Getting (Pop) Cultured...

The Facts

We watched the MTV Video Music Awards together.

His Side

I think we can all agree that most music played on pop radio today isn’t very good. Auto-tune allows mediocre singers to get record deals, lyrics don’t make any sense most of the time, and a lot of songs have really bad messages for today’s youth to absorb. It’s kind of a shame. With that being said, on Sunday night, Kristi and I watched this year’s Video Music Awards. We like watching award shows because it’s entertaining to see what people are wearing and what’s going on in pop culture. While we watch, however, we tend to make sarcastic remarks about things and enjoy poking fun at the whole thing. Just check out our Twitter feed from Sunday night and you’ll see what I’m talking about. 

I am not really into the red carpet fashion stuff at any awards show but Kristi likes it so we watch it. This red carpet coverage, however, had something I had never seen before:  performances. That’s right, two musical acts (both of whom were up for the “Artist to Watch” award) had performances on the red carpet! 5th Harmony (a girl group that tries really hard to be the Pussycat Dolls but can’t even live up to that low standard) lip synced their way through their simple choreography (which they couldn’t even perform in any kind of unison) to give a lackluster performance. And, fast forward to later in the show, they won “Artist to Watch”! What?! From what I could tell, they weren’t up against much in the way of strong competition, but they were up against Sam Smith who can SING his heart out. At least he has some talent. But that category was voted on by the “fans” so it wasn’t really a competition of which act had more talent; it was about who has a bigger, mindless fan base willing to click “like” or vote with hashtags or whatever.

The biggest thing I noticed about the red carpet coverage is how shoddy it was. You’d think that MTV (which stands for Music Television but produces tons of programming having nothing to do with music) would have solid coverage of a music event. If you thought that, you’d be wrong. They had fans send in videos to ask questions to certain celebrities and then Sway (one of MTV’s best known correspondents) would completely ignore the question that just was asked by the fan and ask his own. At one point, he even mentioned how it was hard to hear the question, so he asked his own. If you’re going to do fan questions, do it correctly, you know? Also, there was an extended, random shot from inside the venue (while everyone was out on the red carpet); but, during the shot, the audio was of Austin Mahone’s (a taller Justin Bieber) grand entrance with a marching band. Once they finally cut to the proper shot, we missed the entrance and just saw Mahone (in one of the more ridiculous outfits of the night) talking to Sway. 

The technical mishaps didn’t stop at the red carpet, though. The first presenters (Snoop Dogg and Gwen Stefani) were telling each other how awesome they were before they ever even thought about presenting the first award. During this weird exchange, you could hear someone checking microphones for an upcoming performance. It was strange. After that, though, it seems like they got it under control, or I stopped paying attention, because I didn’t notice any other missteps in the production.

As you can imagine, a music awards show is full of musical performances. I could go on and on about these performances but I will just give a brief overview for the sake of time and your sanity. Ariana Grande, Jessie J, and Nicki Minaj went first and each did part of a song of their own, then premiered some new song they have together. It was basically just gyrating, singing, and rapping in a jumbled mess of about a thousand background dancers with a pretty light show. You can’t understand a word Grande sings and any Minaj performance should be rated TV-MA; but, at least Jessie J can sing. Taylor Swift (after her recent break away from the Country Music Association) sang her new song and made a lame joke about stage diving. The crowd gave her a courtesy laugh and suffered through the boring song. I liked her better when she was country/pop fusion and didn’t try to dance like younger, shorter, less awkward pop stars. The new rap sensation Iggy Azalea did her new song with Rita Ora and it wasn’t bad. But it’s weird to know that Azalea is a white, British girl but sounds like a black American girl when she raps. Maroon 5 played and reminded everyone that there are more members to the band than just Adam Levine (their singer who basically gets all the credit) and they always put on a decent show. It was weird, though, because they were at some off-site location and it was just a live feed at the show. Not sure why it was done that way. Nicki Minaj hit the stage again with Usher and that was a sight… another TV-MA performance. I was actually a little excited to see Usher perform because he is a born performer. He can dance his heart out and has a good voice. Unfortunately, he only danced a little in this performance and his singing was a bit off. What a shame. Then there is Sam Smith (whom I mentioned earlier). His performance was the most low key and the most enjoyable. It was mostly just him and a piano player and he owned the place. I was definitely impressed. I almost forgot 5 Seconds of Summer (it was a forgettable performance) who look like what One Direction would look like if they actually played instruments. They aren’t bad but they aren’t good. 

