Comforts of home...

The Facts

We bought a new sectional.

His Side

Kristi and I usually differ on our attitudes toward money. I generally take the approach that we make money to spend it. I’m not against saving or anything, I just think that having steady jobs affords you the opportunity to get things you want sometimes; it’s not just about getting the things you need. With Kristi usually taking the opposite approach of saying “well we don’t really need that so why spend the money on it,” I was shocked when she texted me one day and said “we should get a couch.” It shocked me because we have a couch that works just fine. But I’m not one to turn down the prospect of a new couch, so I said “let’s go shopping.”

The shopping part took a lot longer than I expected and we saw a lot of comfortable things. It seemed like each place we went had something we liked better than the last place. We eventually finalized the fact that we wanted a sectional with built in recliners. I wanted built in recliners all along, though, because there is something inborn in all men that makes them want to sit in a recliner.

Before the couch

We finally found what we wanted and I went into negotiating mode which was more successful than I expected. We got the price we wanted so we signed on the dotted line and ordered the pieces to our sectional.

That week of waiting for our sectional to arrive was bad. I just wanted to lounge on the new couch already! But the day finally arrived and I had confirmed a 2-5pm window for the delivery. That was perfect because my nephew’s first birthday party was that same day and ended at 1pm. While at the party, though (around 11:30am), I got a call saying that the delivery truck would arrive in thirty minutes. That was frustrating, but I left the party, let the delivery guys in to set everything up, then hightailed it back to the party.

After the couch

When we got home, though, I realized that I had overlooked a minor flaw in the couch. Two of the pieces don’t fit exactly like they should. Kristi noticed this and I felt like I should have seen it while the guys were there so they could fix it. After some phone calls and getting stern with customer service, they sent a technician out to fix the problem. He was very nice and tried a lot of things, but couldn’t fix it. It seemed that the pieces were just slightly defective.

Luckily, the manager at the store from which we bought the couch has been very helpful and we will be receiving replacement pieces later this month. Hopefully they fit better than these do! In the meantime, we have been thoroughly enjoying our new couch. And so has Fletcher!

Her Side

I’ll just come right out and say it… we bought a sofa. It’s not just any sofa, but one that is so comfortable I might be willing to give up sleeping in our beloved king bed (ok, well not exactly since I LOVE that bed). This sofa is one that puts comfort above all, and I’m ok with that. Now, let me walk you through how we went from being content with our previous sofa to the proud new owners of this brand spanking new sofa. It all happened rather suddenly. In fact, it really came out of nowhere and I’m pretty sure Nolan was blindsided when I casually brought up the idea of a new sofa one day about two weeks ago.

New look of the office

Nolan and I have actually been tossing around the idea of getting a new sofa for a while. It’s not that the one we had didn’t suffice, but it simply did not allow us to comfortably have another couple over without feeling like sardines lined up on the sofa. I have always dreamed of having a sectional… and honestly that dream has come from very selfish reasons. I want that corner section all to myself. After all, everyone knows that is the most comfortable spot there has been and ever will be. So, my heart has been set on finding the perfect one. The only problem we have had up until now is that the space we have in which to fit a sectional is rather small. In past times, we have fallen in love with sofas only to find out they were inches and sometimes even feet too large for our room. I thought we would never be able to find the perfect fit.

So, when I suggested that we start the search again, we wasted no time. Before we started our search, we made sure to take specific measurements so we would know what we could and could not fall in love with! We went from store to store and found a few that would fit in our space. It seemed that in each store we went we found one we liked better than another at the previous store. After sitting on sofa after sofa we finally found one that we both loved and our wallet wasn’t as unhappy about. If it were up to me, I would have chosen a sofa that was first and foremost aesthetically pleasing and, if it were up to Nolan, comfort would be the key. Well, when we stumbled upon THE sofa, I’m pretty sure we both knew it was the one; it was both stylish and comfortable. It was the right color, we could configure it to fit our space, it was so comfortable, and even though we weren’t even looking at this feature… it had reclining sections. As soon as we sat down we both knew we would have that sofa in our home.

