July 4th - I knew we were meant to be.

Every year we celebrate Matt's birthday for an entire week.  It's his only opportunity to run around and do nothing.  Lest you forget that he does nothing and ask him to do something such as feed the dogs you'll get a swift, "IT'S MY BIRFDAY!"
We always throw an Annual Celebration of Matt's Birth Party on July 3rd even though his actual day is July 4th.
And every year we go to our buddies Steve and Lisa's house.  They live on 3rd Ave with a rooftop deck, perfect for watching the downtown fireworks. 
I have no pictures of either except the following:

One might wonder why we have American flags stuck to our foreheads...
Turns out we each, independent of the other, grabbed a flag as we were leaving and both stuck them to our forehead. 
And that is how I knew we were meant. to. be.

This post is just for Aunt Sally and Karen Ann - I know, I know, it's been a while.
I need to update.  I have pictures from the wedding, pictures from the honeymoon, pictures of house progress.  Although the house progress has been non-existent since the wedding.  We're taking the summer off.
I can show you where we were and where we are though. 
It's coming, it's coming.  Keep your pants on!

We Did It!!

I had an amazing time.  Matt had an amazing time.
And if everyone isn't lying to us - they all did too.

I don't know how many that were there will check this blog now, but if you do - Thank you for coming and making our day!
If you have pictures, I'd love to have some copies. 

Sarah B. Gilliam has some pics up on her blog.  Please pay no attention to my man-hands in the ring shot.
Thank you Sarah, Sara Beth, and Melissa - it was great fun!
http://sarahbgilliamphotography.blogspot.com/2010/05/laura-matts-show-at-cannery-ballroom.html
http://sarahbgilliamphotography.blogspot.com/2010/05/ringger-hudson-review.html

A real blog update about the house progress, complete with pictures will be coming soon.
And now....
Back to regularly scheduled programming (life, just a little sweeter.)

P.S. I was thinking that I'd change my first name to Ringger to avoid confusion...

Volunteer State

I'm so proud of Matt.  Usually I'm the one that takes care of our charitable causes but not this time. 
Matt made the decision last week that we do in fact have the time to volunteer.  There is no reason that we shouldn't.  We're young, able-bodied, and our house is fine. 
On Sunday, we headed over to ArtHouse, the East Nashville volunteer epicenter, to give some time.  We were sent to a house on Moss Rose which backs right up to the Cumberland.  I cannot even describe the war zone that we drove into. 
The houses were spray painted with "X"s from being checked for humans. 
The roads and grass were covered in dirt from the river being over them and then receding.
All the houses were being demoed: carpet pulled out, drywall cut out from belly button level down, kitchen cabinets gone, bathroom cabinets and sink torn out, couches, chairs, cushions, mattresses, TVs - All thrown into the front yards to be picked up by Metro garbage pickup.
Matt got a couple of pictures but even these don't really show the severity of their situation.

This is the front part of the yard. 

The remainder of the yard all the way up to the house is covered in stuff to be taken to the dump.

Obviously, Matt was moving when he took this picture but you can get the idea.  The back yard of this house was the Cumberland River.  Water made it half way up the walls inside the house.

We're still on the water conservation effort.  Both Davidson and Williamson counties are running off of one water treatment plant...which means showering every other day at the most, only unmentionables in the laundry, no shaving, and really adhering to the hippie saying, "If it's yellow, let it mellow.  If it's brown, flush it down."   The word on the street is that we'll have to continue for at least another week and possibly longer.

"Flood beards" like this are popping up all over town.

Nashville Floods.

It's serious here.  People are dead and I bet much of the nation has no idea what's going on b/c there is no national coverage.

