gone, I noticed the amount of dust on the crystal glasses we didn't use was disgusting as well as the dust around the glasses on the white shelf liner. Mom and Dad were here this past week and so I had a goal to change the shelf liner to a clear liner that would be easier to clean and to get all the dishes clean. As we were making these changes, we decided to move the glasses to the top shelf to hopefully keep the amount of dust down. Then I had the idea to do some kind of curtain over them to hide all of our junk. We ended up making a few modifications to the idea and came up with fabric doors. David and I both think they look pretty good as another temporary fix until we can completely re-do the kitchen (hopefully before the 2 year mark arrives). Please see below for the pictures of before and after and let me know what you think (only if it's positive) :)

2009

2009-01-01T22:58:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year everyone!!

David and I have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's holiday. we spent a week between our two families in Jackson and Somerville, AL and were spoiled beyond words. On Tuesday, my parents brought their old chaise up (so comfy) and we have been spending a lot of time with them before they leave tomorrow morning. We took my dad to different parts of the city that he had not seen and then spruced up the house with a few items to make our house more homey. Mom cooked us the traditional Tichenor family New Years Day dinner and tonight we have been playing a few board games.

We have had a wonderful 2008 and a wonderful start to 2009.

Lights...Camera....CHRISTMAS!!!!

2008-12-12T09:07:00.009-06:00

Christmas is by far our favorite holiday. We moved into our house a month after Christmas last year, so this was our first year to really decorate for the holiday season. Our holiday started early, as in the Friday evening before Thanksgiving by...

Getting a pre-lit tree and decorating it

baking and decorating cookies

and watching the Christmas classic "Elf".

Then, last weekend we tackled the outdoor lights, after taking advantage of Lowe's 50% holiday decorations sale. I did spend a little more than I should have but...we got some good stuff!!! I must say I am not super impressed with it, but it looks pretty good for being our first year. It's no Griswald home but it'll work.

Friday Mantra

2008-12-05T09:12:00.003-06:00

Any position can be made comfortable.

Chessie sleeping in the car (one of many positions)

Happy Friday.

Knuckleheads... (part 1)

2008-11-29T18:41:00.003-06:00

Our two pups have grown rather quickly. However, they are still pups and can be quite humorous. I would have posted earlier...but my camera cord evaded me. But I finally found it and here is a video of them "dancing". it cracks me up every time. I had to help a little this time but they actually get themselves in this position quite often. Enjoy.

Yes. This is our first video of many so stay tuned.

Mission Accomplished

2008-11-08T18:48:00.003-06:00

I have to brag for just a minute. Thursday night I listed 6 random things about myself. (See previous blog post) Number 5 was my quest to find chocolate covered doughnut holes. I called a Shipley's around town. No luck. I gave up and figured I'd call the other ones in town next week. But, I get home and David begins to tell me about the plans he has for our Saturday morning. Breakfast at SHIPLEY'S!!!!

And he had already called and confirmed that they had my chocolate-y treat.

Every Day!

Mission Accomplished. Carey = happy!!

Things you didn't know but were dying to find out.

2008-11-06T21:27:00.003-06:00

That is probably an exaggeration, but a couple of days ago I was tagged by this girl to list 6 random facts about myself. I have been thinking about this since that post and even had to write a couple down on a sticky note to remind myself.

So, here it goes...

1. First, I'm going to steal a little from Rossie. I don't like lasagna or really any tomato based sauces. I will eat them, but I never crave it and I don't love it. Also, not a fan of Seinfeld. At all. I actually chose homework over watching the show with my roommates in college. And to add to that - I don't like Everyone Loves Raymond. I don't love Raymond. I actually highly dislike Raymond.

2. I never can remember the difference between mild and medium salsa. I always have to ask David or think for a long time. If I'm in a hurry, I get the wrong one.

3. I can't stand seeing happy and in love older people lose one another. Most of what I see is in movies, on tv, or in books, but I boo-hoo every time. I just balled through the entire episode of tonight's "Grey's Anatomy." Thanks Shonda. It really doesn't even have to be older people. Can be younger people too. I don't discriminate.

4. I am becoming more opinionated and outspoken the older I get. I find the people that I connect with the most are the people who see me for who I am, love me for who I am, and will tell me when I am full of it.

5. Finding a place (a Shipley's to be exact) that consistently carries chocolate covered doughnut holes is one of my life goals. I haven't had one in probably 7 years and yet I still think about finding them more than is probably normal. I didn't say it was high on the list. But, it is on the list.

6. This morning I looked at our house and for the first time thought "this is a pretty cute house." Sad, but true. It's starting to grow on me. For the first time, I quit worrying about what it WILL look like and finally saw all the work and love that has gone into it and come from these past 10 months.

So, there you go...you all know a little bit more about me. Now I'm supposed to tag 6 people and have them do the same. So, we'll see if they keep it up.

The winners are:

Ashley

Brandi

My mom (or any member of her bunco group)

Lora

My favorite med student (if she has time)

Okay, so that's only 5. But, it's the only 5 I could think of who might (keeping my fingers crossed) participate and who I know haven't gotten tagged and who actually still update their blog on a fairly normal basis. Well that was my criteria. Can't wait to learn more about you all!!

EXTRA!!!EXTRA!!!

2008-11-04T12:04:00.004-06:00

I had a thought today as I glanced at the Tennessean while listening to NPR on my nano....

What would the world be like without the media?

1453: Johannes Gutenberg uses his printing press to print the Bible, making books freely accessible to many people during the Renaissance.
1620: First newspaper (or coranto) in English, published in Amsterdam after a Dutch example
1825: Nicéphore Niépce takes the first permanent photograph.
1876: First telephone call made by Alexander Graham Bell.
1916: Tunable radios invented.
1991: World Wide Web (WWW) publicly released by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN.

facts from Wikipedia

Look how far we've come in only 600 years!! The world revolved for centuries without mass media. What was it like then? What happens now that didn't then because of the media? Were there mass panics like Nashville's gas crisis or the economic worries that have swept the nation? Would Africa be getting much needed aid and attention? What did people talk about when they didn't know what was going on 100 miles away, even 20 miles away until months after it happened? Life was slower. Time was savored. Patience wasn't a virtue...it was typical. I haven't thought enough about this to blog anything worth reading. I just wanted to put the thought out there.

How would your day be different without the media and mass communication?

Would life go on if you didn't find out who won the election until tomorrow, or next week...

Costume pics....warning...not for weak stomachs

2008-10-31T14:45:00.004-05:00

I've dressed up for Halloween a few times since I quit trick or treating and unfortunately there are pictures to prove it.

Two years ago Carey and I dressed up for our first Halloween together. It put a little "spice" in the relationship.

Unfortunately, a year before that I put together a last minute costume that puts any other year to shame....no matter what I dress up like. However, I do think I pulled it off pretty well.

Yes, I dressed up as a girl after a shower and wearing a moisturizing mask (aka Barbasol Shaving Cream). So, thanks to a friend's hair wrap (which she put on cause I had no clue how to), a pair of tube socks, and some hiked up soccer shorts....you got this. The beauty of it all is only my close friends knew who it was and I could only take an hour of the party across the street before I went home and changed. So, don't go getting jealous of my girlish figure and I hope I haven't scared anyone too bad.
This year we are sitting it out. Carey and I are more Thanksgiving/Christmas people.

Happy Halloween!!

Busted in California!

2008-10-27T08:02:00.007-05:00

well, we didn't get busted for anything while in California but we did have a great trip. October 18-22 we flew out to the San Francisco area to visit my famiily out there (whom Carey had not yet met) as well as for vacation and to see the sights. I was born in San Jose but moved when I was 6 and had only been back once (5 years ago) so it was pretty much both of ours first trips to San Francisco. I was only 20 the first time and spent most of my trip visiting with family. This trip turned out to be everything we hoped it would. Carey and I got to spend time with my family and also got to see most of the sights we had planned to. However, we did not get to go to or across the Golden Gate Bridge...Here's some pics.

This is Ed, the main reason we went out. He married my grandmother when she and my grandfather separated. So...I guess he's my step-grandfather. Either way he's an awesome guy who took great care of my grandmother and kept her happy till the day she died. All 4 of my grandparents had passed away by the time I turned 16 and always lived hours away so I did not get to know them very well. I hate that so it was very important to me to get to know Ed as well as I could before he takes off and I'm very glad I got to see him at least one more time.

This is me chowing down on some delicious and fresh Dungenous Crab and sourdough. My favorite!!

This is the view we had from our table. The pics doesn't show it but sea lions were playing down amongst the boats.

Carey took this panoramic view of city line from one of the piers of the wharf.