Nolan took some lessons from the agents on Million Dollar Listing and did some hard bargaining to get the sofa at our “magic number.” He did great and we left the store with huge smiles on our faces!

Now, with every great thing comes some hiccups (at least in our household that’s the case). We had to wait a whole week and a few days before we could actually enjoy this new sofa… a definite test of our patience! Once delivered, we discovered that two of the pieces don’t quite fit together like they should, so we are in the process of having new pieces delivered to fix the issue.

New look of the living room

Even though we purchased only one new piece of furniture, the result was a makeover of three rooms in our house. We were able to rid our living room of a hand-me-down sofa and love seat and put our old sofa in that room. We moved my piano out of Nolan’s office and down the hall and it now has a new home in the living room. Our living room was one that we NEVER used before, but now it’s so inviting that I can see myself wandering out there to play a little piano or maybe just to sit down and read a book! After moving my piano out of Nolan’s office, we were able to move our nice recliner that was previously in the family room into his office (lucky guy) and my stationary bike found a home there as well thanks to Nolan’s generosity in giving up some space!

It feels like we have a new home now, and that’s kind of refreshing. Sometimes you just need to rearrange a few things to have an entirely different outlook on your home. It’s not that I wasn’t excited about our home before, but now I find myself walking through the house with a silly grin on my face.

So, if you come over to our house in the next few months, kindly oblige us and go on a brief tour of our “new” home. We’re proud and definitely want others to enjoy it just as much as we do!

Happy Anniversary...

The Facts

We went to Lake Lure, NC for our one year anniversary.

His Side

One year. Sadly, a lot of marriages don’t even make it that long. That puts us ahead of the curve, I guess! To celebrate that, we took an extended weekend trip to Lake Lure, NC. Why Lake Lure? Because “why not?” It’s secluded, pretty, relaxing, and we could get the hotel for free. Thanks, Mom and Dad! Also it’s not that long of a drive. 

Since check-in wasn’t until later, we decided to have a lazy morning and sleep in. Sleeping in, these days, really just means 8:30 or 9:00, but that’s okay. We had a leisurely morning, dropped Fletcher off at my mother-in-law’s, and hit the road around 1:30 or 2:00. The drive wasn’t so bad to be honest. We just chatted and listened to music. But, when we finally got there, things took a very negative turn.

Another reason (which I didn’t mention) for choosing Lake Lure is because we could get a king bed and a whirlpool tub. These are two things we did not get on our honeymoon last year, so we wanted to be sure we got them this year. When we checked in and went to our room, though, we found a queen bed and a whirlpool tub. That was unacceptable. Now, before you call us divas, think about how you’d feel if you specifically chose accommodations to have certain things, got excited about those things, confirmed that you had those things TWO DAYS BEFORE CHECK IN, and then didn’t have those things. It’s not a good feeling. Also, the room smelled like a damp, dirty basement. 

Needless to say, we were very discouraged; but, with some phone calls and a good bit of waiting, we got moved to a suite with a king bed and a whirlpool tub. And it was a very, very nice place. We were more than happy with it and excited to finally be able to unpack our stuff and prepare for our dinner reservations that night. 

Dinner was at The Treetops in the Lodge at Lake Lure. Fancy is a good way to describe it. Delicious is another good way to describe it. It is literally the best dining experience I can remember. It helped that the company was great! We had to get to bed at a reasonable time, though, because we had signed up for a ziplining excursion the next day, bright and early. 

You can read more about the ziplining experience in our last post; but, to sum it up:  it was a blast! The rest of the day was spent relaxing at the pool and playing some mini-golf as we waited for our scenic boat cruise to take off that night. I love a good boat ride. Being on the water is relaxing and I absolutely love it. Kristi doesn’t share my enthusiasm. It means a lot to me that Kristi was willing to do the cruise, though. She even suggested it! She’s just lovely like that. 

