Silence is Golden...

The Facts

He loves going to the movie theater. She prefers watching at home.

His Side

Every movie lover knows that the best way to watch a film is in the theater. Yea, it’s more expensive than renting in Redbox or waiting for it to hit Netflix, but it’s the best way. I’ll even back up my opinion with cold, hard facts. Here we go…

First, the screen is bigger and the sound is better. Some people have huge projectors with a top of the line Bose sound system and comfy chairs at their homes (totally jealous of that, by the way), but I bet only the elite few have the same capabilities of IMAX at their house. Not all films are shot in IMAX these days, but it’s still a fact that your local theater almost assuredly offers better sound and picture than you have at your home. And, for some films (like last year’s “Gravity”), you HAVE TO see it on a big screen because the visuals are so breathtaking.

Secondly, you get to see the film sooner. Waiting for a film to hit Netflix, Redbox, or (worst case scenario) TV is a horrible option. This is especially true for highly anticipated movies that have a lot of buzz. Not only do you miss out on the social media conversations about these films, you also risk hearing or reading spoilers. Someone at work may assume everyone has seen the new Robert Downey Jr. movie since it did 13 billion dollars in the domestic box office it’s opening weekend (in case you don’t know, that’s a ridiculous number even for a film starring Robert Downey Jr.). With that assumption, your co-worker may blurt out something to the guy in the next cubicle over about how you find out at the end that the whole thing was just a dream (the worst twist ever). So, if you wait until the movie comes to a more accessible home media platform, you risk months of that… it’s not worth it.

Thirdly, and most importantly, seeing a film with a crowd is a unique experience you cannot duplicate anywhere other than in a packed theater. Yes, you risk there being some jerks that won’t shut their mouths or their cell phones. You also risk getting the back of your seat kicked or having a smelly person plop down beside you because he doesn’t understand the unspoken rule of leaving at least a seat between you and any person you don’t know personally. The annoying laughter that goes on too long and makes you miss the dialogue after the joke is another risk you run. But, there’s just something about seeing a movie with a crowd… it’s intangible most of the time. Here are two times when seeing a film with a crowd greatly changed the viewing experience.

I was watching “The Is The End” and I found it to be very funny. The cast is great in that film and they are clearly having a good time on camera which translated to me having a great time watching them. Upon a second viewing of the film in my home, I realized it’s a very dumb movie that is rather dull. Seeing this film with a crowd was an enjoyable experience but watching it at home wasn’t. That’s such a strange phenomena to me. But, I guess I thought the film was funny because everyone else was laughing. What that experience says to me, though, is that watching a dull movie with a crowd in a theater can make that dull movie entertaining. That’s powerful.

I’ve seen a lot of movies in theaters and at home, but one moment in a theater watching “Silver Linings Playbook” will stick with me forever. I drove 30 minutes to see this film in theaters. For some reason it only opened in limited theaters but I really wanted to see it, so I made the effort. During the movie (it’s my favorite of 2012 by far), near the end, something happens in the film (which I won’t mention for risk of spoilers) and the entire theater erupted in applause and uproarious laughter simultaneously. It’s not like one person started clapping and the rest of us joined in… it was natural and organic and just thinking about it gives me chills. It’s no secret that films affect us emotionally and this affected a large crowd all at the same time. It was an unreal experience and is something that I love about film.

Going to the theater to see a movie is the best way to see a movie. It’s more expensive and you risk dealing with annoying people, but it’s worth it. On a big screen surrounded by a crowd is the way films are made to be watched and you can have some amazing experiences watching them this way.

Her Side

It’s no secret that my husband is quite fond of movies. I might even go so far as to say that he loves them. If you were to ask him what his idea of a perfect day would be, I’m almost positive it would include movie watching of some type, whether it be at home or in the theater. His preferred method would definitely be to experience a movie in a room that has sticky floors from the superfluous amounts of Icees and soft drinks that have been spilled on it, a room that can accommodate you and your 200 closest friends, and a room that has a screen the size of a building with speakers that encompass your entire being… you guessed it, he loves the movie theater.

This is a subject we differ on greatly. To him, going to the theater to watch a movie is a relaxing experience. To me, it’s just the opposite. Now, I don’t want to make it seem like I’m an antisocial person, but I tend to err on the side of not being social. Although, to be a bit more specific, it’s not that I don’t like being social; it’s that I don’t like the huge crowds. This isn’t because I’ve got a bad case of anthrophobia… people just sometimes annoy me and, for some reason, that annoyance is magnified by an almost infinite amount once I step foot into a movie theater. So, you can call my “issue” what you want, but you know what I’m talking about.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people prove how sparse common sense and manners are these days. If I’ve just paid a small fortune to sit in a movie theater with tons of other people I don’t know, the experience had better be amazing. I don’t take kindly to people imposing on my movie going experience even if it’s not my ideal place to be.

This is where the real problem comes in. Nolan can usually get me to agree quite easily to go see a movie with him (as long as it’s not scary, because he’s learned that they don’t mix well with me). I like to make my hubby happy and accompanying him to see movies is just one of those things that fills up his love bank (something we learned about in our premarital counseling days… uh, 9 months ago…). We sneak our favorite candy in with my large purse that Nolan always makes fun of since it’s comparative to a small piece of luggage (only a slight exaggeration) and then the previews begin. To me, the previews mark the beginning of the movie experience, which also means that you need to shut your mouth and put those pesky cellular devices away. Strangely enough, it seems that the majority of other movie goers do NOT agree with this sentiment.

You can find me sitting there brooding at the fact that the surrounding people are carrying on normal conversations with those they accompanied to the theater. Um, hello… why pay an arm and a leg to have a conversation with your friend if you can have that same conversation for FREE at HOME. I just don’t get it. Nolan oftentimes has to talk me down from reprimanding the people around us for interrupting the previews. Although, let’s be honest, I’m all talk and no action. I would NEVER actually approach anyone in the theater; people these days are crazy!