this is what Fletcher thought of the show

The big one was Beyonce. It was talked about all night and it was this epic mash-up of a bunch of her songs which went on and on for fifteen minutes or so. She was the main performance because she won the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. First of all, Michael Jackson reinvented music video as an art form; so, putting Beyonce up there on his level is sad. Secondly, Beyonce can sing, but her dance moves aren’t that impressive and (most importantly) the majority of her songs don’t make a bit of sense lyrically. She gets a little too much credit, in my mind. And I would have much rather seen her do one or two songs in their entirety instead of a frantic, nonsensical mash-up. It was as if someone put in her album, listened to a song for a minute or so, didn’t like it, then skipped to the next one, didn’t like that one, switched to the next, didn’t like that one… you get the idea. 

The last thing I’ll say is that Jay Pharaoh (current SNL cast member and one of the best impressionists I have ever seen) stole the show. He popped up a few times to remind everyone to vote for the “Artist to Watch” award but he popped up as different people. His Jay-Z and Drake impressions were hysterical. The next time, he was Kanye West and it wasn’t as good, but it was amazing watching him make fun of Kanye while they kept cutting back to Kanye’s new wife, Kim Kardashion West. Top notch stuff. 

Also, you may notice that I didn’t mention many of the awards… that’s because the VMAs are not really about the awards. Anytime Lorde wins best Rock Video for a song like “Royals,” then you can’t take any of the other awards very seriously either. But, the important thing is that Kristi and I had fun relaxing and watching this celebration of pop culture because we could just turn our brains off and enjoy each others’ company while Fletcher actually stayed calm. It was a lovely evening. 

Her Side

Nolan and I rounded out our anniversary trip by a tacking on a two day staycation. This staycation was brought in with a bang by watching the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). Nolan and I watch them for very different reasons, but it’s always an interesting show to watch. It’s funny because last year, when we were on our honeymoon and were to the end of a long day, we crashed on the couch in our lovely hotel room. As we were flipping through the channels, we happened upon the VMAs. So, now it might be a kind of tradition we have started… yippee!

As Fletcher and I settled into the couch and Nolan settled into the chair, we turned on the red carpet coverage. Normally this is one of my favorite times of the show. I get to see stars draped in the most ridiculous clothing. That certainly did not disappoint; but, what also didn’t disappoint, was the sad production of the whole thing. MTV really didn’t have a handle on what they were doing. Their red carpet “hosts” stumbled all over their words and shots were cut way too soon (while an interview was still happening) or they would cut to a new shot way before anything worth seeing was happening. We watched a few atrocious performances on the red carpet of some “bands” I had never heard of… and they proved there was a reason for that:  they were terrible.

Then came the actual awards show. Is it bad that my favorite part had nothing to do with a winner or even anyone who presented an award? Hands down, my favorite part was when Jay Pharaoh came on stage about three times and did his impressions of Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Drake. He was spot on and hilarious… as a matter of fact, I could have just watched him the whole night.

Since we actually HAD to watch the awards show, it’s probably a good time to note that things got weird a few times. For instance, Miley sent her “homeless friend” up to accept her award for Best Music Video (or something like that). It was an awkward acceptance… not because the kid was nervous (even though it was extremely obvious he was) but because the camera kept focusing on Miley sitting on a half wall fake crying during his speech. She was obviously doing that for the cameras. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad her way of getting our attention this year was a complete 180 from last year’s bumping and grinding on Robin Thicke.

Nevertheless, the show wasn’t about Miley but was definitely all about “Queen Bey”… oh you don’t know who that is? You didn’t know we had royalty amongst the Rock/Pop genre? Yea, I must have missed that “crowning” as well. Although I presume it was a self crowning situation. I am, of course, talking about the one and only Beyonce. I don’t think anyone can deny that the woman can sing and perform, but I don’t think she NEEDED a set that lasted fifteen or so minutes with a mash-up of a ton of her songs.

The show ended awkwardly when Jay-Z and Blu Ivy (their daughter) came up on stage to present some big award to Beyonce. There were some hugs and a smooch (which was awkward amongst the divorce rumors that have been milling around) and then the screen went black. I thought there was a camera malfunction, but was quickly reminded that it was the poor production of the entire event as the show immediately came back on… from the beginning. Nice segue, guys… NOT.

Fun (not) in the Sun...

The Facts

We spent a very quick weekend at the beach.