Carey took this panoramic view of the city from the hills east of San Francisco. Ed took us there and it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

And this is an artistic panoramic view I pasted together of the San Francisco Federal Building by Morphosis Architecture. A very cool building.

A view from my aunt's neighbor's vineyard atop the hills in Napa Valley. They get to see this every day.

This is my Aunt's house and vineyard. Gorgeous!!

We had an awesome time and lots more pictures. The weather was perfect. The flights were on time and our luggage made it both ways. We couldn't have asked for more, except another day or two. We didn't have much time to just the two of us. We'll do more of that next time.

Blog Action Day

2008-10-15T11:34:00.002-05:00

Please read my other post but please read this one as well. I couldn't put it as well as this lady has. so check it out.

http://www.flowerdust.net/

The Pursuit Continues!!!

2008-10-15T08:44:00.004-05:00

Our small group is reading the books For Him Only and For Her Only by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn. It has stimulated some great discussion. There was one theme it hit on that has been something I have been trying to re-train myself to do.

To Pursue Her.

Once in a marriage or a serious realtionship, there is a personality flip that occurs. It is seamless. I didn't even realize it happened. I stopped pursueing her heart. Why?

I have a few thoughts on this. Guys like me approach life not as a day to day, nor relationship to relationship, but with a challenge to challenge mentality. I charge head on at the current goal until I achieve it and once that has been accomplished, I move on to the next goal or challenge. So, when I accomplished the impossible task of winning her heart and taking her hand I moved on. My love for her hasn't faded. She is still and even more important to me than the day before. However, as our marriage has progressed we have dealt with the abscense of this. We have concluded several times that I need to do this, however, I still don't. I know I love her so I know it is not a lack of love. I just don't think like that anymore. So I have to make a conscious effort to do this. So I need to re-train myself. I need to remember that ancient art of dating. Maybe even a weekly reminder on my calender or a friend who asks every now and then how my dating life is going. It's actually quite exciting when I think about it. I get to date again! Just as in 50 First Dates, her insecurity may seem like a hassle or a turn-off but really it's the opportunity to win her heart every day. That sounds like a challenge to me! I need to see that just because I can't spend Saturday planning the date, washing my car and picking up flowers before I pick her up at 7 to go to dinner....doesn't mean I can't be romantic. The ladies in our small group all agreed a small note or just a card does wonders toward recapturing her heart...even more so than a fancy dinner or movie. And ladies...your man still wants to be pursued and flirted with as well.

So, have any of you noticed that the pursuit has slowed or stopped or have any other thoughts on this?

It is still affecting me...

2008-10-12T21:22:00.003-05:00

This has to be my favorite special music song we have done at Crosspoint. This was done in early June and 4 months later, I am still thinking about it and had to go find it. So, I decided to share it. Enjoy.

http://vimeo.com/1114096

I need a new name

2008-10-08T18:35:00.006-05:00

It feels like a while since we've written. Well, I guess it's been a while since I wrote. Soon, I will post some pictures from the amazing wedding that David and I went to this weekend, but first a little fun.

The idea for this blog started about 10 months ago. We had several team members from my work come into town, so our whole study went out for dinner at a little Italian restaurant in Nashville. The food was wonderful at Mama Mia's. The restaurant has a $5 cork fee on bottles of wine that are brought in (they don't sell any) so the wine was flowing as well as good conversation. Some of my co-workers that have been in the CRO industry and been traveling for a long time began to impart wisdom upon the newbies, i.e. Heidi and myself. They knew that we would be traveling soon and thought they should give us some advice. The most interesting thing I heard all night is what is prompting this post. Many of my co-workers have an alias. This is a name they use when making a reservation for dinner, or hotel, or even talking to a stranger on the airplane. Sometimes jobs were made up to go along with these conversations. All this was done in the name of safety, some might would even say paranoia. But, I guess in this day and age one can never be safe. I've always wondered what a good alias for me would be. I mean, it needs to be something believable. A name that fits me. And to be honest, I have a hard time as imaging myself as anyone but Carey.

So, I'm taking suggestions from the blog world! Please feel free to leave me as many names as you can think of as long as they are not crazy and ridiculous. And please, EVERYONE PARTICIPATE (even if you stumbled across this website and don't even know me - I'll attach a picture for reference)!!

David and I will pick the top 3 and then we'll put a poll up and that will be my new name!

Sound fun? I think so.

Let's get to it!!!

Welcome to Adulthood

2008-09-26T12:10:00.005-05:00

I often see a sign on the side of the metaphorical highway that is my life. I see many in fact. One in particular that I am noticing more and more reads...

I have seen this several times as I graduated college, got married, moved to Nashville, started my job, and bought a house. So what has happened lately to make me see this sign again...

Well, I have recently started a business. And by recent I mean I haven't even sold anything yet..right now it's just a hobby with tax implications. Business cards are on order. I will discuss the details once things progress a little farther. But getting all this started has caused me to think about a lot of things.

What are my long term goals for this?

What are the possibilities?

Why am I starting a business with no business experience?

How will all this affect my life as it is?

Lots of important questions that I don't necessarily have the answers for.

Point being that I have had to take a look at what my life might be like in the future, which I have never really done before. It's exciting...but scary.

So, I'm curious...

What has prompted you to see this sign recently?

The Bottomless Bag

2008-09-23T17:01:00.003-05:00

I don't know about you, ladies, but I have a love-hate relationship with my purse. I love the way they look and how you can accessorize them with your outfits. Let's not forget the functionality part of them. I always have the things I need in close proximity. But, I hate searching around looking for that one item that I need that always seems to be in the bottom-most corner just out of reach. I always feel like such an idiot standing around at my car door, rummaging in my purse with my one free hand until I get so annoyed that I have to put everything I have down and practically stick my head into my purse to find what I need. As I was searching for my keys on the way to my car this afternoon, I realized that not only do I have my necessities in there, but, I also have some random stuff too. For instance, tanning goggles, cough drops (even though I'm not currently sick) and perhaps the most random - a Phase 10 card. The yellow number 11 to be exact.

So my question today is, what is the most random thing in your purse (or wallet for you men who want to answer)?

And, on a random side note - Does anyone know how to get rid of flies besides the use of a fly swatter. I'd prefer not to have bug juice all over my window.

I'm it.

2008-09-22T07:43:00.004-05:00

Yes, got tagged. Usually I ignore these things but usually they are in the form of impersonal personal emails and not a good friend calling me out. So therefore I will appease Jad and play along...however, I will not tag other people...which is cool cause I'm breaking 2 rules by not doing anything. haha.

Here ya go.

Tag Rules
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Write 6 random things about yourself.
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
4. If you’re tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag.

1. Wet willies and getting my nose squeezed immediately piss me off for some reason...I'm not sure why.

2. I almost became a chef but changed my mind shortly before graduating HS. (my cooking skills haven't progressed much since)

3. I haven't seen a full episode of The Office! I know!...don't worry, we are borrowing them.

4. I'm bad with directions. I'll glance at the google map and then take off knowing I'll get there eventually and I'm not good at remebering them. Not one of Carey's favorite qualities about me...luckily that has gotten better with my iphone!

5. I like my clothes to fit. Not tight. not baggy. not short. not long. nothing that can flap like a tie or unzipped jacket. not a big sandals fan either. I think a post on mine and Carey's favorite outfits may be coming.

6. I swallow my gum! I know...gross. But I did it as a kid and have no problem doing it now. And I've never had to have my stomach pumped. But at least you know I'm not the reason you stepped in it or your table has it all over the underside.

Since I'm not passing this on as the rules state...I'll at least throw out the question...

What is one random fact about you?

Exclusive Pictures!!!

2008-09-17T16:00:00.004-05:00

"You need to know that bitterness contaminates everything. It spreads far and wide and deep. Bitterness doesn’t isolate to the source of bitterness, but rather spreads to all of your relationships. Left unchecked it will ruin everything important to you. It will consume your thoughts, choke out your love and literally take over your life."

I copied this blurb from our pastor's blog. It rephrases what he talked about last Sunday.

I noticed how you could insert the word "fire" for the word "bitterness" (and change a couple other words) it fits perfectly. It never fails that every week something happens that reminds me of what our Sunday message was about and helps me put a little perspective on things.

Here is what happened:

Mario's Burns Again Here's the Tennessean article and slideshow.

As many of you may have heard...Mario's restaurant went up in flames....again. What many of you may not know is one if my first projects for my firm was to measure the inside of Mario's after it had burned the first time, about a year ago. Someone was looking to renovate it and needed current plans.

Now for the exclusive pictures!!!