By this time, as I’m sure you can tell, the movie experience has been anything but relaxing for me… and the feature presentation hasn’t even started yet. Normally, conversations trickle out as popcorn begins to stifle the previous chatter. BUT sometimes, there is that pesky person who thinks their conversation is so much more important than the movie or they can’t risk putting down their phone for fear of missing an ever so important Facebook notification. If you’re a lucky one and the people around you get the hint that a movie is starting, awesome! But let me introduce you to the next annoyance… the person who doesn’t understand how to keep it down appropriately. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a theater, attempting to watch a comedy (we all know these are the best choices) and there is that ONE person that thinks the movie is far more hilarious than it actually is… even when it’s a ridiculously funny one. Yep, they decide to do the hyena laugh and turn the experience into something reminiscent of the olden days of silent films for you. There is such a thing as a courtesy laugh - it’s short and relatively quiet. And, even if you haven’t mastered the art of said courtesy laugh, the fact that everyone is silent around you should be a good indication that you need to cut it out. Can I get an “amen”?

Since I’ve been burned quite a few times at the movie theater, I’ve come to expect the worst out of these situations. With pretty low expectations, things can’t get any worse than what I’ve prepared myself for. This means that I’m sometimes pleasantly surprised by the common sense and manners folks display and am left enjoying the whole movie going experience… that is unless Nolan has picked out a horrible movie that leaves me begging for the two hours I just spent in the theater back (but we all know he’s such a great judge of movies, so that NEVER happens!).

Nolan is slowly learning that movies aren’t my idea of relaxation and I’m realizing more and more just how relaxing they are to him. The fact that we can meet in the middle on something we both have strong and polarizing opinions about is a true testament to our relationship. Filling up each other’s love bank is what we’re all about. After all… who doesn’t love a full bank?!

A Deflating Problem...

The Facts

The tire was leaking. They tried to have it plugged. It didn’t go well.

His Side

Dealing with car trouble is never fun. It’s especially not fun when you make an appointment online to get your oil changed and you make that appointment with plenty of time to make it to work on time but your appointment doesn’t get honored and you don’t make it to work on time. That’s what happened the first time I went to Tire Kingdom. After that, though, we needed to get Kristi’s oil changed and Tire Kingdom was the cheapest and most convenient option we could find, so I went back. That time it was a very smooth process and they even recognized me from last time and thanked me for coming back even though I made it clear the previous time that I hadn’t had a good experience.

Since that second time went well, we decided we would give them more business when we discovered that my front, passenger side tire was slowly leaking air. That pesky and confusing dashboard light kept popping on despite filling the tire not so long ago. With Kristi having to go out of town for work, we figured we should take care of it so she wasn’t driving 240ish miles round trip on a leaky tire. It also helped that Tire Kingdom was open on Sunday.

First, let me say that I suggested we drive both cars over there so we could drop mine off and take hers to run the remainder of our errands while they worked on fixing our tire problem. Kristi told me it shouldn’t take long to patch the tire (and she’s right, it “shouldn’t”) so we can just drive one car and wait. So that’s what we did. And, boy did we wait! 

The car got taken in immediately which was nice. But, after a little while, they came out to tell me that there were two holes in my tire and I expected that to be the precursor to them telling me I owed them more money for patching two holes instead of one. That wasn’t the case, so I was happy. Then, after a bit, they asked me to come back to the garage part. I was confused as to why I was going back there… I wasn’t going to work on the car, that’s their job. But they took me back there to show me the holes and their patch jobs. The first one looked great. The second one… not so much. They had soapy water on the hole which was bubbling, showing me that air was leaking out despite the plug. It wasn’t holding because the hole was too big (or so they said). 

My first thought was, “how can the hole be too big for a plug, but I was able to drive on the tire for weeks before having to fill up the air again?” When I asked that, the guy THAT WORKS FOR A TIRE PLACE didn’t have an answer. He was as baffled as I was. So, he told me that we need a new tire. That was bad news.

He priced them out and we went with the cheapest one (which is still a 60,000 mile tire supposedly) and the guy suggested I get road hazard coverage on the tire. I figured it’s better to be safe than sorry but Kristi pointed out to me that if something happens to any of my other tires, we don’t have coverage on them. So, if something were to happen on the road to mess up a tire, it’s only a 25% chance that we would be covered… not great odds. So we told the guy we didn’t want that. To that he responded, “I really hate to see a tire leave here without road hazard coverage so I’ll knock down the price of the tire to give you the coverage for free.” That was nice of him but I couldn’t help think that, if he was that willing to knock the price of the tire down so quickly, I could’ve bargained with him on the price of the tire to begin with. That’s a lesson I won’t forget:  always try to bargain because, worst case, you pay full price.

We spent too much time (I told her we should’ve driven two cars) and more money than we expected to, but now we have a safe and reliable car for my wife to travel in for work. The peace of mind I have in knowing that the tire won’t blow out while she’s going 70 miles per hour down the interstate is well worth the time and money spent. And we got to chat and hang out while we waited. It’s never time wasted when I’m with my wife!

Her Side

I’m going to come right out and say that Nolan and I have a love/hate relationship… with cars. We love them because they get us from point A to point B fairly reliably. We hate them because they are trouble makers. If you’ve read any of our previous posts, you know that we’ve had some issues with a certain dashboard light in Nolan’s car that may or may not indicate low tire pressure. Well, that bad boy came on again recently.

As soon as it came on, Nolan mentioned it to me and we planned to check out the tire to see what was up with it. Well, a few days passed and the tire still seemed to be full and allowing the car to function properly, so we put it off until this past Sunday. We finally decided to check the tire pressure and I wasn’t prepared for the measly 11 PSI that the device registered. I was slightly shocked that his tire looked as full as it did because, when the tire is actually supposed to ride comfortably at a beefy 32 PSI, one might think that 11 would equate to an anorexic and malnourished version of its previous self. We inspected the tire and realized that the suspected hole in the tire was playing a serious game of hide and seek; only we couldn’t find it.