His Side

I’m pale. There’s no sugarcoating it. I sunburn easily and have to cake on the sunscreen if I’m going to be out in the sun for extended periods of time. With that, I am not one of these people that likes to spend all day at the beach hanging out, tanning, frolicking in the ocean (where sharks can eat you), and making sand castles. I do, however, enjoy “going to the beach.” I put that in quotation marks because “going to the beach” can also mean traveling to a location that is located near an ocean. Those locations are usually pretty nice to visit. Recently we “went to the beach” for a lightening quick weekend vacation with my dad’s side of the family.

We both left work Friday at 5:30pm and, as quickly as possible, took Fletcher over to my mother-in-law’s house so she could watch him for a few days. Then we scarfed down some food and hit the road. Three hours later, we were in Myrtle Beach hugging family members and relaxing. Those three hours were good and bad. They went by rather quickly because Kristi and I jammed to some music on my iPod and, once she was tired of my music, her iPod. It was fun but that drive is horrible. If you’ve ever driven from Columbia to Myrtle Beach, you know what I’m talking about. There are a bunch of back roads that have stop lights and only one lane going each way. It’s not a fun drive. 

We went to sleep in the king bed our room had (you know we love that) and woke up the next day at 8 or so to start our only full day of vacation. After getting some food in us, we headed to this go kart place with six different tracks. It was pretty cool but, after experiencing only two of the tracks, the rain started. And, when it started… it REALLY started. Out of nowhere it was a torrential downpour. That kind of weather isn’t very conducive to whipping around a go kart track and our tickets were good all day, so we decided to come back later. What did we do for the time being? Shop! My favorite! 

Tanger Outlets are like a woman’s Mecca. I don’t see the allure, but I don’t have to. I just have to go. I do have to say, though, that shopping with Kristi isn’t so bad. When we do shop, it’s reasonably quick. If nothing strikes her fancy, then we move on. There isn’t a lot of lingering. Also, this particular Tanger location had a Jared Vault which I had never heard of (I work for Sterling which owns Jared). So I wanted to check it out. We had checked everything out we wanted to within an hour or so. But we stayed at the outlets for four more hours. Why? Because of poor customer service and a big debacle that got me a bit heated (and I don’t anger easily). I don’t really want to go into much detail but what really upset me is that, because of poor customer service, we waited around for almost four hours when we should have been spending that time with family. My parents were with us, so at least we got to spend some time with them (even though it was frustrated, angry time).

In the Atlantic Ocean

Once we finally left, we had a nice dinner with everyone which was wonderful. We even went down to the beach as the sun was setting. We didn’t stay long but at least we actually went! Then we played some games (my family is very competitive) and got to bed because we had to leave early the next morning to drive some more. Yay!

We headed to Charleston the next day (another two and half hours in the car) because my brother had a white coat ceremony (he started med school on Monday) and we were going to meet up with Kristi’s cousin. We got there just in time for the ceremony and it didn’t last as long as it could have. That was nice because we were wanting to get back and take Fletcher off of my mother-in-law’s hands. Meeting up with Kristi’s cousin was nice, too. We had seen her in Idaho not too long before, but getting a chance to see family is always nice. It was ridiculous to find parking in Charleston on King Street, but it worked out just fine because the coffee shop where we met Kristi’s cousin was two blocks from where we were meeting my family for lunch! Lunch was tasty but, for the price, they didn’t give you very much food. It was good food, but it seemed like you should get more for your money. Unfortunately, though, after lunch we couldn’t join them for dessert at a local chocolatier because it was getting late and we had to get ready for our work week. Which means… you guessed it… more driving! This drive wasn’t as long but it seemed to go by so much more slowly because we were just ready to be home. 

It was hectic and way too fast, but it was still a fun weekend and we were very glad we got to spend time with family. Now, we only have a short week and it’s time for a longer, less hectic vacation for our anniversary. We can’t wait!

Her Side

Kristi + Beach = not a great mix.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy the breeze from the ocean or the laid back atmosphere that comes with being at the beach. I don’t like the sun because I burn at the first ray of sun that touches my porcelain skin. Normally, the whole point of going to the beach is to bask in the glorious sun until you can’t stand it any longer. Thankfully, our weekend trip to the beach was pretty much the opposite. Nolan and I left for Myrtle Beach as soon as we got off work, ate dinner, packed up the car, and took Fletcher to my mom’s house.

While neither of us care to be in a car for extended periods of time (especially when back roads are involved), it was tolerable because we had fun listening to music and chatting. We had some interesting sights on our way to the beach and were so glad to see family once we finally made it! We did some quick catching up with the family that was awake and then decided to call it a night and retreat to our KING BED! If you know anything about us, you know we LOVE a king bed; so it was a great surprise that we got to sleep in one on our short jaunt to the beach.