On the cruise we got to see some ridiculously fancy houses on the lake, learn a little about the history of the area, see the alcove where a lot of Dirty Dancing was shot, and see a lovely sunset. I found it very fulfilling and Kristi didn’t hate it. That’s a win! After the cruise, we had a low-key evening relaxing and cooking our own dinner to save some cash. 

The next day we became outdoorsy people (which we aren’t). We had planned to go to a diner my brother-in-law told us about for breakfast, but we were pretty lazy in the morning and didn’t get out of bed early enough to make it to breakfast. We were okay with that. So, instead, we went for lunch. The cool thing about this diner is that it’s on the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a very scenic, winding road. There are a lot of nice overlooks to stop at and it’s just a beautiful drive. The food and service were great, too.

portions of Dirty Dancing were shot here

After lunch, we headed to another landmark suggested by my brother-in-law (and some folks on our ziplining trip):  Sliding Rock. Here, you wait in line a long time so that you can slide down this super smooth rock into a freezing cold swimming hole. And I mean FREEZING! Doesn’t sound like fun? Well, it is. We only slid down once, but it was worth the trip.

Once we toweled off and warmed up, we got directions to a state park where we planned to hike to a bunch of waterfalls. It turns out we only hiked to two waterfalls because neither of us are huge hiking fans and it was hot outside. The waterfalls we went to, though, were gorgeous and it was a nice trip; but, both of us were ready to get back to our home base. We had been driving a lot that day and wanted to relax.

We relaxed with some s’mores on the beach. The place where we were staying had organized a bonfire on the beach and it was the perfect way to finish out our trip. We watched the sun go down over the lake while enjoying some always delicious s’mores and chatting with some fellow vacationers.

The next day, our blissful trip had to come to an end… sort of. We had to leave Lake Lure, but we still had another day off from work. So Monday was a little “staycation.” We didn’t really do anything which was perfect. Simply not having to work and getting to spend the whole day together was fantastic. Going back to work on Tuesday wasn’t as fantastic, though.

I couldn’t have asked for a better year with Kristi or a better way to cap off that year than the Lake Lure trip we took. I look forward to many more years with Kristi by my side and many more anniversary trips!

Her Side

It seems like just yesterday that Nolan and I were finishing preparations for our quickly approaching wedding. Our wedding day went by way faster than I expected, but I didn’t think that would spill over into the first year. It has flown by! I have now been Mrs. Collins for one whole year… that’s crazy to me, and I certainly wouldn’t change it for the world. A few months back, we started planning an anniversary trip because, after all, I think one year of being married is definitely something to celebrate. As sad as it is to say, there are a lot of folks who don’t make it to the one year mark (I’d presume they didn’t take the sanctity of marriage very seriously). So, we wanted to get away and just celebrate US. We picked a location but had no idea what there was to do there, all we knew is that it was within a reasonable driving distance and would provide some relaxation. Leading up to our trip we talked about what we might like to do but ultimately didn’t commit to anything and decided to be spontaneous the whole time!

Our trip destination was in the mountains of North Carolina and, to be more specific, we went to Lake Lure (a super tiny town that you can miss if you blink… no joke). Our reservations began on a Thursday; but, unfortunately, we couldn’t check in until later in the day. So, our morning was spent lazily starting the day (I wish everyday was like that) and slowly packing up Fletcher’s stuff to take to my mom’s since she graciously agreed to watch him while we were gone. Once we finally decided to hit the road, we had to prep ourselves to say goodbye to Fletcher. He’s just a dog, right? WRONG! He’s like our child, so leaving him was a quasi-big deal to us… well, me. But, once we finally said goodbye, we were on our way.

We arrived at our destination and discovered that the room we were given did not check off all of our boxes. We chose a room with a whirlpool tub (because we don’t have one and the tub we do have is basically only comfortable for a small child) and, more importantly, we chose a room with a king bed. What can I say, we like our space! Well, when we opened the door to our suite, we discovered that it did have the whirlpool tub, but did not come with our requested king bed. Also, it smelled like mildew and stale air. So, we weren’t staying there. After a number of calls and complaints, we worked it out and were moved to a two bedroom unit that was MUCH better and I’d even say we loved it!