We knew we needed to take the car in to get the tire checked out since I was taking it out of town on a work trip. Since we discovered the leak on a Sunday, our options were pretty limited. We opted for a place we thought would be quick and relatively cheap. Well, it didn’t end up to be either of the aforementioned things. I’ve seen my dad and brothers plug tires and Nolan and I have even taken a shot at it before. So, I knew it wasn’t a complicated process and I figured that a place that specializes in tires would be able to quickly seek out the hole and fill it with the proper materials. Of course, it didn’t happen quite that easily.

First, I should mention that we didn’t drive separately to the tire place because I figured it would be a quick fix and we would be on our way. Turns out I was wrong and we definitely should have driven separately so we could have run the numerous errands we needed to run. So, after finally answering all of the necessary questions at the shop, Nolan’s car was taken back and a short while later we were informed that there wasn’t just one, but TWO holes in his tire. We joked about how Nolan should probably quit driving wherever he had been as it clearly wasn’t good for his tires. Fast forward to what seemed like 30 minutes later and a nice gentleman called Nolan back to where his car was (something to note:  when they get you to go look at your own car, it’s never good… and this time certainly wasn’t the exception). I waited anxiously for Nolan to return and, when he did, I knew it wasn’t good news. He had a defeated look on his face and told me that they were able to patch one of the holes, but the other one was being completely stubborn and wouldn’t comply. Immediately, I questioned this news. After all, I have a basic knowledge of how a tire is patched and I couldn’t figure out how it was possible for a patch not to work.

I expressed my concern with Nolan and even questioned the shop. How could a hole in the tire not be patched? If it were that big of a hole to begin with there is no earthly way Nolan would have been driving on it at all… the air would have leaked out almost instantaneously, or so it seemed. The gentleman had no answers for us and even he seemed perplexed (which is never a good thing… I mean, he should be the one person who knows what’s going on, right?)

At this point, we found ourselves in a sticky situation. We had a hole in the tire that was clearly leaking air fast, and we needed to be able to drive on it. Those are mutually exclusive ideas; so, we caved and agreed to purchase a new tire. The guy proceeded to quote us a price and mentioned something called “road hazard protection”. I immediately thought that was a load of bologna and told the guy just that (in nicer terms, of course). He clearly wanted to sell it to us because he came up with any and every reason we should get it. I pushed back and then Nolan and I stepped outside to discuss what exactly we were going to do. We finally agreed not to spend the extra money on the “protection” and informed the gentleman helping us of our decision. He wasn’t satisfied with that and decided to throw the protection in basically for free (which, I think is really the price it should have been from the start). Nolan and I pretty much have zero idea of what a good deal on a tire is, so I’m hoping that we didn’t get completely ripped off. But my suspicion is that we might have despite the free “protection” we were given. I guess that’s kind of the nature of the beast. People need tires, so the shops can pretty much sell them at any price point they want since you can’t get anywhere without them.

The good news is that we now have a reliable tire on Nolan’s car and it will safely carry its passengers to and from their destinations. The bad news is that we spent way too much time sitting in a car shop (let’s be honest, any amount of time is too much) and spent way more money than we originally intended. As Nolan and I have come to find out, life has a funny way of throwing unexpected things at us; but, in the end, it’s all about how we deal with those things. So, even though we had to spend upwards of an hour and a half sitting at that shop, that was an hour and a half we spent with each other people watching, challenging each other to quiz games on our smart phones, and just talking. Even though I (and surely Nolan) would have preferred that time together to be at home or in pretty much any other place than a car shop, it was time together… and that’s time that I’m truly grateful for.

(un)Lucky Us...

The Facts

The side yard project didn’t go as smoothly as it could have.

His Side

Our last post may have given a false sense of how everything went with updating our side yard. If you read it, you might have the idea that everything was just great and we encountered very few problems. Come on… you know that’s not true. Let me tell you a few stories of how bad luck reared its ugly head.

When we first set up the line to make sure our post holes were in line with each other, we made sure we liked where it was, made sure it was perpendicular to the house, and everything was hunky dory. So we dove into the rocky earth with our borrowed post hold diggers. Once we got down about a foot and a half, we hit concrete. Too much concrete to dig up and remove. At least it was the first hole we started digging. So we had to move the fence line up a few feet and everything was fine. It was just an omen of things to come.

The rest of that first day went off without a hitch. We got so much done and we were so very happy with ourselves. We were exhausted, but quite proud. My grandparents were in town, so we were headed out the door to have dinner with them when bad luck struck once again. Our garage door broke. It didn’t just sort of break but we could still use it… it straight up didn’t work. We couldn’t even manually put it down all the way. So we ate and ran so we could go to Lowe’s and get a replacement piece. We installed the replacement piece and that seemed to make it worse! I don’t usually get frustrated very easily. I usually can let adversity bounce off me and just focus on fixing the problem. This one almost broke me. It’s just the fact that we had gotten so much done and were so proud of ourselves… and we were exhausted and looking forward to just relaxing the rest of the night… it just wasn’t fair. We also thought we were going to have to shell out more money to fix our garage door. Luckily, my brother-in-law came to our rescue yet again. Together, he and I figured out how to fix the problem while Kristi and her mom lent their hands when needed. If I’m being honest, it was mostly him that figured out what the problem was and him that got it fixed. The irony is that HE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE A GARAGE! 

That was the roughest one in my mind. All the other issues we ran into were minor when compared to a broken garage door. Installing the gate brought a couple of issues. First, we had to attach our own cross beams to make the gate work, but we had bought pre-fabricated fence panels. So we thought we had to knock the boards off the cross beams already there in order to attach them to the new ones. This messed up some of the boards which was quite annoying but we got them off without too much damage done. It turns out that we didn’t even need to break them off because it sat out far enough to be perfectly fine. Oops!