I took a few shots inside Mario's as we were measuring to remember the experience. Along with these pictures I took a souvenir... a 1983 vintage wine bottle that had been ruined by the fire but remained sealed, which is in my wine rack at home and I'm sure still smells of the burned restaurant.

It was quite an experience. Walking around a building that has burned...seeing what fire can do to things...charred wood, melted wires, hundreds of bottles of ruined wine...and the unshakable smell of burnt wood...For me space and buildings are alive. I believe they breathe and speak to you and to see one in such poor shape...a dead building... It's a very surreal sensation.

I'm a visual guy. I'm don't learn through words...I learn through seeing. So I relate through seeing...and if the result of letting bitterness spread in my life is anything like what I saw....I'm gonna stomp it out before it gets started.

Have you ever been in a building after it has suffered a similar disaster? How did you feel?

(my family post is soon to come)

Meet the Tichenors

2008-09-11T18:37:00.003-05:00

David and I decided that we thought it would be good to "introduce" our faithful blog readers (especially our friends in Nashville) to our families. I thought I would go first:

First up, my mom:

(She's the one on the left)
I am very lucky when it comes to my family for many reasons.
First up, I consider my mom to be one of my best friends. We have had a strong relationship as far back as I can remember. Of course, there were times when she or I may not agree with that statement, but for the most part, it was a good relationship. There are many things I have learned and internalized from her. One of these, She has also tried her best to make me independent. Now, living 6 hours away, she says she thinks she made me a little TOO independent. There is definitely a family resemblance. She has also taught me to be genuine in who I am, to be a loyal friend, and I hope I'm only half of the cook she is. I could go on, but hopefully, you will all have the chance to my her (as well as the rest of my family) some day.

Next up, my dad:

My dad is one of the most laid back guys you will ever meet. And also a little jokester. I have a feeling that I got my sarcastic side from him. :) Well, that could have come from either side. My dad loves Nascar racing and taking care of his yard. It's his therapy, I think. He has a great work ethic and one that he has passed onto my brother more than me. He finally got a cell phone, only about 3 months ago and sold my 19 year old car shortly after that. I guess you could say he's a little frugal. And I definitely inherited that!! Just ask my husband. Growing up, when dad would tuck me into bed he would scratch my back (I would say he's one of the best and taught me my skill at it as well). This is still one of my favorite things and completely helps me relax. My dad isn't too much of a talker, but I have always been able to come to him and talk with him about things that I may not have been able to talk to anyone else about.

Now for my brother,

Unfortunately, I probably won't have too much to write about as I would like since we have never been really close. And I hate that. Growing up, we fought like cats and dogs. As we got older and more civil towards each other - we both started working and our schedules never allowed much time to get to know each other. As the years go by, I find that we are working on that in our own special way. Since he probably doesn't read this, I can say that even though he has a tough exterior, he truly has a heart of gold (hopefully you can see a glimpse of that in this picture). He is a farmer and he also has the strongest work ethic I know. One week during a summer, I think he logged about 90 hours of work. However, he definitely balances this out with a lot of hunting time in the winter.

And I must include my grandfather:

He definitely is one of my all-time favorite people! I lived on the same 70 acres of land as him for about 8 years including college. He is sharp as a tack (as the old timers might say) and still remembers things from 60 years ago. He is a former Mr. Atlas. He served in WWII in the army (I hope I've got my facts straight). He calls all the grandkids "knuckleheads" and used to ask me if I made all awfuls (A's) in school. He also has to have a project going on and he truly makes me smile and my heart happy every time I think about him. One of my regrets in life is not getting up in the summer and spending time with him working on the farm. Then, I saw it as only work. Now, I see it as quality time missed. Enough for the sad and back to the happy. He loves good southern cooking and eating like an early bird.

I hope you all have enjoyed getting to know my family a little bit. I know I have enjoyed thinking about what to write to give you all an accurate picture of the blessings in my life. Stay tuned for "Meet the Grishams" coming to a blogosphere near you!!

Babies

2008-09-09T08:10:00.003-05:00

I have been thinking a good bit about becoming a parent. No, not that I want to become one...but what it would be like to be one right now. Carey and I are at that point where we have a good many friends who are pregnant or parents or both! My best friend and his wife are pregnant with their 2nd. The first(above) popped out 4 days after our wedding! Now he is a little stud running around like his daddy. This guy has a kid/monkey, these guys are "planning", this guy is very close to joining the daddy club, and these two (him and her) have 3 of the cutest boys ever...it seems 1/2 our friend circle is in baby phase and 1/2 are not even close. I definitely want to be a father and always have but I have some things I would like to take care of first. Such as finishing our house renovation, going to Europe and other exotic destinations, growing up a little bit more, getting financially stable and so on...And luckily Carey feels the same way. And up till now I have approached kids with much caution...didn't know how to handle them. I still don't but find myself wanting to learn. Also, we had a "scare" about 5 months into our marriage and I was actually excited. Slightly scared but very excited. Carey and I even have names in mind for these "future" children.

So like this gal did...here are my reasons for not...as well as a few reasons for.

5 Reasons I'm not ready for kids
1. Not where I want to be maturity wise...if I'll ever be.
2. Haven't been across the US border yet.
3. Spread relationally thin as I can handle right now.
4. Money
5. House not ready

5 Reasons I want kids
1. Duh! To fit in with all our friends who have them already.
2. Another suspect for Carey to blame for stuff being left around the house...
3. An excuse to play on all the cool stuff at the playground and buy the cool toys they didn't have when I was a kid.
4. To see the thing I love most many more times a day...Carey's smile.
5. To have a little person who is 1/2 me and 1/2 Carey...hopefully a little more Carey.

What is your #1 reason you want/don't want kids?

Art...Duchamp, Picasso, Michaelangelo....Speegle

2008-09-03T08:37:00.003-05:00

Art. I don't understand most of it. And frankly I think a lot of it is BS. However, one of the forms I can understand is Photography, as I think most of you can. A good photographer can take an ordinary ephemeral image that you see everyday and never appreciate and he/she can make it an image you can't tear yourself away from. It's also an art that you can relate to. It is human scale. It is beauty found in our daily life and the more you live and experience the more beautiful it becomes. I find it odd that I rarely hear of what an incredible invention the camera is. A camera can capture memories. A camera can take you to the depths of the jungle without leaving your home. A camera can preserve the angelic beauty of your bride on your wedding day and prove that you were the guy she chose. They can also, as art should, make you think. All that said, I merely wanted to give a shout out to 3 artists in particular.

1. My Wife

Though she has just recently been able to give attention to this (too busy in college doing non-creative chemistry junk). However, she has an eye and a passion and that's all you need. I've been very impressed so far and can't wait to see what's too com. Here's one shot.

2. Edward Burtynsky http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/

He is a very well-known photographic artist who has done some amazing pictures highlighting the natural landscape as it is transformed by industry. Here's one shot of a quarry in Vermont. check out his site.

3. Derek Speegle www.speegleart.shutterfly.com

Derek is a long-time buddy of mine, which are hard to come by. Not only is he someone who has amazed me with his character but also his art. Just as many of the singer/songwriter artists in Nashville do, he works a day job to support his passion...art. Only from my poor college days do I know how frustrating that can be but he has never faltered in his generosity and devotion to our friendship. And luckily he found, Magen, the perfect girl to put up with him. And if you don't know enough about him, he is "Spiderman" from the Mancation pictures. If you have a second go check out these two albums of his. (P.S. I'm trying to get him to move to Nashville from B'ham now that Magen is done w/ school) Here's one example.

Art Walk (this work will be featured in the 2008 Art Walk Festival in B'ham this week)

Black & White (His senior Thesis work)

So, are there any artists you find amazing and want to share?

What are they thinking?

2008-08-26T14:20:00.004-05:00

In conjunction with my previous post, I decided to simplify it a little and put one picture that everyone can suggest captions to go in the bubble.

Let's start with me.

What am I thinking?

stay tuned for future "What are they thinking?" posts

Bubbles!!!

2008-08-26T09:28:00.007-05:00

WTF? (What the funk?) why did David title his blog "Bubbles?" I know what your thinking...

Dude, blogging in the tub is dangerous?

or

Is he really blogging about going to a strip club?

don't be silly...

My new favorite toy...Cartoon Bubbles! I did one for Carey and sent it to her when she was missing the pups.

And one from the Man-cation.

Then I thought how cool it would be to have everyone else fill in the bubbles! So I have attached some pics. I stole a couple from 2 of my favorite blogs (Pete and Jarrod) and the others are just random pics I pasted bubbles onto.

4
5
6
7
8
9

Use your comments to fill in the blanks. (number accordingly)

Speechless

2008-08-24T21:14:00.004-05:00

I am constantly amazed. By the community. By the love. By the genuineness. By the thankfulness.