View from the balcony

Saturday was to be our only full day of vacation, so we woke up early to get ready for whatever the day was to entail. It just so happened that there was a Grand Prix style go-cart track not too far from where we were staying; so we all packed up and got ready to race. We got our tickets and made our way to the “slick track,” which wasn’t all that fun since it just went around in circles. Although I don’t think that one was meant to be fun, but merely serve the purpose of getting you used to the way the go carts handled.

If you know anything about Nolan, you know that he’s super competitive. So I was ecstatic when I PASSED him on this track. I threw my fist up in the air to celebrate my victory and a huge grin washed over my face. If you ask Nolan, he would say he wasn’t trying to keep me from passing him… I think he’s just saying that to make the fact that his wife passed him not hurt so much.

After the slick track, we made our way to the first “real” track of the day which ended up being the ONLY real track we rode on. I chose my car out methodically… actually I didn’t. I chose it because I like the color blue. As we began the race, I had nothing but obliterating the competition on my mind. I was cognizant of the turns and that someone was likely on my tail, so I took the shortest route around each one and would use my peripheral vision to decide if I need a quick move to the right or left. I’m happy to report that not a soul passed me that entire race, but I definitely left some people in the dust… one of those people happened to be my husband. Yep, I beat him again! Sweet victory! As we made our way to the next track, the sky let loose and we were powerless against Mother Nature. Knowing that it would be a while before the track would be able to open back up, we decided to spend the time shopping at the Tanger Outlets (a place that Nolan simply loves… NOT).

Once there, we walked in and out of stores and ate some not so healthy but oh so delicious Chinese food. We honestly weren’t intending on spending a ton of time shopping, but things don’t always work out how we plan. So, for reasons outside of our control and because when your mother-in-law lights up when she sees the perfect item she has been looking for for years (not an exaggeration), you want to make it happen at any cost. Even if that means time spent aimlessly wandering around an outdoor mall on a super hot and humid South Carolina day, you do it.

Once done at the Tanger Outlets, and since more time had passed than originally planned, we went straight back to our place for dinner instead of back to the go carts to finish out our day of racing. Dinner was delicious and time spent with family was even better. Our only full day of the beach weekend sped by and before we knew it we were curled up in bed.

The next day we were in the car yet again and off to Charleston to see my brother-in-law at his White Coat Ceremony for MUSC (Congrats, Justin!) The ceremony was nice and was greatly anticipated by all of those in attendance, but as soon as it was over Nolan and I snuck out to meet up with my cousin, Ellen, in downtown Charleston. We had a lovely time catching up with her at a local coffee spot and, before we knew it, our late lunch time had arrived. So, we met up with Nolan’s family again. Funny story here… We were meeting Ellen right off of King Street and knew that the place we would be meeting for lunch was on King Street as well but had no idea where they were in relation to one another. When driving into town to meet my cousin, we decided to grab the first parking spot we could find (which is a hard find and hot commodity down there).  Little did we know that we parked two blocks away from the coffee shop and one store front away from the restaurant… I love it when things work out like that!

Lunch was great and conversation was plentiful, but it was nearly late afternoon and Nolan and I needed to get home to our precious Fletcher. So, we said our goodbyes and left for Columbia. Even though the drive from Charleston to Columbia is the shortest out of all of the ones we took that weekend, it was the most painful one by far. Perhaps it’s because we wanted to get home and get ready for the week ahead, or perhaps we were just over being in the car… either way it wasn’t fun.

Spending time with family is always fun and I’m so thankful that we both have families that we LOVE being around.

We All Have a Magic Number...

The Facts

We like watching “Million Dollar Listing Miami.” Its first season just ended.

His Side

Reality TV is to scripted TV as documentary film is to narrative film. With that being said, I am not a fan of documentaries or reality TV. Most of you already know, however, that my wife enjoys reality TV. So, I watch it on occasion. While I can’t stand that reality TV is taking over, I can sort of see why… some of the shows are interesting. Most of them are not, but I can tolerate some. I even enjoy watching some. 

I was first introduced to the “Million Dollar Listing” shows via the Los Angeles edition. It was entertaining and I enjoyed seeing the expensive houses, etc. Also, the agents are so competitive and sometimes very petty which makes for some nice mindless entertainment. Then, “Million Dollar Listing New York” started and Kristi had told me that those guys were even more entertaining. She was right. With this one, I started even getting more invested in the agents as people. It wasn’t just about the pricey condos and breathtaking views anymore.