After everything was done, the last piece to the puzzle was latching the gate. We just want it to close properly and lock into place. Not too difficult… we thought. The piece that attaches the latch didn’t work. And it was in the actual kit we bought. IT WAS MADE FOR IT! We tried so many different options to attach it and, after a trip to my brother-in-law’s house, my mother-in-law’s house, and about 3 trips to Lowe’s, we finally got it attached and it latched properly… for a while. After a week or so, it now does not latch properly. Time to fix it again!

No project is going to go off without any hitches. The hitches, though, are what make the process memorable and overcoming them makes you stronger as a person and as a couple. It may frustrate you to no end during the process but, later, you can look back on it and laugh… or just sigh in relief that it’s all over.

Her Side

I’ll call these the bloopers of our side yard project, although most of them don’t seem very comical at all…  

Day one of fence post installation was a rather long one since we began putting in a walk way once the posts were up. Once our day in the yard was done, we cleaned up and were heading out the door to have dinner with Nolan’s grandparents when trouble decided to strike. Nope, it had nothing to do with our fence… I honestly think that would have gone over better than what the problem actually was. It was, in fact, our garage door that decided to malfunction. And by malfunction, what I really mean is break. Yep, the stupid thing decided it didn’t want to work correctly anymore. As soon as I realized what happened, I wanted to cry. We had accomplished so much on that Saturday and this is how our home repays us? Nolan and I were in a hurry to make it to dinner, so we did a quick inspection of the garage door (as if we know anything about them at all) and saw that a bracket had given way.

We went on our merry way to dinner knowing that we would be making a trip to Lowe’s after we ate and we were hoping they carried a replacement bracket. To be honest, I didn’t think they would because things don’t always go in our favor. So, you can imagine our surprise when we walked into the store and easily found the part we were looking for. I was excited because I thought it would be as easy as just replacing the broken part and it would be back to working like new. NOT! It didn’t come close to working like that. We replaced the bracket and it still wouldn’t work. In fact, replacing the bracket seemed to make the problem worse… if that’s even possible. Now, the garage door wouldn’t move the little amount we were able to coax it into moving a few moments before. I was ready to call in a garage door repairman because I was drained, Nolan was drained, and we had no earthly idea how to solve our problem. We took a moment and eventually called in reinforcement… twice. My mom came over to lend a hand, but we couldn’t figure out what to do so we decided to call my brother. Now, he doesn’t even have a garage door so I don’t know why I thought he would have any expertise in the area, but it was worth a try. He graciously agreed to come over and see if he could lend a hand. We realized that the door was out of square and the line that helps raise it was off of its track. There was some pushing, shoving, and hitting involved. No, we didn’t have a knock down drag out fight… we were just trying to tap that garage door back into place. It took a LOT of work, but Nolan and Jason were able to get it fixed and the garage door was back on track (pun intended).

As if that wasn’t enough of a problem to deal with while trying to get our side yard spruced up, we had an issue with the gate! We didn’t purchase a pre-fabricated gate; but, instead, decided to make one from part of the fencing panels we purchased (it’s a much cheaper option). We bought the kit and it came with “all of the necessary hardware” (so it claimed). Everything went smoothly until we began to install the latch. The screws that were included in the kit wouldn’t work. Three of us tried to drill those bad boys in but, to no avail. They just sat on the outside of the metal and spun around like a fast moving merry-go-round. We thought perhaps the screws were too large, but another quick trip to Lowe’s proved that theory wrong.

All we wanted was to have a gate that latched securely… is that too much to ask? I think not. So, we took yet another trip to Lowe’s and purchased an array of bolts (one of which was sure to solve our problem). At this point I’m pretty sure Nolan and I were already thinking about getting the strongest glue out there and just gluing that latch on there… obviously not the best option, but if it works… Thankfully, a bolt was the answer to our gate problems. I’m happy to report that the gate closes and that’s all I care about.

Sometimes life has a funny way of teaching you things. We had been so caught up these past few weeks in thinking about our yard and finally finishing our project and making it awesome that we thought our neighbors would be glad to finally see an amazing finished product. While our human neighbors might enjoy what we accomplished, one “neighbor” made it pretty apparent that he or she didn’t care too much that we invested a lot of time or effort into it. We came out to admire our yard Sunday afternoon only to see that a neighborhood pet had made our nicely manicured and mulched side yard into their own private bathroom… they clearly don’t appreciate the finer things in life.

Doin' a Little Work on the Side (Yard)...

The Facts

Our side yard was horrendous. Not anymore.

His Side

“I hate yard work!”

That’s me in high school telling you how much I dislike working in the yard. That was my thought process when I was working in my parents’s yard. I know it was sort of my yard, too, because I lived there; but, it certainly didn’t feel like mine at the time. I also didn’t choose to spread mulch or pull weeds… I was told I would do those things. Recently, Kristi and I have been working in the yard and it’s not so bad because It’s more fun when you choose to do it yourself. It’s less fun when you have to pay for it yourself, though, so it’s a double edged sword. 

We have a nice large backyard that has a lot of undiscovered potential. It could be great but it’s not. It’s really just a mess. But, one day, it will be glorious. At least that’s what we have been saying for a while now. We have had big plans to circle our yard in a nice wooden privacy fence, but that is a lot of work and a lot of money. The “a lot of money” part is what convinced us that chain link fence would work just fine. But that’s still a lot of work and we are notoriously bad procrastinators. With that in mind, we decided to focus on a smaller project:  the side yard.

When we first got married, the side yard was atrocious but did have part of a wooden privacy fence still standing. We had wanted to do something about the side yard because it was an awful eye-sore that was ruining our curb appeal, but it didn’t seem to be such a pressing issue. That is, until one wind storm blew over the piece of wooden privacy fence that had been standing. It clearly wasn’t the most sturdy of structures because the wind had no problem knocking it down. With that broken down fence staring at us, we decided it was time to do something about it.