Today has been a very exciting day for our church.

I'll begin with the announcements that Pete made at church this morning. Our church has grown by over 55% in the past year (and that's just at our Nashville campus. Add in the satellite campus and the number jumps to 95%). We have grown so much that 3 services are not enough to accommodate everyone. Starting in two weeks, there will be FOUR services in Nashville. In January (I believe) ANOTHER satellite campus will begin. And one of my favorite announcements....Each year for the next 10 years, are church will add another 1% to the amount of offering received to go to missions. Cross Point has always given 10% of what comes in immediately to missions. That means next year, 11% will be given. And then 12% the following year and so on. And in the next 10 years, over 6 MILLION dollars will be given to missions. That blows me away!!

Tonight, we attended Cross Point's Volunteer Gala. I will have to say that Dvid and I did not feel like we should go because for the most part we had only done one service act with the Safe Haven family shelter project. Anytime I mentioned this fact to anyone who has been at the church told me we were silly! That is exactly what this night was about; to honor the volunteers, whether volunteers for one day, or every day. And I can not even begin to explain how special the staff at Cross Point made the volunteers felt!! They truly just wanted to give back to the people who give back.

These things are just a small part of the impact this church has made since we moved here. We have found a place we belong. We have made life-long friends. We have found a place where we can give back (and we want to). We have found a place where we can grow. I can't wait to see where this church goes and where we will fit into that.

Here are some pictures from tonight's event!!

The Red Carpet:

The Master of Ceremonies, Ryan Bult:

CPC's version of Top Gun (please notice the name on the helmet):

Me and my wonderful hubby:

Me, Melissa and Laura:

Sarah and I:

Me and Laura:

The Waxy One and his beautiful wife, Brandi:

Jarrod and Micah

I married a 4-leaf clover!

2008-08-19T13:12:00.002-05:00

One of the most common phrases I ignore is "Enter to Win". I'm sure most of you do cause odds are it's a waste of time. Well, Carey and I have been entering these things lately. Mostly it's home renovation stuff with the narrow chance that we'll get something...and mostly it's her entering. Back in May we stopped by to see my friend at Alabama Outdoors, an outdoor store he works at. Well, they had this competition between store branches for whoever got the most emails signed up for this competition got a prize. So to help the store out we signed up...plus there was a nice giveaway. We saw the huge list of emails and after a brief moment of "what if" we dismissed it. well check this out!

Yes, Carey won. A $300 North Face gift card to Alabama Outdoors and her name on their website! Now, this is quite a cool prize and you would think only happens every now and then. Well, Carey defies these odds... Last October, my architecture firm had an open house party with tons of food and door prizes. There were bus tickets, gift baskets, Frist passes, and a nice shiny new Specialized Globe bicycle. Yes, Carey drew the number for the bike. A $410 bike we later sold on Craigslist for $300, since we didn't need it. So that's 2 $300 drawings she has one in less than a year. You better believe we are entering them all from here on out! The last thing I won...I can't even remember. I never win anything (though I'm still the luckiest guy in the world)....but now I get 1/2 of it all! haha!

And to throw a little perspective on this...It's pretty awesome to win or be given something you did nothing to earn. Well, even though I never win these drawings...I've got grace and didn't have to do a darn thing for it.

What is the biggest drawing prize you have won?

2008-08-17T14:03:00.008-05:00

I guess I'll let David write the fun posts and I'll just update everyone on what we have been working on here. David has been finishing up the patio and putting pavers (brick-type) things on the bottom layer of the deck and in our firepit.
the future firepit:
He is actually out there right now working on this as I am sitting in the nice air conditioned house.
Honestly, I can't wait till we can move the work to the inside of the house and I will be able to play a more active role, but as for now, I'll just photograph the progress.
Last weekend, after the Tomato Arts Festival , we had two couples over for dinner and yard games (ladder ball and corn hole). David and I purchased a set of outdoor seating and then made our guests put it together. I don't think they minded. It was either help assemble it or sit on the wood deck. Besides the patio, we have been watching a lot of the Olympics. We have actually watched Michael Phelps win 7 out of his 8 gold medals. While watching the Olympics and while David has been working on the patio, I have been practicing my own little new hobby, embroidery. My neighbor, Jill, got me hooked. It's nice to have something to do while I'm sitting around. Here are a couple of the ones I have been working on:

And because I always seem to have a cute picture of one or both of the dogs to put up:

The Something Store

2008-08-13T12:02:00.002-05:00

Tired of making decisions when you shop? Don't you just wish you could hand someone money and they would give you something? Well, then this is the site for you!

http://www.somethingstore.com/

The Something Store allows you to sit on your sofa and buy stuff without even shopping. You pay them $10, they send you something. No, you don't know what. Items received have ranged from tacky Florida souveniers to GPS systems. You never know. It's a gamble but you always get something at least... still, I'm the kinda guy that likes to know what I am getting...but I am slightly tempted, but my allowance is too precious...and already spent...

How many of you would do this for $10? and if you do let me know what you get.

Oysters and the Environment

2008-08-11T20:25:00.002-05:00

The 5k was a success. And by success I mean we did finish and I'm pretty sure no one even walked! Considering none of us are regular runners I think that is pretty awesome! We were pretty spread out though. Here's my finish pic and a group shot of the runners.

As for Oysters...The Oyster Race is an urban adventure race. What is an urban adventure race you might ask? well, it's basically the same thing as The Amazing Race you've seen on TV. However this one occurs on a Saturday in a section of Nashville but covers 40-50 miles. Well, a couple of my coworkers and I are trying to form a team. There is a catch that you have to raise the $300 entry fee which is in the form of pledges to a local non-profit organization. And since I only found out about this a few days ago...we need to get to work. Check out more about this awesome race at Oyster Race.

Next, I head up these sessions at my architecture firm that I call "Hour-chitecture." They are 60-minute sessions where we discuss something about architecture and usually do some kind of exercise. For example, I held a competition to design a chair out of found materials. I made one out of old bike tire rims and used bike tubes. Today I introduced another competition I call Green2Green. The object of the competition is similar to Oprah's Pay It Forward challenge however, the teams are given a modest budget of $33.33 and the goal is to use the money, your talent, and your connections to make as large of an impact on the environment as possible, whether it be by installing a recycling program as a local elementary school or encouraging people to reduce their carbon footprint. This will last for the next 4 weeks. I'm very excited to see the creative solutions that come from this.

What is a small adjustment you have made to make your life more "green"?

New Name

2008-08-08T12:18:00.002-05:00

Team Grisham? what kinda name is that? It's like we have 8 kids and we are playing softball at a family reunion...well we're not...yet.

As for the origin of the new name....Tichy Grishy. It's quiet simple. There has been a fad where newlyweds combine their last names to form a new one instead of hyphenating or taking the guy's or not changing. So Carey and I were joking one night about what ours could be. Tich(sh)enor and Grisham....there's Tichnam...Gishnor...nah....how about Tich(sh)y Grishy! Money! so there you have it. Our blog name is bound to change and if Carey has much to do with it, it won't last long...

What kinda combo names are there for those who are married or soon to be or just want to make up a last name for their future spouse?

Tomato Art Festival in the Hood

2008-08-08T11:59:00.003-05:00

Tonight kicks off the Tomato Art Festival in East Nashville! Tomorrow is the bulk of it though. It has all kinds of events including a Tomato Toss, Tomato Beauty pageant (dressed up tomatos are the contestants), a bazaar of local artists, a bloody mary competition, and tons of other stuff. And I'm not sure why but I along with Julie and Brandon Lounds and Todd Hartley for some reason are paying $20 to run the Tomato Arts 5k. Do I run a lot?....no. I hate running. I don't hate exercise...running when there is no ball or frisbee involved is just BORING to me. I would much rather ride my bike. However, for some reason I feel compelled to do the race. I guess cause I've never run one and I love trying new things.

What I want to know is what's the craziest thing you've done just because you'd never done it before?

5 men. 4 days. 3 trips to Cracker Barrel. 2 rope swings 1 Awesome Time

2008-08-05T21:03:00.015-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I and 4 of my good friends set out to accomplish a task. The task...to remember. to remember we are men. Husbands, fathers, sons, brothers....Men. Into battle we went. Rugged and Shirtless. Wielding our paddles as we chased down our Glory!

You might laugh at the fact that these men ate at Cracker Barrel 3 times or that some of us filled up on cheese so we wouldn't have to squat in the woods. But let me tell you...we accomplished our task. First off...Carey doesn't eat Cracker Barrel so that was one of my main to do's. Second, 5 of us packed 3 canoes (one being a one-man) with the minimum gear for a 17-mile 2-day paddle. We set off with no idea of where we would camp. Not Planning...Man quality #1. After about a mile we came to a tree swing. Here are some pics of that.