Then we saw a commercial for the newest addition to the “Million Dollar Listing” shows:  Miami. They are starting to spread as quickly as the “Real Housewives.” I was hesitant at first about the agents in “Million Dollar Listing Miami” because they didn’t seem very personable. Chad just seemed like a dumb beefcake with a superficial girlfriend. Sam seemed like a whiney, wanna-be super broker. And Chris seemed like a stuck up rich guy who cares WAY too much about his looks. As I got to know them through the show, though, my opinions softened. 

I realized that Chad takes great pride in what he does and cares so much about getting his clients what they want that it’s quite endearing. And, it turns out that his girlfriend isn’t superficial at all. She helps him with business and helps him be a better person. He has some anger issues but she helps soften those. They work well together so I see why he bought her a 127,000 dollar ring… yea… it’s huge.

I also found out that Sam has a lot of fight in her. She is the underdog in Miami and is right on the cusp of being where she wants to be; but her drive is impressive. Running her own company and doing everything herself must be tough, but her passion for what she does makes me want to root for her. She’s the first female broker on a “Million Dollar Listing” show and she was a good choice. Also, I’m glad she didn’t join a bigger company. Staying independent is her thing and she should keep it that way (I realize that last bit doesn’t make any sense unless you watch the show… sorry).

Then there is Chris. He seems to make the biggest deals and have the quirkiest personality of the Miami agents. While I can’t get behind his obsession with Botox and other superficial treatments, he seems to treat everyone with respect and get his job done to the best of his ability. And he’s super competitive (all of them are, but he especially is) which I can relate to.

I know I always bash reality TV and how it’s everything that’s wrong with TV these days. But it’s tolerable, I guess, if you pick the right show. None of the “Million Dollar Listing” shows help with the idea we talked about in a previous post, though:  don’t look at houses out of your price range or you will not be satisfied with what you’ve got. Yea, well, a man can dream, right?

Her Side

Nolan and I differ greatly on what we consider entertainment. For me, shows like “The Real Housewives,” “Say Yes to the Dress,” and well, pretty much any show on Bravo fall under entertainment. For Nolan, he’s entertained by sports and… well that’s the main one. So, when we find something that we both enjoy, we watch it religiously. “Million Dollar Listing Miami” (MDLMIA) is the most recent show that we’ve found we both love (although we do love the New York and Los Angeles versions just as well).

Recently, the first season of MDLMIA came to a conclusion, so it’s only right that I attempt to sum up this entertainment experience. At first, both of us were extremely skeptical of the show. I got Nolan turned onto the Los Angeles version last year and then we both found that the New York version was way better (thanks to our favorite… Luis). So, when yet another version came out, neither of us thought it would be any good… but we still gave it a wholehearted shot.

As the season progressed, I began to enjoy it more and more. The folks in Miami have a different way of wheeling and dealing than the folks in New York or LA… and it is fantastic! Let’s be honest, there is just something mesmerizing about seeing a deal close for a few million dollars and realizing that the agent just made a sweet hundred thousand dollars on it. Let me just go ahead and say I’d do that… but I would probably sell one and be done for the year. Mostly because that kind of money is something I can only dream of at this point in my life. It’s interesting, however, to see them act so nonchalant about the amount of money they just accrued. I understand that they invest more time in selling a property than what they can show on television… but even then it’s still a great pay off.

The most expensive listing we saw this season was a penthouse suite going for a cool $13,995,000. Selling at this price would mean breaking major records in the area. As the deal was going down, it was as if they were talking about pennies and dimes. The potential buyer didn’t like the European style kitchen and wanted the massive master bedroom closet to have see-through closets instead of closed in cabinet styles… a pretty understandable request if you’re forking over that kind of money. Well, the selling agents thought that an overhaul of the kitchen and master bedroom were ridiculous to even discuss because (and I quote) “those are only minor cosmetic changes.” Uh, more like cosmetic changes that would cost more than I make in a year… Sheesh, people!

So, we record and watch the show every week and now I’m kind of sad that it’s over. Good thing is that “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles” starts a new season next week.  Only, now we have to get used to the LA style of selling ridiculously expensive homes again… what a struggle.

Cutting it Close (Puppy Edition)...

The Facts

Fletcher had never been groomed. He got groomed.