We started by smashing up the concrete pathway that had been there. And when I say “smashing up” I literally mean smashing it by hand with pick axes and sledgehammers. It’s a good way to get aggression out and get a work out. That process didn’t actually take as long as we thought it would, but we didn’t move on in the process until much later… you know, because of the procrastination thing.

Finally getting off our lazy butts, we got rid of the old fence posts and killed as many weeds as we could in preparation to put in a fence and a walkway to that fence. The prep work was a lot more involved than you might think, though. We had planned to get an gas-powered tiller and till it all up. But, we have quite rocky soil over there, so we were afraid of what might happen to those rocks when they come in contact with the gas tiller (the possibility of rocks hitting us in the head crossed our minds). So I did all the tilling by hand. It was a work out but wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Once it was all tilled and a lot of the rocks (and other assorted junk that the previous owners had buried over there) was gone, Kristi leveled it out a little and we were ready to get to work.

We went with my parents to look at some ideas for a walkway and figure out how much it was all gong to cost (more than it should). Once we had all our ducks in a row, as they say, we made our order from Lowe’s and thought it was everything we needed. It wasn’t… it never is. I’m just glad we have a Lowe’s so close because we probably took 10 trips back and forth during the whole process.

The first Saturday of work, we put in the posts for the fence. Holes were dug, posts were put in, cement was mixed, levels were used, etc. It was a very tedious process because, if those aren’t right, your fence won’t work. Luckily, we had help in the form of my brother-in-law. He had done this type of thing before so it was infinitely easier with him there. Cementing the posts in didn’t take as long as we expected so we were even able to start working on our walkway that day. With that, we had help in the form of my mother-in-law. Over the rest of that Saturday and part of Sunday, we got the walkway completely done… metal siding in, weed barrier down, then sand, then pavers, then pebbles. Lots and lots and lots of pebbles. When we originally bought pebbles, we thought we got enough bags. We were only off by about FIFTEEN BAGS. We got it done, though.

The posts have to sit for 24 hours before you can hang any fence on them. We had planned on working on it that week… but we didn’t. Then we were out of town for a weekend… so we didn’t work on it. We finally got back to work the following weekend and it went much more smoothly than expected. I got rather adept with a circular saw and used my drill skills I had gained from the storm door installation to knock out the fence hanging in no time. The only time consuming part was building the gate, but it went off with only a few minor hiccups (thanks again to my brother-in-law who randomly showed up right when we were starting on the gate).

Since that didn’t take long, we decided to take one last trip to Lowe’s and get some plants to spruce up the area around the walkway. Mulch, pots, plants, and soil came out more expensive than I thought, but you can’t put a price on beautiful landscaping (I guess you can… Lowe’s did). With more help from my mother-in-law (who actually enjoys yard work), we got the plants and mulch set up in no time. We stepped back and looked on our creation very proudly.

I was literally in awe of it when it was done. I still go out and just look at it sometime. It’s a really cool feeling to see that and know that my wife and I created it (with help). We didn’t have to hire professionals. We just put in our own time and sweat. That makes it so much more satisfying. So, I guess I don’t mind yard work too much now that it’s my own yard. Yea, it costs more than it should, but everything does. I am just glad we have something to be proud of and to show off to friends and family. Also, I like to think it increased our property value by more than what we spent in the process… maybe not but I’m going to pretend it did!

Her Side

I’m not one of those people who enjoys doing yard work. I’m not great at it and I really don’t like being out in the heat of South Carolina… and it’s hot all the time. So, Nolan and I tend to be all talk and no action in the yard work department. Whether we wanted to or not, we knew yard work projects were in our near future and, for a while, have been discussing the possibility of doing some extensive overhauling of our yard. After months of half-hearted attempts at getting our yard under control, we finally started a project and stuck with it. It all began when we thought we wanted to put up a new wooden privacy fence around our entire back yard and create our own little sanctuary. We measured the yard and began to do research on what this little sanctuary would run us. The numbers came back and we quickly decided to amend our plan and price out installing chain link fencing… still a sanctuary, right?

Set on the chain link fence, we started to prepare our backyard for what was to come. We began to dig up old dilapidated fence posts with MUCH help from my cousin Sam. He was in our neck of the woods for a few weeks on business and decided to lend a hand (well he basically did all the work) and dig up our five bazillion existing posts… only a slight exaggeration. Our intent was to follow through with installing chain link fencing around our large backyard but, as most things do, plans changed. We decided it was more pressing to have some sort of privacy from the road to our backyard and installing a small section of wooden privacy fencing would answer that dilemma. So, that’s the project we set out to tackle. I mean, if we have to choose a place to start it might as well be a place that our neighbors can enjoy as well, right?

When we began this project we realized we would need a walkway in our side yard to take you from the front to the backyard where the gate would eventually have a home. We bought all of the items we thought were necessary to install 4 fence posts, 2 fence panels, a gate, and a walkway… except, as usual, we didn’t get EVERYTHING we needed and had to make what felt like a dozen extra trips to Lowe’s before our tiny project was completed. Holes were dug. We felt like things were well on their way… except the holes are just the first of many many steps on the way to a functioning fence. My brother graciously offered to help us install the posts (since, if they aren’t done right, the entire fence could be in trouble). If you have never done it before, installing posts doesn’t seem like it should take a ton of time but it does. There is a pretty exact science to the process (or so it seems).

With the fence posts in, we thought the rest of the installation would take no time at all… and you might be right… under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, I have a bad case of what I like to call “laziness”. We planned to work on the fence after work on multiple occasions, but I somehow convinced Nolan that we didn’t really need to be out in that heat and that sitting on the couch would be much more enjoyable. Those excuses extended our side yard project out by a week or two. Oops!