Here is my wild friend from high school, Derek.

Jarrod Morris

Jason Telford

Me

We paddled a few more miles and came across a giant tree swing! To conquer this swing, we had to walk a narrow edge above some nasty muddy water close to snake terretory, then climb 20 feet using wobbly 2x4s nailed to a tree then perch upon a makeshift platform while stretching to reach the bike handlebars that were the grip.

Gernomimo!!

Ex-cirque du soleil performer Derek

Me

Jarrod

Jason's Jesus impression

Spiderman (aka Todd Hartley)

All of the men conquered all of the rope swings. It was glorious. We went a little ways farther taking a couple breaks to cool off. After about 7 1/2 miles we began scouting possible camp sites. We had been told some of the islands were possible camp sites and there was some public land scattered along the way. Well, the "islands" were overgrown pebble bars and only good for a snake bite and a sore back. We stopped at one point to check out a pasture...since it seemed that's all there were along the river. It didn't look too bad but not ideal. We decided to press on. Almost a mile down stream we passed a water pump station (this is not like a canoe gas station). supposedly there is a pipe in the middle of the river that shoots water up 5' in the air several times a day. Luckily it didn't do this as we passed. Just after the pump station we saw a yellow metal stair leading on top of the rocks. We sent Jason to check it out...a few minutes passed...no Jason. We sent Jarrod...a few more minutes...no Jarrod. So the rest of us slowly crept up the stairs...clink...clink...clink... oh..it was just a big field and they were walking around it. haha...I liked building the suspense though. Ok..it wasn't just a big field. It was the field of dreams. the perfect campsite! It was mowed, there was a fire pit...it was perfect.

So we hauled the gear up. chopped firewood. pitched the tents. then took out the bocce ball set. I convinced Carey I needed this before the trip. Boy am I glad I did. We played every chance we got. After a few rounds we made a fire, cooked some wiennies and hung out around the fire. And by hung out I mean we fought Kung Fu style over the red hot flames!

Jarrod and I dueling.

Me practicing my "finish him" kick.

Jason doing another impression..but this time it's Mario instead of Jesus. (Laura Morris's gets credit for that)

Then. We began the real bonding.

Jarrod showed us how he would dodge bullets in the Matrix.

Todd, mild mannered law student, is Spiderman!!!

Jason and Todd had to settle a slight disagreement light saber style!

Don't worry about monsters..we had a force field!

We awoke the next morning...played a short bocce tournament and packed up. Paddled the rest of the trip and headed for a good home-cooked meal. Take note that the 5 of us had a few backpacks, one large cooler, and one small cooler. There was a group of fellas ending their trip who each had a backpack and a larger personal cooler to hold their beverages. I think we did well on roughing it that night. The last night was one of campfire merriment and man talk along with tipping back a few. We woke up the next morning, grabbed a quick bite at Cracker Barrel and headed back in time to make the 11am service at Crosspoint and gladly into the open arms of our loving wives...after we showered of course.

What is the best trip you have taken this summer?

New progress pictures

2008-07-27T19:53:00.004-05:00

Here are some progress pictures of the back patio:

Two of our friends, Brandon and Todd came over on Thursday night (while the girls were at a party) and helped David demolish the old steps and wheelchair ramp in the back:

Then on Saturday, Brandon came back over with another friend, Jarrod, and helped start framing out the patio.

They worked hard and got a lot done.

Today, David's only help was me. And I wasn't much help because it was super hot and I wasn't strong enough to do some of the work. I did however nail a few braces in for him.

This last picture is just with the wood on the frame...not yet nailed in...hopefully that will happen this week!

Oh, and one more cute photo of David with the girls...

Man-cation Day 1 and a half (the wife's view)

2008-07-18T17:25:00.003-05:00

So, the boys packed up Jarrod's SUV and headed off yesterday afternoon for a weekend of man-liness, or that's what we've been told. I thought the whole weekend was supposed to be a back to nature adventure "to get back to the roots of man" kind-of-thing. I never knew getting back to the basics required so much crap. I wish I had pictures of the pile of stuff these boys had. My husband, a former eagle scout, would claim the "Always be prepared" motto. I'm not so convinced.

I honestly was approaching this weekend with dread. What would I do without my constant companion besides be driven crazy by our nutty dogs (who, at this moment by the way are biting at each other's legs and making devil-dog faces)? Speaking of the dogs, every morning when I get up and let the girls out we go outside so they can do their business. As soon as we come in, they run towards our room and go to wake up David. I have found this is a wonderful method to get my hubby out of bed. If he stays in a semi-sleeping position, the girls pounce on him and try to crawl under the covers and onto him. If he is mostly up, he normally keeps them from getting up there, all the while getting a morning licking bath. This morning, as soon as I let the girls out of their crate, they ran to room and so I followed. When they didn't see David they just stopped in the doorway and looked at the bed and looked back at me. They looked at the bed and back at me. When I told them, that he wasn't in there - they just turned around and began following me around the house. They seemed so confused as to why he wasn't there. Lately, they have begun hiding around corners waiting for one to attack. Enough about them...

On to my weekend,
Last night, I spent time with two of my favorite girls, Laura H and Miranda. We ate taco salad and just sat around, talked, and really got to deepen our relationships. It was wonderful and refreshing. I hated to leave, but I knew 6:00 would come early this morning. On the way to Laura's, I talked to my neighbor, Jill, whose husband is on the road often with his band, Ill Patriot. I knew he was gone at the moment and mentioned that we should hang out. So, tonight I am headed out to join the lonely wives club at Rosepepper. That is the name this group of girls like to call themselves. I believe that all of them have husbands/significant others in Ill Patriot or another band. I'm looking forward to meeting and making new friends. I just hope I can put down my self-conscious guard down and really have a good time.
Now what to do about tomorrow?

D-E-M-O-lition

2008-07-07T16:27:00.007-05:00

So, as mentioned in the previous post, once the shed was finished we were moving on to the carport. I was not going to let this holiday weekend go by without getting that accomplished. I thought that we would be able to get this started on Friday or at least Saturday, but it was Sunday as everything takes longer than you previously plan for (I hate when cliches are right). I'm just proud that we did it in the weekend that we said we were. Now, we just have to clean up the rest of the yard and remove all the nail-ravaged wood that is laying around. Here are a few pictures from yesterday:

BEFORE:

Our wonderful neighbor, Dave, helping out:

the roof is down!!

Light is actually coming into the kitchen now:

The mess it left behind and what we have left to clean up:

The finished, well semi-finished, product:

2008-07-05T13:16:00.009-05:00

So, as most of you know, David has been building a shed in our backyard. He has designed it and built it from the ground up. (With a little help from the wife). Well, he is almost finished and I couldn't be happier. Once he gets it to where it is completed and lockable - he will be able to move tools and other things into it and then on to our next project - TEARING DOWN THE CARPORT!! Hopefully, we'll be able to do that tomorrow. First, I thought I would show you some pictures of the progress of the shed:

Yesterday was the 4th of July. David worked on his shed a little, we did a little shopping, we had our own cookout and then we went to see the fireworks downtown. We didn't fight the crowds downtown, instead we hit up an alley in East Nashville that had a pretty good view of the show (besides the light pole that is present in every picture). We climbed up on top of David's truck and fashioned a chair out of his crash pad and enjoyed the show. All that was missing was some popcorn and coke.

Our view before the show started:

The finale (or a brief second of it):

Our seat:

Our mind is an amazing thing

2008-06-30T19:19:00.002-05:00

As holidays, birthdays and season come and go, I am always amazed at how excited I get. I have all these memories and hopes of how each holiday and season are supposed to be.

This is always how I initially think of the seasons:
The fall is full of the leaves changing color, football, fun and cute clothes, perfect temperatures and bonfires.
Winter is snow and roaring fires and cuddling by the fire and singing Christmas carols
The spring is a thaw from the winter and new life is abounding.
Summer is laying out at the beach and longer days and fireflies and fireworks and grilling out with friends.