His Side

Having a puppy is like having a baby… so I’m told. I’ve never had a baby, so I just have to take everyone’s word for it. With that being said, “firsts” are a big deal. The first time he jumps up on the couch by himself (he’s been doing that a lot recently). The first time he goes to the vet. His first shots. And, more recently, his first trip to the groomer. We set up the appointment for 7:00am because they said it would take three to four hours to complete the grooming. That seems like a long time for how little our puppy is. But, with that time frame in mind, we had to set it up as early as possible so I could pick him up before I headed into work. As most of you know, Kristi is not a morning person. But, like a worrisome mother, she wanted to go with Fletcher to drop him off at the groomer. Just to drop him off… but I’m glad she cares enough to get up that early and go with him. 

on the way

So, we went together and dropped the little guy off. Unfortunately, he had gotten a few mats and tangles so they said they might have to shave him. I was nervous that he would look like a rat if they had to shave him. But, if that’s what had to be done, we would do it. His hair would grow back in no time, I’m sure. We left him and got back in bed. It was nice not having a whining dog annoy us as we went back to bed to catch a little extra shuteye. 

They called us less than two hours later (so much for three to four hours) and told us he was ready. I had a meeting to go to at that time so Kristi went to pick him up. After my meeting, I was anxious to get home and see our newly groomed puppy. When I got in, I couldn’t help but laugh. He just looked so different! Luckily they didn’t have to shave him all the way down so he still has a little bit of fur. And, I must say, he looks rather dapper. If we took him to a dog park, he’d get a lot of attention from the lady dogs, I’m sure!

He may look a little different but he certainly doesn’t act any differently. He still has more energy than we can handle sometimes and is still just as curious and mischievous as ever. Another little perk is that his fur is so soft! We love him and are so happy that he has proven to be the cutest puppy in the universe even with much, much shorter hair.

Her Side

So, Fletcher is pretty much the cutest dog ever (no offense to anyone who thinks their dog is indeed the cutest… we all can’t win, right?) Even though Fletcher was perfectly adorable like he was, it was time for him to get groomed. He loves running around outside and, with that, comes a certain amount of tangles in his fur and a distinct musk. We do bathe our dog, but there is just a certain cleanliness that comes from having a professional do it. We were ready about a month ago to have it done, but apparently they couldn’t groom him until he had his rabies shot or something… wimps. Seriously, though, I’m kidding. I get it, it’s for their protection.

Well, on the day that he got his rabies shot we went to set up his grooming appointment. Fletcher goes to the vet in Petsmart (they have been great so far) so we decided to give the groomers in Petsmart a shot as well… and it didn’t hurt that we had a coupon for his first session! We decided to take him to get groomed on a day that Nolan goes into work late in the hopes that dropping him off and picking him up could be done all before Nolan headed to work. So, Nolan chose the ungodly hour of 7:00 on a Monday morning to drop off our beloved puppy to get groomed.

See, still cute!

Since we are “those” pet parents, I decided since it was Fletcher’s first time getting groomed that his mommy and daddy should take him together. This choice pretty much solidified what I’ve known all along… I’m not a morning person. The alarms went off and Nolan and I had determined the drop dead last minute we would need to leave our house by in order to arrive to Fletcher’s appointment in a timely fashion. Nolan jumped out of bed at the sound of the alarm, but I just wanted five more minutes. Oops! No need to fear, I did throw myself out of bed and was able to put myself together enough to be seen in public.

I was worried that Fletcher wouldn’t do well with being groomed since he isn’t a huge fan of his bath time at home. But, it was something that needed done. So, Nolan and I left him in the care of the groomer and sped home to enjoy some Fletcher free time in the morning. Now, don’t get me wrong, we LOVE Fletcher and we may or may not treat him more like a baby than a dog. BUT, he constantly wants to be right next to us and sometimes we just want a break. It’s not a break from Fletcher himself that we want, it’s a break from his annoying habits… like scratching, biting, licking (the furniture) and his affinity for stealing the most comfy spot on the couch. So, we enjoyed a little bit of Fletcher-free time (but please don’t tell him).

When I picked him up, he didn’t seem distressed and he was definitely happy to see me! I had prepared myself for him to possibly not be as cute since I knew they might need to shave him (because of some tangles and mats). But let me tell you, even shaved… that dog is the cutest thing ever. He went from looking fluffy to sleek, black to grey, like a little baby to a young man… all from one session at the groomers.

Our little Fletcher is growing up so fast! But, then again, I guess that’s what they are supposed to do, right?

Cutting it Close...

The Facts

Nolan needed a haircut. Kristi cut it.