Thankfully, I overcame the laziness and this past weekend we decided to finally finish the project that we started. We set our alarms for earlier than normal and recruited help so we could have another set of hands to help maneuver the fencing. The alarm went off and I so badly wanted to hit snooze but, thankfully, Nolan wouldn’t let that happen! So, we got up and got to work. I was fully expecting to have some major issues as we began the final step in the fencing process; but, much to my surprise, things went relatively smoothly! We put the first section of fence up and, after a multitude of cuts were made, we put the second section up. Easy as pie! 

The most challenging section was the gate, but even that didn’t hold us back much. If you want to talk about perfect timing, my brother unexpectedly showed up at our house just as we were starting to tackle the gate. He and Nolan figured out how to install the gate (without using instructions, of course… okay, just kidding). So, now we have a fence that is complete and it feels amazing! We even decided to make the our last trip of this project to Lowe’s to purchase some shrubs and plants to make the side yard a little more homey.

So, even though neither Nolan nor I really enjoy yard work and had no idea how to put up a fence at the beginning of the process, we did it! We have gained some pretty valuable knowledge along the way and what’s even better is that we are the proud new owners of an awesome looking side yard! It’s amazing what a little hard work, a lot of sweat, dedication, lots of extra hands, and a lot of love (from our family members) can create. It really is true that you appreciate something so much more when you work for it… and work for it is exactly what we did. So, if you’re around us in the weeks to come I apologize in advance, but this side yard is probably all we are going to talk about. 

Before

After

Click here to see the rest of our side yard transformation on our Facebook page! 

Sleep Like a King...

The Facts

They bought a bed fit for a king.

His Side

We have had a king sized bed now for at least 6 months… maybe more… I’m not entirely certain, to be honest. But really, it doesn’t matter how long we’ve had it; it just matters that we do have it because it is really the way to go. It’s not about wanting to stay away from my wife at bedtime, it’s about having sufficient space to not be cramped while I’m trying to sleep. I am fine with cuddling and such - that’s all fine and dandy - but when I’m trying to sleep, don’t touch me. Some people can probably fall asleep in their spouse’s arms or whatever but I’m not most people. I need my space.

I’m sure Kristi feels the same way because she has to have like 100 pillows when she sleeps. 100 might be a bit of an exaggeration, but she does like to be ensconced in the fluffy comfort of pillows. So, even if I wanted to cuddle as we slept, I couldn’t because I’m not as fluffy as a pillow (give me a few more years of eating sweets and working out very little and maybe I will be).

Here’s the problem, though, with a king bed… nothing else is enough. You begin to scoff at the prospect of sleeping in anything smaller. Someone has even told me that queen beds and double beds are for peasants. I’m not sure I agree with that, but they certainly are not as glorious as a king bed. So visiting people makes it a little hard to sleep because I’m not sure anyone in the entire world (that makes less than $250,000/year) has a king bed in their guest room. A double is especially tough. My parents have a double bed in their guest room… and Kristi takes over the whole thing. We make it work, but let’s just say that our guests should consider themselves lucky that our guest room has a queen bed in it. We used to sleep on a queen before we got the king and here’s an example of how spoiled the king bed has made us…

We were changing the sheets on the guest bed one time and we both looked at it and, at the same time, looked at each other and asked, “How did we ever sleep on this thing? It’s tiny!” 

When you get married and have to share a bed with someone, go big or go home. If you and your partner share something smaller than a king bed, you’re stronger people than us and congrats for that.

Her Side

If you’re looking for a piece of advice on a how to make your marriage successful, your first thought may not be to listen to a couple who has only been married for just shy of 9 months. But, let me tell you, I’ve got a winning piece of advice… invest in a king sized bed. This is the best thing that we have done thus far.

It became quite apparent that we wouldn’t be able to survive with the queen sized bed that we had set up in our master bedroom. Could we make it work? Probably. Would we be comfortable? Not always. We quickly decided that our comfort was worth way more than any amount this new king bed would cost. Don’t get me wrong, I love my husband. What I don’t love is not being able to sprawl out and kick a leg across the bed if my heart desires to do so. To some that might seem a bit silly, but to me it’s a freedom that I need.

So, we began the search for the perfect bed. Even though we’re young, I’ve already got some back problems stirring up trouble, so finding the right bed was even more important for me… part of me hoped that it would help with my back. We did a little research and our biggest concern was whether or not a king bed would actually fit comfortably in our room. We came to the conclusion that, even if it took up more space than desirable, it didn’t matter because, after all, we didn’t need to have tons of open floor space (it’s not like we do cartwheels in there). We spent a day shopping for a new bed and went to 3 different locations. We found a bed we wanted at the first location, but they weren’t too great at negotiating on price. We had a number in mind we were willing to spend and they exceeded it, so we tried to be hard bargainers by walking out hoping that if we came back they’d lower the price to what we were comfortable. The joke’s on them though, because we didn’t come back.

The last place we went is where we found our bed. We walked into the store and it was barren except for the glorious beds it housed. The gentleman working kindly greeted us and asked what we were looking for… (duh, a bed). By this time, we knew what brand and style we wanted so we cut to the chase. He took us over to the ones we wanted and, after going back and forth between two different beds that honestly didn’t feel that different, we decided to take the plunge. The guy gave us a great deal! They were having a sale already, but he took an additional amount off because he needed to move inventory and because my family has purchased from them in the past. (I’d recommend looking at The Goodnight Sleep store for all of your mattress needs, they’re great!).

Once we made the decision, we didn’t want to wait one extra minute to get our glorious new bed into our home. So, the guy kindly offered to personally help deliver the bed the next day - a Sunday. We were surprised, but gladly accepted that offer. Well, since nothing happens exactly how we envision, problems arose on Sunday when our bed was supposed to be delivered. Apparently their only delivery guy called in sick, so the delivery truck wouldn’t be able to make its rounds. Our hearts were crushed by this news since we had already moved our old mattress out of our room. We asked if we could get it ourselves (we were that desperate). So, we borrowed my brother’s truck and drove 30 minutes away to pick up the new mattress. It was an interesting drive home with this massive mattress on the back of a truck. I kept looking out the back just hoping and praying that it wouldn’t end up on the side of the road. The good news is that we made it home with our new bed. Even though we had some hiccups with the installation process, our bed is finally in place and we are thrilled with it!