This is how they normally go:
Fall - pretty much the same as above - that's probably why it's my favorite
Winter - cold, very cold, especially here (compared to Jackson, MS) and the snow I so fondly think of. REMINDER: I'm from Mississippi - central Mississippi. We didn't have snow. And the one time we had a good 3' snow. Our pipes froze on our farm and we were without water for a month. Yes, I said a MONTH. And that whole cuddling by the fire thing... Did I mention that David can't really stand as much heat as I can and therefore I am normally left to searing my back by myself
And the spring - Can I just say one word? Allergies. Pretty flowers may still ring true, but now that I've got my own house - I'm having to figure out how to maintain those pretty flowers with my black thumb and my despise of gardening.
Oh and the summer - humidity, mosquitos and sunburn. The grilling out with friends is still great - as long as they have those nice Citronella tiki torches. :)

But, it's days like today - summer, 80 degrees and a nice breeze, that remind me that this season of the year will not last forever. That just around the corner is my absolute favorite time of year. I guess it's a metaphor for our life. Things/people/places will not last forever. We must enjoy them while we have them. We must be reminded of what we have now and what is to come. These are my favorite days of all.

I leave you with this quote (or something like the original) from someone at some time probably who was sitting outside enjoying a glorious day like I am now. "How can we appreciate the sunshine without the rain?"

And along the same lines - what about the dang holidays that you always get so excited about, but seem to just disappoint for the most part - like New Years. I'll stop there. I do not need to get started on New Years. That's for another post at another time.

Knock, Knock (it's your friendly neighborhood sales person)

2008-06-24T20:31:00.003-05:00

For those of you who know me and have had a few conversations with me, you know when I find something I like you'll hear about it. When I find something that works for me, I like to tell others and share about it. I have had a few people want to do digital photo books after I told them about the ease of the program I used for David's anniversary gift. Three people have switched to a certain type of birth control because of my rave reviews. I even once had friends in college tell me that they never wanted a coke until they saw me drink it and that somehow I made it look so good. I always thought that Coke might call me up one day and ask me to do a commercial, but alas, no such thing ever happened. So, here I am today, promoting something else. And you might be surprised as to what it is:

A shop vac.

No, I did not mis-type. I said a shop vac. I got David to go and buy one because we do not have any type of vacuum and he is about to start building more things for the house and I thought it would be nice (especially since the dogs have just covered my backseat in dog hair). I would completely tell anyone who buys a house that needs any kind of work to buy one. Heck, I might even buy it for them. I can not believe we didn't get one before now. There was so much dust in the cracks of the walls of our Ponderosa Pine dining room that it just was sickening. I just tried to focus on other areas of the house for the past 5 months. But, I finally had enough and now, we are dust free. Okay, close and only in a few rooms.

And towards a completely different extreme, as I am writing this post I realize how much I will share with others when I et excited about material things. And yet, I can not honestly tell you that I am that up front with my faith and my belief in Jesus Christ. I tend to let that be a subject that I hope is shown in the way I act. And i use that hope to justify me staying silent. Not to take away from the importance of this, but I think that since this was something that wasn't always talked about in my household, I feel as if it is something so personal and not really as important to be shared. I need to realize that this is the most important part about me and therefore should be what I am most excited about and what I talk about.

Mercy

2008-06-12T19:16:00.002-05:00

Noun. Compassion or forgiveness shown to one whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.

Also, the title of the book I just finished reading by Jodi Picoult. I love her stuff. Every book I have read has made me think and re-think my views and judgements on different issues. The first book I read was so powerful, My Sister's Keeper was about stem cell research. Then I read one about suicide pacts and yet another about school shootings (right around the time of the Virginia Tech shooting - actually I started the book the day before). All of these seem so heavy and dark, which they are, but in every one of them you see light and love and hope and realize how much of the world that seems so black and white is nothing but grey. This book, Mercy, is about a man who kills his wife who is dying of cancer. Solely because she asked him too and he knew how much pain she was in. This couple has only been married 10 years and are a young couple in their 30s I can not describe in words how emotional this book left me with the power of her words. You will not get an accurate depiction of it from me, only by reading the book itself. In all the books I have read by her, she tells the story from every view point. You may think you have a side, but I find myself, always changing my thoughts and thinking about what I would do in such a situation. Towards the end of the book, there is such a detail of the pain that the cancer caused and how it ravaged not only the woman's body, but her husband as well. I can not help but see myself and David in these types of situations and the thought of one of us being sick, and the pain the other would have to go through wrecks me to my core. For quite a while afterward, I could not and did not want to leave wherever David was. I wanted just to hold him and breathe him in. As dark of a subject as this book shows it truly has made me take some time and thank God for what I have right now, in the present. I guess really all we can do is take a minute and appreciate this life.

I don't want a book to make me realize this. I want to realize this every single minute of every day.

Dirty hands and moldy-oldy cake

2008-06-09T17:29:00.005-05:00

David and I had a wonderful, busy, exhausting weekend. My parents came up on a trip that was originally planned so my dad could go to the Nashville Busch Race. However, I guess he came to his senses and realized he didn't want to spend that time away from his baby girl. So he put me to work. Well, he put all of us to work. Okay, well maybe mom was the whole mastermind behind that operation. :) We finished taking down the little chain link that was in our "dog run" and we tilled up the flower beds and planted flowers and filled it in with mulch and made it actually look like a garden. We planted grass seed in the upturned soil from where we removed the chain link in the front yard, Hopefully all the birds haven't eaten all the seeds and soon our front yard will be a nice and luscious green. Mom and I also stripped an old dresser that they brought up and we were very surprised when it did not needed to be sanded and re-finished. What was under all the varnish was gorgeous, so yay!! A little work avoided. See the pictures below for proof of all the hard work that we accomplished.

Robin joined us for a mini-cook out on Saturday night and even brought her little puppy -Maybe, okay that's not how you spell it, but I am not sure how you do - so that's as good as it gets. Boy, was she spunky. She definitely held her own with our two.

And then on Sunday, we dove into our wedding topper. I know, I know, you are supposed to eat it on your actual anniversary. We were only 12 days behind!! We didn't eat it on our anniversary as the cake was still at my parents' house. They brought it up when they came to visit. I was definitely a little nervous about the cake because of all the horror stories I had heard about. David, being the gentleman that he is, let me try it first. But thankfully, my mom wrapped that sucker tight and it actually wasn't too bad. A little too sweet for me - but still tasted very delicious. You can tell by the photo - David even went back for more.

We ended the weekend by attending a surprise birthday for our new neighbor Russ. We met a lot of really cool people and ended up staying for a couple hours longer than we planned to. Those are always the best nights. I really hope that we hang out with these new friends again. There was great food, great ladder ball that Team Electric (aka David and Russ) dominated and great conversation. What a way to end a weekend!!

The best in the worst

2008-05-23T14:48:00.004-05:00

So, for most people, my day would probably not have been considered a good one. But, I'm trying to look on the bright side. I was in what you call a minor car accident. No worries, I'm okay, but my car has suffered some cosmetic damage. The up side to this whole incident is that I might have made a new friend. As hard as it is to believe, the accident was completely mutual between her and I. We were backing out of parking spots and were in each other's blind spots. We were going opposite directions and the butts of our cars just hit. Luckily, the other driver was very sweet and we have swapped information and have already been in contact several times in the past couple of hours since it happened. A car accident is not fun for anyone at any time, but I feel blessed that this has been as easy and seamless as it has.

and mom, if you read this before I talk to you....I tried to call...you didn't answer. :)

See below for pictures:

Mischief Makers

2008-05-14T18:58:00.004-05:00

I have promised one of our 3 readers that I would post new pictures of the puppies. And I use the word "puppies" quite loosely. They are more like 40 lb. balls of energy that almost broke my legs this afternoon. So...here we go:

Me and Bailey (one of my favorite pictures!!) - look at her posing!!

This how the girls are when we are fixing dinner in the kitchen, please excuse the improvised doggie gate.

Becca chilling with our lap dogs

Chessie sleeping in the car on the way to David's parent's house. I guess Bailey's behind makes a nice pillow.

I too can have my own Ethopian

2008-05-07T20:46:00.010-05:00

Most people who have a heart are touched by the horrendous stories and pictures of the starving children around the world. We all have seen the commercials where you are asked just to pick up your phone and give $.68/day to save someone's life. But, if you are like me, you are skeptical about where your money is going and just too lazy to find out if the cause is legit. Lately, it seems like I have heard about an organization called Compassion International. I never really have thought about it too much. But then, I heard about it again. And again. And again. So, I thought "okay, God, I'm ready and willing to help someone that I may or may not ever meet and put my trust in an organization that is dedicated to sharing your love with the world through Bible studies and love." I spoke with my good friend Laura at work one day and said that I was thinking about sponsoring a child. She was so supportive. She has been sponsoring a girl from Ethiopia for the past 5 years from Compassion and had some great insights on the type of program that I would be supporting. I told her that I wanted to do some more research about Compassion before I made any decision for David and I.

random side note: Before I sound like I'm at work and not doing any work, let me just point out that ALL of the project managers in North America as well as Latin America are in the Bahamas at meetings all week long. Needless to say, the amount of work dwindles significantly when the head of your study is gone and unavailable to answer any questions. Moving on. I was looking on the internet yesterday at all the children on Compassion and really thought that I would just let Compassion pick a child for me, one that has been waiting the longest and in need of a sponsor. I think God felt otherwise, because this one little girl just stood out to me and I couldn't get her out of my head. I kept looking at other children and then back at her. Other children and then back at her. I didn't even notice the country, just her sweet expression and her neon green shoes. And then I saw it "Country:Ethiopia." I just had to send Laura an email entitled - "I can have my own Ethiopian too" (hence, the blog title).

