Holy crap, we're gettin' married! (again!)

Well, the second wedding has been quite the rollercoaster - of emotions I mean. We just decided on going forward with a wedding as of my last birthday. It gave us exactly 3 months and 2 days to plan the wedding. Granted much of the planning, like wedding colors, themes, and decorations have been thought out long ago when we had no doubt we were going to have one.

Anyway, long story short, it's 2010, and our wedding is in less than 3 months! Crap!

I've always wanted a garden/outdoorsy/casual wedding - no uptight overly traditional stuff for us - and just a good time spent with close friends and family is all we wanted. What's most important to us is the personalization of the event. We just want it to be us. Simple, elegant, casual, with a bit of flair.

Details of Our American Wedding

Date: April 24, 2010

Location: Hermitage, TN

Time: 5:30 -10:00pm (attentively)

Colors/Themes: Sea Glass Blues, Ivories, Pewters, Floral Prints - reminiscent of the beaches in Charleston underneath a backdrop of garden greens

Anyway, so below are some photos of some of the things I'd like to make happen at our wedding.

I really like the hair in the pic. Also the hairpiece is really nice.

I really like this collage, because our wedding ceremony will take place under a big willow tree.

I absolutely love the wedding dress in this collage. Also, that is the type and color of suit Scott's going to wear.

This collage has a better view of the dress.

I LOVE the paper floral balls! I bought some yellow/ivory ones last year, and will definitely have them hung somewhere on the willow tree.

The coughin', the coughin'....ack

I just eck..can't..ack...say..eck, ack,ugh, eh, ack, ack...a durn sentence...yack, ech, ah, without coughin' my lungs up. This is the worst coughin' sickness I've ever had. Just lately, I had thought to myself, man, I haven't had a coughing sickness since I was 10...sure nuff, here we go. Gosh, it's terrible, and I was sick the entire time I was at CES, and been working everyday, and very late, because I have so much stuff to do. I bet I'm going to infect everyone in my office. I have a virus infection and I'm highly contagious. But I can't leave work hanging - too much to do. So I just hang in there, and hack up bloody loogies, (wow that was graphic).

Anyway, I'm just tired, very tired, and i just can't get enough sleep for some reason.

Kitchen Reno Update - #1

Okie dokie - Last I mentioned was that they started on the reno. Yesterday and today, they finished the demo and cleaned up all the debris. Today they put in a new window for the kitchen, fixed the plumbing, and tested all the receptacles to make sure they all work.

1. New Window - I don't know how happy I will be with this, but it's almost sort of, we had no choice but to do this...the window is smaller than the old one, but the old one was not the original, so they messed up and got a much smaller window that the hole alotted...meaning that the outside looks messed up with a window smaller than the hole its made to go in. Well, on the inside, if we put a giant window, the original size "6ft wide" our cabinet layout would look pretty much, just messed up. We'd have this giant window, and almost no upper cabinets, because it takes up so much room. The new window is 48" wide I believe. It'll make the inside look better, but the outside will still look funny. I just can't win, so I have no choice but to have a small window.
2. Plumbing - they cut out alot of the old plumbing so that the fixtures will be set behind the wall and not sticking up through the floor. I feel like I have to compromise on this alot, because we're just so new at total renovations...like I didn't think about having extra plumbing for a laundry room sink...and I think it's too late to add it now, also, the roughing for the half bath sink/toilet...anyway, I'm sure it'll be ok. We're not living here forever.
   
3. Electrical - I'm trying my best to think of where every receptacle needs to be, but I forgot the OTR Microwave's plug today, and the undercabinet lighting switch...a novice mistake.
4. Demo - they demo'd the hell out of the kitchen. Busted walls all the way to the other side, I was upset, but mistakes do happen, I just know that Scott and I would have been much more gentle.
   

Holy crap! The kitchen just got started!

Can you tell I'm excited? I'm so sick of take out, fast food, restaurants, other peoples food, and eating on the couch!! The one grown up thing I do is I enjoy eating at a table. Unfortunately, we have not had a kitchen in almost six months so far, and it's looking like it'll be another 4 weeks before we will get a kitchen that will have stuff in it. So far, there is absolutely nothing in there.

Today was day one for the start on the kitchen, and it definitely smells like demolition.

Kitchen Timeline:
7 days - sheetrock, electrical, tile, plumbing, and lighting
3 days - cabinets & appliances
2 days - granite & fixtures

Thats the timeline for what the contractors/installers are going to do. We are going to put in the trimwork, door pulls, light fixtures, backsplash, and a few other things ourselves to help us save money on labor costs. But for the most part, the big things will be done, and we'll be able to use the kitchen once again.


Sometimes, I think to myself, maybe I should just flip houses for a living. I just love construction.

^^ view of the half-bath and pantry room w/fridge

^^ view of the kitchen into the laundry/mud room

^^ view of the kitchen w/window

^^ view of the pantry/fridge room

^^ chimney stack in the kitchen area

Pictures of the Exterior Renovations

I just realized that the exterior renovations have been completed for weeks and I didn't post any pictures. Well, these renovations were the ones we had the contractors do - new roof, new gutters, and new siding.

You can see the rest of them here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2258440&id=38403848&l=384b9bbb43

Happy New Year! 2009 came and went in a flash...

On new years eve, Scott and I stayed home, watched District 9, (well, I fell asleep after 15 minutes) then watched the ball drop, gave each other a quick kiss, then went to bed. I'm anxious to see what 2010 holds for us. It'll be quite a year - Scott finds out where he gets into residency, graduation, he starts working this summer, we get married (again) this spring/summer (wait, I didn't mention that before, guess I'll explain in another post), supposedly go on a European tour this summer, and finish renovations on the house sometime this year. Sounds like it'll be a busy year. JB should be quite a feat at the rate we're going. Just have to be patient, and diligent. Yep, I'm looking forward to it. It'll be another mile stone year for us.

Christmas has not been so stressful this year...

Our families decided we needed to cut down how big we do Christmas this year, and I'm actually quite thankful, because Christmas should not be about how much money you spend, or how many gifts you get someone. It's about being with your family, friends, and loved ones, and giving more than just material things.

This year is hopefully a much more practical year for all of us with the recession, and job losses. Hopefully, we'll all realize that in the end, the toys, fancy shoes, Ed Hardy designer t-shirts, etc. is just stuff.