His Side

I don’t put too much care into my hair. Before I was 24 I had only put any product in my hair twice (once was in high school, trying to fit in and the other was for this weird stage play thing). When I was dating Kristi and working toward marrying Kristi, I wanted to change it up. I had always gotten my hair buzz cut. It’s easy, low maintenance, and it was free (my mom did it). As people tend to do when they are in love, they want to look their best. So, I decided I wanted to get my hair cut and styled. To do this, I went to a fancy salon and let them do with my hair as they pleased. I liked the result. I even bought some wax (like a less hardening version of gel) so I could style my hair on occasion. 

Before

For a while, I went with that hair style. Kristi liked it and I liked it. But, I went from styling my hair almost every day to just styling it when I was going out or going to church. Then, I started styling it less and less. It was just a lot of work. It got to where I was only styling it probably once or twice a month. I decided it was time to go back to the low maintenance buzz cut. This is something my wife offered to do for me. I thanked her but told her I’d let the professionals handle it. But, as she mentioned it a few more times, I figured I would give her a shot. 

She thinks I was more nervous than I actually was. I knew she couldn’t mess it up too badly. And, if she did and I ended up kind of ugly, it’s her fault so she couldn’t complain about it. The clippers she used weren’t great, though. The first set we tried did more yanking on my hair than cutting it. That wasn’t fun. The second set worked fine, but still yanked a little. Maybe it wasn’t the machine’s fault, though, because as Kristi continued to cut, it yanked less and less… so it could have been user error that got worked out with experience. All that matters is it didn’t pull all my hair out.

As we did it, Kristi was giddy. I don’t know why she loved it so much, but I’m just glad she had fun. It took her a little longer than it would have a professional, but it also cost 13 dollars less. I’m down with that. And, by the end, Kristi kept telling me how good I looked. Whether that was her bragging about the great job she did on my hair or her just complimenting me, I don’t care. It’s always nice to hear that your wife thinks you look good! 

So, no matter what others say or think about my hair cut, I don’t care because I only really care about looking good for one person; and she likes the new hairdo.  

Her Side

So, I’m pretty much a hairstylist now. No, I didn’t decide to secretly go to hair school and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. But I DID cut my husband’s hair! Since we try to save money in any way that we can, I have suggested a few times to Nolan that he let me take a stab (not indicative of what might happen) at cutting his hair. He’s had the more fashionable haircuts before, but he has recently been going for the more minimalistic look of getting it buzzed.

I’ve tried to tell him that I can do it countless times; but, each time, he is hesitant. I can understand the hesitation to a certain degree, but what’s the worst that could happen? Technically the worst that could happen is that we end up having to shave his head completely and, while it might not be ideal, it’ll definitely grow back, right?

Well, he shocked me by agreeing to let me cut his precious locks. I cannot express to you how excited I was at this opportunity. He was agreeing and cautious, but definitely NOT excited. As I got the clippers out and attached the appropriately numbered guard, I could see the skepticism creep onto his face. I can only imagine what he was thinking. Perhaps it was something like, “have I lost my marbles?” or “Please tell me this is a dream.” No marbles have been lost and it definitely wasn’t a dream.

I had two sets of clippers to choose from. I opened the first box and chose those. So begins attempt #1… I let Nolan take a few deep breaths to prepare himself and then I was off... sort of. I don’t want to say that his hair had grown to an unruly length, but we definitely could have tackled this haircut a week or two sooner if you know what I mean. The clippers felt the same way. I began and they made a horrid noise. One that made Nolan shudder and request that I stop. We decided it would be best for me to try out the second set of clippers. It turned out to be a great decision as they were up to the task of chopping through his fiery locks.

I began on the right side of his head and continued around to the left side. I had to take a few photos along the way to document this monumental occasion! He was less than thrilled at the documentation. After the Macklemore-esque haircut and photo, I finished out the cut. I cannot tell you how much fun I had hearing those clippers cut the hair and seeing the fruits of my labor… does that make me weird? No need to answer, I know where I fall on the ‘weirdometer’.

The last step to finishing his haircut was to clean up around the ears and trim up around the base of his neck. He was extremely concerned about my ability to do both, but I’m pretty sure I shocked him with my awesome skills. I even asked him if he wanted the hair at the base of his neck squared or rounded (just like I always hear the professionals ask him when we go to a legit place to get his hair cut). Even though he quickly retorted with an answer, I went with my gut and did a cross between the two. That would give him the best of both worlds, right?

So, the moral of this story is to completely trust those you love. Nolan did, and now he has an amazing haircut to show for it. Plus, I think he likes that I keep stopping him to tell him “Man, you look good”… whether to tout my awesome newfound skill or to simply let him know I think he’s a good looking man, I don’t think he minds one bit!

Final Product

A Hole Lotta Work...