So, our new "addition" to the family is three years old and named Zebiba. She likes to play house and hide and seek. Her household errand is carrying water. She lives with her father and mother and has a few siblings. Her father sometimes works as a laborer. LET ME PUT THIS INTO PERSPECTIVE FOR YOU. What were you doing at age 3? What were your chores at age 3? Even someone across the world enjoys the simple pleasures that you and I enjoyed as a child during playtime. But when it comes to chores?? Carrying water? I don't even think I had chores at the age of three, and this child is a productive member of her family. And in a place where IF the mother and father both work they only have a shot at making $12 A MONTH!! That is less than most of us make in ONE HOUR of our work day. It's only a small amount, but David and I have committed to $32/month. This will provide Zebiba with an education, health care, supplemental needs, bible classes and much more into helping her become a active member of society. All this and she will hear the love of Jesus, and feel that she is cared for by people who do not even know her. I pray that I will find the words to tell her how special she is and I pray that David and I will financially be able to care for her for years and years. If you have an extra $32/month, I hope that you will consider looking at the pictures of these children. You will see need, love, and hope. If you are like me, you will be able to imagine the kind of person that you can help this person become.
In 14 or so days, I will receive my first packet of information with a photo about Zebiba and the circumstances and area that she lives in. I can't wait!! Another cool thing, Compassion does trips where you can go to the country where your "child" is and see how Compassion is making a difference in the area, see first-hand where your money is being put to use and even MEET your sponsored child. I can't imagine the life change that would occur on a trip like this and I hope that one day I will get to meet "our little Zebiba."

And on a personal note, this little boy just pulls at my heart strings and I hope that someone will sponsor him:
http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/waystosponsor/ChildBio.htm?Child=CO1410719
**since I posted this, he has already been sponsored - YAAAYYY!
Check out their website:
www.compassion.com

Dentist 1: Carey 0

2008-05-07T20:29:00.003-05:00

Today, I had my first teeth cleaning in about a year. This was also the first time I have ever gone to any other dentist besides the one my mom works for. I was honestly a bit nervous. No familiar faces. No walking in the place like I belonged there. No asking the hygienist how her kids are. It was weird. The office was very nice and was not a place I just picked out of the yellow pages. One of my co-workers has been using this dentist for the past 20 years. Well, at least until she moved she was. Everyone was very nice and I even watched a seal being launched into the sky by a whale on the BBC while my teeth were being poked and prodded. Thanks to my last visit and all 6 fillings, I have been a flossing fool. I went into this visit with the confidence that there would be no cavities. And there weren't!! Only a few small places to keep an eye on from this or that. And I was given instructions on different ways to help prevent things from getting worse. Very informative. Don't get me wrong, I've always been told how to keep my mouth in good shape, but this time I was willing to listen. How much smarter adults (especially moms) seem as we get older. Anyways, I was also given a free fluoride treatment, which included 2 rounds of imitating the Listerine commercials and finding new ways to swish the minty goo around in my mouth without spitting it all over the pretty tv in front of me. I succeeded! I took those 2 rounds like a champ. I definitely had a little bit of the fluoride treatment in my mouth and for a second I thought, "I probably shouldn't swallow this." Then, I thought, "well surely, she wouldn't have said something if it was a bad thing or giving me more water to swish and spit into the scary-sucky thing." No such instruction from the hygienist whom we shall call Carla to protect her identity. I paid my bill and left. I walked out of the dentist office and headed home proud of my no cavity, swish-conquering mouth. Only, on the way home, I began not feeling well. This lasted the whole drive home, through our walk with the dogs, through my dinner and through an episode of ANTM.

Without going into too many details lets just say that the fluoride won this battle and took my dinner with it.

What is your worst dentist experience?

BARKitecture at it's best

2008-05-06T21:40:00.000-05:00

My smart, lovely, handsome and talented husband (I know, gross) has taken up the art of designing and building las casas de perros. What started off with the intention of creating a nice outdoor abode for our two little mischief makers has become an endeavor into the world of entrepreneurship. David loves the outlet this has become for him to design and be creative when his job has become less so. He has listed pictures of his first attempt (and Bailey and Chessie's new home) online. Craigslist and the East Nashville list serve have become the launching pads for his designs. He put them out there in the hopes that maybe someone would want one someday. And in a day and a half, he has already 3 serious inquiries. Talent. One lady can not commit to one financially at the moment, but has printed the picture out and posted it on her fridge as kind of a wish list to aim for. Another inquiry was made because a guy was forwarded his pictures from a friend. Already getting a reputation. So, if you need a well-crafted, custom-made dog house...give him a ring, I'm sure he'd be honored**. See below for pictures. Apologies for the junk in the backyard...it has become David's workspace as well as low priority on the to-do list.

I am also adding pictures of our two little girls, well not so little seeing as how they are around the 40 lb mark and are only 5 months old.

**Just for reference, I did not begin this blog tonight with the intention of trying to sell any dog houses for David, but was requested to post pictures for family and friends that are not in Nashville. However, I just can't help but be excited because David has found something he really enjoys doing, he's good at, and he gets to use his creative mind in a way to make others happy.

Bailey

Chessie

Tomorrow's post: "I too can have my own Ethiopian." So can you - more in tomorrow's post.

My 10 Things

2008-04-14T16:48:00.000-05:00

Since Carey shared hers I felt I should share my 10 things that most people don't know.

1. About 50% of my clothes are gray...I guess I like that color.

2. I can't sleep with a shirt on. (as Carey sings, "I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts")

3. I love Banana Republic clothes...pretty much the only dress clothes I wear, now that I can afford them and there is an outlet nearby!

4. I got tipsy for the first time when I was 20 at my Aunt's vineyard near Napa Valley...2 glasses.

5. I get fired up when someone thinks I can't do something.

6. I've never broken a bone.

7. I'm not very good with directions...I like making it an adventure...but I don't take making people wait lightly...Carey doesn't like this outlook. my new iphone has taken some of the adventure out of it.

8. I am much less happy when its not day light savings time. I start my countdown at 2 months.

9. I'm afraid of having a daughter cause I won't be able to say no...however, I would be so happy to have a lil' Carey running around.

10. I don't like to wear sandals. Except at the beach.

tick tock, tick tock

2008-04-13T14:08:00.000-05:00

I knew that this would happen one day. But I honestly did not think I would only be 23 and married for less than a year. I blame my friends, my puppies and the cuteness of miniatures. No, I am not pregnant. But, my maternal clock HAS started ticking. This is a strange thing for me, because at one point in my life, not even that long ago, I wasn't sure I wanted to bring a child into this crazy and messed-up world. I wondered how could I ever bring an innocent and unsuspecting soul into a world that seemingly is going down the drain. I guess in that respect, I also blame my husband. I see good (great) in him and feel that there is hope that there is a good part to the world. And if I can aide in bringing up more children like David, then how can I not? One of the first things I noticed about David when watching him play with pets and relate with others and take care of his handicapped siblings was how incredible of a father he will make one day. I want to bring more people like that into this world. The world needs more of it.

However, logically and financially it would not make sense to start considering having a child at the moment and I still want to spend a few more years with just my husband. We have things that we want to do in the next couple of years, like fix up our house and travel that having children would make more difficult. In my job, I am about to start traveling during the week around the country. But, honestly, I can not deny that a baby crying or a child acting up does not annoy me like it used to. I can't deny that I get extremely excited to see my 2nd non-biological nephew, Landen.