Our first night in Lake Lure, we decided to go out to a fancy dinner. Nolan had done some investigating and found a spot to which he was told he HAD to take me. I’m so glad he did, because it was the most delicious meal with the most amazing views of the lake. By the time we were done with dinner, it was time to get back to our place and relax. Before we could relax, however, we had to decide about our adventures for the next day. We both expressed interest in ziplining, so we looked into places and settled on one that seemed to have the better and more adventurous course (albeit more expensive… go figure). We booked it and paid the fees online and got in bed because our day would have to start ridiculously early so we could make our 8:30 am ziplining adventure!

Our zip lining adventure started out rocky, but ended with smiles stretched across our faces. By the time we were done, we were starving… so we started the 30 minute drive back to our place and devoured simple homemade sandwiches as fast as we could. I am fairly confident not a word was spoken between us during that meal… how awkward! Even though our morning was spent outdoors, the weather had been wonderful. Once we got back to our place, the tune had changed a bit and it was HOT. So, we decided that we would take a quick jaunt to the resort pool before getting ready for our evening plans.

If you know me, you might know that I HATE wearing a swimsuit in public. I’m not model skinny and I definitely have some meat on my bones. I’m not suggesting I’m ashamed of my body, but let’s be honest… we live in a world where women are told they should look a certain way and be a certain size… one I’m certain not even one of my legs would fit into. All of the “good chairs” were taken by those wanting to get some sun, but not too much sun; basically, they took all of the desirable shaded spots. So, we opted for chairs that were closest to the least populated section of the pool. I dropped my stuff, took off my swimsuit cover up and pretty much ran, er, briskly walked to the edge of the pool and got in immediately. The water was brisk but oh so refreshing! We commandeered an unpopulated corner of the pool and did some serious people watching:  one of our favorite pastimes!

Once pool time was over, we had to get ready for our evening excursion - a scenic boat cruise around Lake Lure. Fun fact about Kristi:  I don’t like boats. I don’t like boats for the same reason I don’t like planes. Because I can’t immediately step out at any time and be on solid ground; also, I’m not a fan of waves rocking the boat. It FREAKS me out. Nolan has become accustomed to this, but I assure you he still thinks I’m crazy. Well, the boat ride turned out just fine, although the water got bumpy a few times and I had to squeeze Nolan’s hand to keep my cool. By the end of the boat ride, I didn’t want it to end since the views were gorgeous and the breeze on the water was incredible! But, all good things must come to an end, right?

Our final full day in Lake Lure started with a ride up to the Pisgah Inn (a fantastic place to eat with great views) along the Blue Ridge Parkway. My brother suggested we get there for breakfast but, since breakfast is only served until 10:30am and it was about an hour and a half drive to get there, we opted to get up there in time for lunch. The drive up was full of twists and turns, literally… oh and a bunch of tunnels. I guess that’s kind of what you have to do when you build a road in the middle of a mountain range, huh? After our lovely lunch, we decided to go to Sliding Rock where you slide down a HUGE smooth rock into ice cold water. Now, I don’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t what we saw and experienced. There were tons of people and an extremely long line to walk up the rock and slide down. Again, I tried to talk myself out of sliding down the rock. I didn’t want to be in a swimsuit in front of people and the thought of ice cold water gave me flashbacks to that time myself and a bunch of cousins and family jumped into the canal in Kuna. What I remembered was that it was frigid. Well, I sucked it up and made my way to the top of the rock and like the cute couple we are, Nolan and I opted to slide down the rock hand in hand (I know… how lame, right?) We slid down the rock and the breath was quickly knocked out of each of us upon the realization of how cold that water actually was. Once was enough for both of us… now that’s something we could agree upon.

Sliding Rock

Next, we decided to do some small hikes and see some gorgeous waterfalls. Again, I wasn’t expecting there to be so many people and I certainly wasn’t expecting to get winded while on our journey to see the waterfalls. The parking lot was packed and we had to “hike” up a long hill, that we admittedly stopped hiking halfway up because we are THAT out of shape.