Now we are spoiled. When we go somewhere and have to sleep in a bed smaller than a king (which is most places), it feels so wrong. Imagine sardines in a can and that’s exactly how we feel… well that’s a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea. So, my advice? Invest in that big, luxurious, wonderful king bed. It’s a decision you certainly won’t regret.

Out of our League...

The Facts

They’re not looking for a house. They toured one anyway.

His Side

Being a homeowner is great. It's leaps and bounds better than renting (in my humble opinion) but there is work that goes into it as there is with anything worthwhile. Also, as is customary for humans in general, it's hard to be fully satisfied with anything you own. The TV is never big enough, the car is never new enough, etc. I know that's a horrible way to look at things and I try not to, but it's human nature to always want the next bigger and better thing. Well, that is why you should never go house hunting unless you are actually in the market to buy a new house. 

My parents are just beginning the process of looking at houses to see what's out there. So, when Kristi and I went up to visit them this past week, we walked through a model home. A very, very nice model home. Exquisite, some might call it. It was, of course, not a standard build. It had every upgrade imaginable. Vaulted ceilings, screened-in porch/balcony thing, speakers throughout the entire home that just require an iPod in order to pump lovely music to any room you can imagine… nice stuff. There is also an unfinished basement with over 2,000 square feet of space to do whatever you please with. The agent mentioned a media room for one section of the basement and I was sold. That is obviously one of my favorite aspects of it. I have always wanted a nice, high quality, comfortable screening room with a huge screen and great sound. I also am in love with the walkway and manicured nature of the front and back yards. Having recently been working to improve our yard, those are things that are very attractive to me in a home… because they are already done and I don't have to do them. The screened in porch is pretty amazing, too. I love a nice balcony!

I am very happy with the house Kristi and I have. It suits our needs very well and gives us more space than a lot of newlyweds have. But, after seeing this house, I want more! The problem, though, is that the big model home we looked at, with all the upgrades and the basement was upwards of… well a lot. That kind of price tag isn't even remotely feasible at the point we are in our lives. My parents won't be purchasing it either which is unfortunate because, if they did, Kristi and I could visit often and enjoy that amazing house. 

Here's a piece of advice:  unless you are in the market for a house, don't go house hunting. It will only make you want to get in the market for a new house. Also, if you are house hunting, do not, by any means, for any reason, EVER… look at houses above your budget. It will only make you want to go over your budget. And, if you are willing to go over what you have said your budget is, then you never really had a budget. Be smart and look in your price range. You will find something you love, don't worry.

Her Side

Rule number one of anything you do:  never look at something you cannot afford.

Oftentimes, in the evening just before bed, Nolan and I will turn to HGTV to watch one of our (well at least MY) favorite shows, “House Hunters”. It’s fascinating to see what people can get for their money in different parts of the country. It’s also interesting to see the high expectations people put on homes and what they are willing/unwilling to do to work toward making their “perfect” home. I find myself talking to the potential homebuyers and telling them that they are ridiculous and have too high of standards. I mean it won’t hurt them to paint a wall or two, tear up some carpet (because we all know that they are full of germs… I hope you can feel the sarcasm), and update a kitchen or bathroom. Instead, in our society of wanting the best and wanting it now, people expect that their budgets will get them everything on their ridiculous wish list.

Are we house hunting? Not even close. We are quite content with the home we live in. It’s the perfect size and does the job for us at this stage in our lives. Then why am I even mentioning houses? Glad you asked. We went with Nolan’s parents to look at some homes… they are possibly on the market for a more suitable home for them. So, the story goes that his parents wanted to show us a house they looked at. It was in the general direction we were heading anyway, so a pit stop was definitely in order. We drove by the house and Nolan and I loved what we saw, but it didn’t stop there. We continued through the neighborhood to the (dun dun dun…) model home. Now, the logical side of me knows that a model home includes every imaginable upgrade but, from the street, the house didn’t look super intimidating so the thought didn’t even cross my mind.

Upon walking up to the home, Nolan and I immediately got house envy. Like I said, we love our current home, but when you walk up to a lovely home with an immaculately manicured lawn, any normal person would experience the faint pitter patter of the heart reminiscent of the kind associated with a first date… you know what I’m talking about. We continued up the driveway and walked into the office where the vulture-like real estate agent was stationed. As soon as we walked into her room, her eyes lit up as I’m sure she was preparing her speech as to why we needed this house in our lives.

We could have easily walked from her office into the rest of the house (as they are obviously attached), but we had to have the “full” experience of the home and enter from the front door. I see why she chose this method because it was a pretty impressive entrance. Nolan and I were immediately in love… with the house. High ceilings, granite countertops, stone fireplace, large rooms, the list could go on and on. I began comparing this home with the one we currently live in and, let me tell you, they aren’t even on the same playing field. We walked through the kitchen and were in awe of the finishes and space that it provided. We stepped outside to the screened in porch and thought it was gorgeous, and then I noticed the speakers… (in case you didn’t know, Nolan is a speaker kind of guy) and little did I know, but this place offered a whole-house speaker system. Hook up your iPod and you can enjoy any music, in any room, at any time. Amazing! We walked around the main floor and came across the Master Bedroom. Talk about envy! The room was enormous and the TUB, can we just talk about the tub? It was something that came straight from my dreams. It wasn’t a jetted state of the art tub (I’m not a fancy girl). It was a tub that I could easily and comfortably lay in and be covered with a sufficient amount of water… unlike our tub right now that requires my 5 foot 5 ½ inch frame to contort in order to fit in. Then I turned around and saw the closet. I’m pretty sure I would be content sleeping in that closet - it was that big. I had a moment of daydreaming and imagined all of my clothes having a home in one single closet (instead of the three that they span now) and I even saw a small section that Nolan would be able to occupy!