This feeling is crazy, exciting, and scary. I think I can hold off a little while longer though. I still enjoy my sleep a little too much. :)

A rainy Saturday

2008-03-15T15:02:00.001-05:00

I'm just sitting in our living room listening to the rain on the low roof, with the smell of wet dog in the air. It's a relaxing day and that is just what I've needed. Work has been getting on my nerves lately. For no reason in particular, just one of those weeks, I guess. I had a wonderful evening last night. Our small group gets together every now and then and has girls/guys' nights. The guys played poker and Super Mario Bros. We girls had dinner, wine, and lots of great conversation. Only 5 our of the 8 girls in our group were able to make it, but we had an amazing time. I leave these encounters with such a thankful heart for the people God has blessed me with. I can honestly say that these are people I can imagine being friends with 20 years down the road. I've always yearned for those kind of relationships. My mom has been in a bunco group for over 25 years and still is very close to some of the women in the group. I've always admired that. As someone who has always gotten along better with guys, it's nice to find girls that you can really share with and understand what you are going through. Now, don't get me wrong. I have always had a great group of girl friends, but it just seems like as we've grown up, we've grown apart instead of grown closer. And that saddens me.

On a different note,
I need to go to the beach. I'm having serious vacation withdrawl.

I've been tagged

2008-02-27T16:51:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Becca for the tag, now I'm supposed to think of 10 things that most people may not know about me.

1. I think I'm a hypochondriac, but one who won't go to the doctor.

2. I wish I was more blunt.

3. The thing that fires me up the most is seeing people settle, especially in romantic relationships.

4. At a point in my life, I did not want to have kids.

5. I always catch myself thinking I am being talked about if people around me are whispering (mostly in work situations...I guess I'm scared I'm not doing a good job...)

6. I want to be a professional photographer

7. I wish I had the confidence in myself that my husband has in me.

8. David and I recently joined a church in Nashville.

9. I do not remember feeling more alive in my faith and inspired by my faith as I have at this church.

10. I am an open book. If you ask the right question, you'll probably find out what you want to know and then more.

Now, I tag Rossie!!

wanting

2008-02-18T18:58:00.000-06:00

I have found myself lately suffering. Suffering from the "disease of more". I want more. I want more money so that we can pay off loans. I want more expensive new gadgets that we probably don't need. I want to travel more without having to sacrifice our daily habits. I want to see my families more, while wanting to stay in Nashville. I want to move up in my job. I want to be happy where I'm at, but it's hard when I know the fast progression in my field. I want more clothes. I want things that I can't have like wedding pictures that are the style I want.

I'm trying to combat this. But it's hard. I find it creeping up on me at the strangest times. It slowly sucks the happiness out of those days. I know how blessed I am. I thank the Lord every day for that. And yet, I still struggle. I have to find a way to stop when I start wanting more and figure out a way to give more. Then I truly will GET more.

We are proud parents!!

2008-02-06T19:51:00.000-06:00

Of two beautiful puppies. Really we are parents to 1.5. We are adopting a boxer mix, Chessie, but she looks so much like a boxer. We are fostering her sister, Bailey. Bailey, however, looks like a pit bull mix. Both are completely adorable.

Let me start at the beginning.
We saw Chessie on petfinder and David called to check on her on Monday and she was still available. The office was closed yesterday for the election, so we planned to go today to apply for the adoption and hopefully pick her up. I called around 1pm to make sure she was still available because the shelter was 30 miles away. I was told she had been adopted. My heart just sank. I was glad she had been adopted, but I wanted to be the one to do it. After some sulking, I decided to call another shelter and just find out their adoption policies and check on another dog that was for adoption. After speaking with the woman, we somehow got to talking about boxer puppies and she asked if I really wanted one. I told her that I really did and that I tried to adopt one from another shelter, but she had been adopted. She told me that she had two puppies on hold at the Rutherford County Animal Shelter. She told me the ID numbers and it was THE DOG THAT WE WANTED. We were able to adopt Chessie through her and we agreed to foster Chessie's sister until someone adopted her. So that's how we went from no pets to two within just a few hours!

So, here's to our first (possibly) sleepless night. I will put up pictures once I get some more and are able to upload them

YAY for PICTURES!

2008-01-30T17:16:00.000-06:00

Well I have promised this blog that I would add updated pictures once we got in the house and a little more settled...so here we go. Here are before and after pictures of the living room, our bedroom, and the middle bedroom/office. The rest of the rooms have not changed much, or is not quite what we want, so no pictures :)

2008-01-21T16:15:00.000-06:00

Wow! Lots and lots of moving over the past few days. And there is still so much more to go. However, it is so nice not to have to go up stairs to move into. In our free time, David and I have been watching LOST season one. We are only about three episodes til the end of the season. I think now it would take every free moment to catch up before the season four premiere on Jan 31. Well, I know it's a short post, but it's back to unpacking!

2008-01-06T12:18:00.000-06:00

I'm thinking that with the few number of people that read this blog and the lapse in the time since I've last posted, even fewer people might read this. But give me a break, it's been a busy month. Let's start off with the month of December, David and I bought and decorated our first Christmas tree together. We closed on our first house on December 21st. That very same day we left Nashville (without even going to visit our new home because we were so squashed for time) and headed to David's parents' house for Christmas (the weekend before). We had a very nice visit with his family and his aunt who had flown in from Missouri. On Christmas Eve, we drove 5 hours to my parents house in Jackson, MS. We spent Christmas morning opening presents (my favorite being my sweet new iPhone and my new HOBO wallet), then family came over for Christmas lunch. YUUMMMMY! We stayed in Jackson over the next few days until my cousin's wedding on the 29th. He and his significant other of 7ish years finally tied the knot! It was a beautiful and very fun wedding. I, along with my 3 beautiful girl cousins handed out the wedding programs. We were honored to be able to help out in that small way. We did not really visit many people from home. It's hard to go home and want to spend time with family and make the rounds to see all of your friends too. However, I got to see my great friend Nicole, who I haven't seen since the wedding and we visited the Estes/Farmers one evening for a rowdy game of skip-bo. :) We are very sad to have Becca and Kellen leave Nashville, but it is nice knowing they are back in Jackson to see when we come home. When we came back to Nashville, we pretty much went straight to our new home and knocked a hole in a wall and ripped down all the very old/dirty/gross/dingy curtains hanging in all the rooms. Over New Years Eve/Day, David and I primed 4 rooms and a bathroom. New Years came and went without too much excitement. Back to work. Speaking of work, I get to take my first work-related trip this coming Thursday. I am going to Knoxville with another girl (who went to MS State) to help her close out a site. I will help her out where needed, but I am excited about getting to see what I truly will be doing with this job. This past Thursday, my parents came into town to help us paint our new house. This was their way of helping out so they didn't feel so bad not helping us move. haha. Anyways, they painted and painted while David and I worked on Friday. They put two coats of paint in the living room and helped cut in all the primer. That same night, David and I went after work and we put a coat of paint on of the rooms and we pulled off kitchen cabinet doors and knocked down more shelves. Saturday morning, we began work again and had two coats of paint on all three bedrooms by lunchtime. The rest of the day was spent painting edges and corners and painting trim in the living rooms. The back bedroom is not the color that we wanted. We ended up trying out the color originially intended for the bathroom....not a good idea. Oh well, it'll have to work for a little while. Just bring your sunglasses if you come to visit, it's pretty bright. We also pulled up carpet in one of the bedrooms. Hopefully, sometime this week I will be able to get up some before and after pictures of what we have accomplished so far. Today, David has gone back over to the house to finish up the front two rooms as much as possible, so that all that is left for those rooms is to install crown molding and baseboards. I am working today as well, just on another front....the apartment, washing clothes, grocery shopping, straightening up...all the fun domestic chores.

So far the house has been a great adventure for us, and I know that it will continue to be. I can't wait to see what it will turn into in the next llittle bit.

Well enough of that. David and I just began the LOST series, wow- we are so far behind. We have had to get DVDs to watch lately if we are at the apartment, because the tv is at the house so the satellite guy could come and install our DirecTV...anyways, it's been great for the first 4 episodes, I just hope we can stick with it to catch up. With all our renovations, I don't see much TV in our future.

Well that pretty much quickly catches you up on what's been going on in our lives the past month or so.

If anyone just has a deep urge to paint, rip something up, lay down tile, move furniture, etc..... just give us a call.
If not, you can still give us a call and come visit the new place if you are in Nashville....if not, plan a trip and come see us! We will soon upgrade from an air mattress to a real guest bed!

Improve your vocabulary and change the world

2007-12-01T21:23:00.000-06:00

As I was messing around on facebook today, I came across a website update on a friend's site. It intrigued me, so I decided to check it out. It is called www.freerice.com. For every correct word you determine the definition of, 20 grains of rice are donated to those in poverty-stricken countries. 20 grains is not much, but for only a few minutes of your day, you can donate enough for one bowl of rice (I'm guessing there are about 400 grains in a bowl...I could be off though). The better your vocabulary, the more rice can be donated in a short time. If your vocabulary is not great, it may take a little longer, but you'll learn something anyways and you are still supporting a good cause. No strings attached. No personal information is asked of you. Give it a shot! What's it going to hurt?