We took the winding roads back to our place and got cleaned up and ready for a marshmallow roast on the beach at the resort. I love marshmallows so, as soon as I heard about it, I was IN! I was curious as to why only marshmallows were being roasted, but was pleasantly surprised when we got to the beach and discovered we were doing the whole sha-bang. S’MORES! Music was playing and everyone was enjoying the delicious s’mores. What a wonderful way to end our anniversary trip.

This trip has been a conclusion to a wonderful first year of marriage together. I’m thankful for every day that I have spent with Nolan. If you were to ask me a year ago what I thought marriage would be like, I would have no idea what to tell you. It’s a lot harder than I expected, but that’s not a bad thing. I actually consider that a great thing. If it were easy, it would be easy to take for granted. Instead, when you have to work for something you appreciate it much more.

So, like our vows said a year ago… Nolan, I STILL promise to encourage you, inspire you, and stand by your side for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health for all the days of my life. I will forever be there to laugh with you, to lift you up when you are down and to love you unconditionally through all of our adventures in life together… and I hope there are many more to come!

Zip the Line...

The Facts

On our anniversary trip, we went ziplining.

His Side

I would consider myself a pretty adventurous guy. Someone without an adventurous spirit doesn’t move all the way across the country leaving everything he’s ever known behind to chase a dream that he knows is nearly impossible to achieve. In case you don’t know what I’m referring to, I did that. The reason I mention that is because Kristi and I recently went on a different kind of adventure:  ziplining. I, being the more adventurous type, was very excited about the trip while Kristi was very nervous. She was so nervous that, when I asked her for a mint from her purse on the way up to the venue, all she could muster is a quiet “hold on.” I felt a little bad that Kristi was so nervous about it and I kept trying to reassure her that we would be safe and it would be fun. She didn’t want to talk about it. But, we had already paid, so we were going!

As we got suited up, our wonderful guides, Jake and Charlotte, reiterated that what we were about to do was inherently dangerous and made us all give a thumbs up if we were still willing to do it. By putting our thumbs in the air, we were telling them that, if we get hurt or killed, it’s on us. Fun… 

After we got suited up, we headed to “ground school” which is really just a short piece of wire to show you how the equipment works and for you to practice the things they have been telling you are important:  how you position your body while zipping, how the “zip stop” works, etc. They stressed the importance of staying straight on the line and not coming in at an angle. With how much emphasis they were putting on this aspect, I thought something terrible would happen if I didn’t come in straight. So, on my first zip, I was solely focused on keeping my body straight. It was nerve wracking. As I got more accustomed to the process, though, I realized it’s not as big of a deal as it seemed. So, by the third or fourth line, I felt like a pro and I got to fully experience the joys of ziplining. Those joys mostly involve looking around at the scenery while zipping. There were some fantastic views and, at one point, Jake told is that the “things below us that look like shrubs are actually about 200 foot tall trees.” Looking down was fun as well. 

It got to the point where I was doing some of the fun things they suggested on certain lines. One of the lines had a great photo opportunity so they suggested you turn and strike a pose as you take off. I just did a boring thumbs up, but I would have never turned toward the camera or anything on my first few zips. On the shortest line of the day, they challenged us to see if we could hold our breath the whole way, close our eyes the whole way, or yell the whole way. I closed my eyes AND yelled the whole way. It was exhilarating! 

If you can’t tell, I loved the ziplining part and was thrilled that Kristi was loving it, too. What I didn’t like, though, were the repels. I didn’t realize I was afraid of heights until those moments. It may not be that I am afraid of heights, it may be more about the fact that I was standing on the edge of a platform looking down a huge drop and then the platform moves! It’s unsettling. Then you get hooked up to this pulley system engineered by the Germans and just step off the platform. I put a lot of faith in German engineering that day and I survived. 