As if all of that wasn’t enough, we went down to the unfinished basement. All Nolan needed to hear was that it had a space to finish out a MEDIA ROOM. While I’ve never thought a media room to be a requirement in a home, I definitely could have been on board with this one.

I’m pretty sure that during the rest of the tour, Nolan and I had silly grins on our faces. We kept saying “wow” throughout the entire time and just couldn’t believe that all of these things could be in one home. If you had told us we needed to move into it that same day, we would have gladly packed up our entire home and done just that. There was nothing we would have changed about that house… well, except the price. As soon as we heard that, our time in La La Land ended. We were abruptly yanked back into reality and were disappointed at just how out of reach a home like this was. Now I understand how those people on “House Hunters” can come across as crazy.

While we know that this home is nowhere near our reach right now, it gives us something to dream for; and dreams are really what keep you going. So, while it may not happen for us for years to come, one day we’ll invite you to our home with a huge tub, media room, and whole house speaker system. But, until then, the home where MY clothes span three closets, we have a tub that is comfortably fit for a kid, and we have a lawn that isn’t perfectly manicured… that’s where you’ll find yourself if you visit. That’s okay though, because our home is really only where our hearts are and that’s with each other.

Conjuring up Some Scares...

The Facts

She doesn't like scary movies. He does. They watched one.

His Side

I know I start a lot of posts like this, but here we go:  I love movies. I don't, however, love horror movies like some people do. Some people live and breathe horror movies. Not me. The main reason I am not the biggest horror fan is that very few horror films that are released these days have anything new to offer. They rehash similar stories with cliche tropes that fail to tread any new ground. Also, I don't get scared by them. Sure, during the film my heart beats fast, I get scared, etc. But, not many films can sustain those scares beyond the final credits. The only horror film that was able to do this for me was "The Strangers." It is the best horror film I have ever seen and the scares stick with you - probably because it doesn't have a supernatural element (I don't believe in aliens or ghosts or poltergeists or anything like that). 

Now, I know that Kristi will never watch "The Strangers" with me and I wouldn't want her to. She wouldn't be able to sleep for days which means I wouldn't be able to sleep because I'd have to constantly check the house to make sure doors are locked, windows are shut, nobody is lurking in the backyard, etc. But, I had heard that this horror film "The Conjuring" was good so I wanted to watch it. Being the good wife that she is, Kristi agreed to watch it with me. We have watched two horror films together in the past:  "The Purge" and "You're Next." Both of these films were billed as horror films but ended up really being more of action films than anything else. So, they weren't so bad for my easily frightened wife.

"The Conjuring" is a different story. It has the feel of an old-school horror film (think "The Exorcist"). That's the best part about it:  the feel. The mood is great, it offers some good scares, and the acting is pretty good. Beyond that, though, it's nothing groundbreaking or new. It is your standard possession-style horror film and falls into the trap of modern horror - it doesn't tread new ground. You can check out my full review of it, but all you really need to know is that it's worth seeing if you're a fan of the genre but it's nothing spectacular.

After "The Conjuring," I'm not sure Kristi will be willing to watch many more horror films with me. She will especially be hesitant as the Sonos sound system grows. Sound is very important in horror films because what you can hear but not see is, a lot of times, scarier than what you can see. With a bigger, better, more engrossing sound system, the footstep creaks and doors slamming the movie sound like they are in your house. This will just make it that much worse for Kristi. 

Maybe, at least for a while, we'll stick to actions, dramas, or comedies; but, maybe we will watch another horror film one day and Kristi will be able to fully enjoy it without having to look away or scroll through her Facebook feed during the movie. One day...

Her Side

I scare easily, at pretty much anything. If something passes my line of vision and I think it’s a bug, I scream. If I hear noises at night in the house, I freak out. AND, as Nolan recently found out, when I watch a scary movie, I scream… and look away from the screen the majority of the movie.

Honestly I don’t understand why people like scary movies. They have you on the edge of your seat the entire time (and not in a good way), something pops out from behind every corner, the characters in the movie always look behind doors when everyone knows that’s ALWAYS where the bad guys hide (well, at least most of the time), and they afford some of us the grand opportunity to continuously see those creepy faces in our heads for the entire night while we attempt to sleep.

So, it all started when I offered to watch a movie with Nolan and let HIM pick what we watch. Big mistake on my part, because he takes that opportunity to choose something he knows I normally wouldn’t agree to seeing. I went into it with an open mind, telling myself it wouldn’t be that bad because, after all, it’s just a movie. I’ll be the first to say that I don’t really believe in ghosts and things of that nature but, when the beginning credits are rolling through and it is emblazoned on the screen that what I’m about to see is based on a true story, the scary factor gets turned up a bit.

I probably annoyed Nolan through the entire movie, but I’m not even sorry. After the movie came to an end that didn’t come soon enough for me. I proclaimed to Nolan that I would never watch a scary movie again. The saving grace to the night was that once the movie ended, I told Nolan the only way I’d be able to get the images and ideas of that movie out of my head were to watch reality TV. He fell for it and we watched some mindless television.

So, not only was I scared but it was way too long. Did I mention that this movie destroys my movie time limit? Those two factors work together and what I’m about to say will shock those who know me. I would literally have rather watched "Star Wars" Episodes 4-6 in one sitting than watch this movie… At least with "Star Wars" I wouldn’t have to turn away for fear of a creepy face popping out at me every other minute. Let me also clarify that my previous statement does not act as an agreement to watch all 3 in one sitting. Perhaps if I had never been subjected to the horror that is “The Conjuring” I would have done such a crazy "Star Wars" movie marathon. But, now I suppose we will never know that outcome…