The Facts

Our neighbors had to get some work done. Our driveway got cut into.

His Side

Most of the time, when you see something hanging on your front door, it’s some advertisement from a local painting service or lawn service. Sometimes, though, it’s much more annoying than that. Before we went on our trip to Idaho, we got a door hanger from SCE&G telling us of an upcoming event:  them cutting into our yard or driveway. Our neighbors across the street were having some service done and, lucky for us, the access point is within our property line. They weren’t exactly sure where it was, but they knew they were either going to have to cut into our yard or driveway to reach the access point. But, they would fix whatever damage they did within two weeks… we’d see if that was true.

When we were on vacation, we got the call that they were going to be doing the work and have to cut into our driveway. We were thrilled… not. My parents were staying at the house to watch Fletcher and house-sit for us, so we made sure to inform them of what was going on and we went on relaxing during our vacation. When they were done with the work and patched the driveway where they cut, we got my parents to send us a picture. It looked awful. I’m not sure how they thought the job they did was acceptable, but we were not happy with it at all. It was sunken in compared to the rest of the driveway, it had cracks all around it, and they didn’t even fill in all of the cuts they made in the driveway. 

I called our contact with SCE&G and expressed my displeasure with the job as it was performed and he, of course, told me there was nothing he could do about it. I was mad until he told me that he would refer me to the claims department. When I finally got the call from them, they sent a guy out to look at it. I didn’t expect much out of this visit, to be honest. He looked at it and told me that he’s seen worse. The means literally nothing to me, though, because I don’t care what other people’s driveways look like. I care what mine looks like and it didn’t look good. Surprisingly, though, he told me they would cut it all the way across the driveway and fill it in. Wow. That’s actually what we wanted so I was shocked. He told me I’d get a call from the people that were going to do it and they’d set up a time with me.

We waited over a week and hadn’t heard from anyone about our driveway. So I called the guy who told me I’d get a call. He got an attitude with me when I was simply calling to check in and make sure that everything was still in place to get our driveway fixed. There’s no need for an attitude. I wasn’t being mean, I was just following up. The very next day we got a call at 7:30am saying that they are on their way to fix our driveway. There was no planning or anything. Just a call saying they’re on their way. What if we had been busy? Or that day wasn’t good? They didn’t seem to care. Luckily, the guys that came to fix the garage door had come the day before. If not, they wouldn’t have been able to get on the driveway to fix our garage door. 

So yea, it was a long road to get our driveway looking decent again (even though it still doesn’t look very good). At least we can drive on it and it isn’t as much of an eye-sore as it was before. It’s good to look on the bright side even though, sometimes, no side looks very bright. 

Her Side

As you know (if you’ve been reading more than just this post), we’ve done some work in our yard to spruce it up a bit. Our side yard looks great and our front yard is a shade of brilliant green it has never been before… never mind the green might be credited to the superfluous amount of weeds present. Even so, we are quite pleased with the curb appeal of our home. So, it is just up to us to maintain it… easy enough! Well, when we were informed that a four foot by four foot hole would be dug up in our yard or driveway for gas line purposes for our neighbor, I was greatly disappointed (especially in light of our recent accomplishments on our yard). The gentleman at SCE&G who had the pleasure of informing us of this work assured us that, whether in the yard or driveway, they would fill the hole in and it would be as good as new.

I’m a pretty skeptical person by nature and I immediately knew that their “patch job” wouldn’t be up to our standards. It’s not that our standards are very high, because they aren’t. They fall under the “attainable” category. So, when we were informed that the work would start while we were on vacation, I knew we would be coming back to something we wouldn’t be pleased with.

Since we are so very lucky (note the sarcasm), we got to have a hole dug up and patched in the worst place possible:  the driveway! Since we were on vacation when all of this went down, Nolan’s parents sent us a picture and we were immediately unhappy with the results. But we waited until we arrived home from vacation to fully pass judgment on their “repair” perhaps in the hopes that the picture just didn’t do it justice.

Well, the picture did do it justice and it wasn’t good. Nolan had the lovely task of expressing our displeasure and getting them to fix it. His task was much easier and went way better than I ever thought it would. So, we went from an awful four foot by four foot patch in the middle of the end of our driveway to a patch that extends the width of the driveway. While it still isn’t ideal, I’m very thankful that the nice folks at the SCE&G claims department dealt with our unhappiness in the way they did.

The take-away from this is that you should never be afraid to inform a company of your unhappiness or issue with something they have done. As long as you do it in a respectful manner, you’d be surprised at what they are willing to do.