You may be thinking about ziplining but don’t think it’s safe. Well, I’ve only experienced this one location, but it was very safe. Our guides were very entertaining and hilarious and kept the entire day fun while still staying very focused on safety. They messed around a lot but not with safety measures. Another piece of advice if you’re thinking of going on a similar journey:  don’t do an outing with just a few ziplines. As I mentioned, I only really got comfortable after the first two or three. If you only do two or three, you probably won’t get to experience the full joys of the experience because you will still be getting used to how you position your body and everything.

It was an amazingly fun experience and I would go again! A little added bonus, though, was getting to tell Kristi “I told you so!” when she loved it. 

Her Side

Our ziplining adventure started off on a bit of a precarious foot. I wanted to back out. I was nervous and uncertain and was starting to think it wasn’t the best of ideas. As usual, Nolan has this endearing way of convincing me everything will be okay. Also, he reminded me that we had already paid for the excursion… and money talks. So, out the door we went. By this time, my nerves were on a roller coaster ride of their own. I was contemplating the safety of what we were about to do. Should we call our parents and let them know? You know, in case something goes wrong and we get injured… or worse. I’ll admit that my nervousness manifested itself in mild nausea. Nolan kept trying to talk to me and all I could manage was sticking my hand out as to signify that now was not a good time to converse. At one point he asked for a mint from my purse and all I managed was to mutter “not right now, give me a minute.” I’m pretty sure he knew something was up at that point. I managed to control my nerves and was even able to drag myself out of the car when we got to our destination. I had succumbed to the fact that there was no backing out because we had already paid for it and this was something that Nolan was really looking forward to doing.

We donned our gear and headed to “Ground School,” which wasn’t a school at all; but we did learn the basics necessary for a safe and fun trip. There were a total of seven of us zipping and we had two instructors to help us along the way. I made some nervous chatter with a few of the other adventure goers, which ultimately served to get my mind off of the impending… fun I was going to have.  Yep, I said it:  FUN. As soon as I was hooked up to the course and it was my turn on deck, I got excited. The only part I was leery about was taking the first step off of the platform to ride the line… with only a forest of trees beneath me to break my fall (or my legs if we’re being realistic).

It’s probably a good time to mention that the zipline tour we chose boasted to be the steepest and fastest in the country. It had eleven ziplines, three rappels, and a sky bridge all jammed into a three and a half hour time window. Our guides were Charlotte and Jake and they were a hoot! They made sure we had fun, but were certain to make sure all safety protocols were followed as well. The repeated phrase of the day was “Zip check, Jake” and a reply from Jake of “Zip stop set, Charlotte”. Occasionally they would get fancy and say something like “Zippity stoppity checkity, Jakety”… yea, they liked to have fun.

The views from the trees (which is where we were zipping, rappelling, and crossing a sky bridge) were breathtaking! We did encounter a large number of spiders on our adventure and they were sizeable. Some people even kept trying to mess with them, which is something I wasn’t fond of. I think I might have threatened one of the other zipliners that if he messed with the spider I would throw him off of the platform which was approximately two hundred feet in the air. Oh, don’t worry it wouldn’t have worked because we were all tethered safely to the tree. And then there was the SNAKE, oh my… the snake. At our first rappel of the day, our guide Jake went down first to help us as we descended. Before he made it to the platform I heard a surprised sounding noise come from below and he confirmed there was a snake waiting for him near the platform. No joke, I considered aborting this whole ziplining mission at that point. I didn’t sign up to play with or be near snakes. Well, he moved the snake out of the way and I told Nolan that, if we encountered the snake, he would be giving me a piggy back ride. Thankfully no piggy back ride had to be given. Phew!

We finished out our three and a half our adventure and I was a bit sad when it was over. Since ziplining is only effective when done going downhill, they were kind enough to have a van waiting for us at the bottom so we didn’t have to hike back up. Thanks, guys!

This adventure was definitely something that got me out of my comfort zone and, for that, I’m thankful! Life is more fun when you live on the edge a little (and within certain boundaries). Well maybe when you live within a slightly larger “box” than what you’re used to. So, if you’re looking for an exhilarating, invigorating adventure to do, I would highly recommend ziplining!!

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?