This article says it best:
http://www.section303.com/we-are-nashville-4366

Here is a link to some photos:
http://www.wkrn.com/global/story.asp?s=12409920
And here:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/flooding_in_tennessee.html?camp=localsearch:on:twit:bigpic

Matt and I came out fine with just some basement flooding.  Nothing a few 5 gallon buckets, a shop vac, and some heavy lifting couldn't cure.  Our biggest problem right now is the mandate to cut water usage by 50%.  Small potatoes when others have lost their homes, their cars, their loved ones. 
I know at least 2 people personally that lost their homes and are now in search of another.

Keep Nashville in your thoughts and if you have an opportunity to volunteer or give to the RedCross, please do so.

In other wedding related news, the Hampton Inn on 4th and Korean Veterans made it through without any damage that I know of...The water did make it up to 5th Ave. but downtown is a bowl and Korean Vets is on the upper edge of the bowl.  If anyone went another direction and booked the Hilton downtown on 5th, they will be closed indefinitely.  Let me know if you need other options.

See you in a couple weeks.
--Laura

Work, work, work.

That's all we're doing lately...so much so that I cannot find the time to update this little window into our lives.
I can't even find to take the pictures of the finished product BUT what I do have are pictures of the work in progress.
Enjoy.

Living Room 1 - Before.

Yellow paint - same color as the rest of the house.

Someone got a crazy good deal on yellow paint.

Dining Room.

I think the vacuum cleaner and pile of randomness really set this room off.

Quick - Someone call HGTV, we've got a genius interior to show off here.

I don't have any before pics of Living Room 2 but you can get a little taste from this post.

And now the fun photos of exactly why it's taking over 3 months to get through only 5 rooms:

All that pink stuff is caulk.  After caulk dries, you get to sand, and clean, and then clean some more.

That dust you see isn't on my camera lens, it's floating in the air.

Note the dust mask Matt's wearing - Safety First.

The pictures I've left out are the ones showing the cracks and holes in the walls that have to be patched.

And sometimes when we're really lucky, we get to fill in the cut outs in the trim where the old HVAC vents were.

Isn't that pretty? 

The folder taped to the floor in front of it is covering the brand spanking new HVAC vent.

The good news is that we've finished Living Rooms 1 and 2 but the contents of the Dining Room are currently residing in both so I cannot show you any finished pictures.  Maybe someday this house will be put back together into something that sort of resembles a home.

"I'm gonna write you a letter."

I stole that title from Mike's parents.  When they are not pleased with each other, this phrase always makes an appearance and I love it. 
Completely unrelated to that story is this:
Today we received this letter in the mail -

Very official looking and scary.

This lovely letter is from Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Department of Codes Administration.  Great.

We have been "notified as owner" of our house of the following violations:

Section 16.24.330 - Accessory Structures: All accesory structures, including detached garages, fences, and walls, shall be maintained structurally sound, in good repair, and in an otherwise safe, clean and sanitary condition.

Section  16.24.330 - Open Storage: It is inlawful to store in the open area of tha yard or structure, trash, rubbish, furniture, appliances, automobile parts, including dead trees, weeds and garbage, etc (Junk, Trash, and Debris).

That is a verbatim quote of the code law from the letter. 

And what exactly are they talking about, you ask.  It's this:

Our delapidated carport.

Yes, it looks gross.  Yes, there is a fridge, a window, a shopping cart, a trash can full of metal, and about 1000 square feet of tile in there.  I know, Metro, I know, I HATE it too.

But for the love of the Golden Cow, today is the first nice day we've had since we moved into this place.  I cannot believe that you honestly think we should have been out there in 12 degree weather and 6 inches of snow taking care of this.  Nevermind the fact that a whole lot of that "junk, trash, and debris" was left by the previous owners.  Thanks.

Here's another doozy of a quote for you:

Therefore, you are to have the violation or cause removed and/or corrected before April 26, 2010.
Removed? Right, b/c we have about $8k lying around just burning a hole in our bank accounts for this very purpose. 
And the deadline...seriously?  Sorry but we're a little busy trying to work on the inside of the house Where We LIVE.  And plan a wedding.  And work full time jobs. 

So Thank You Metro Nashville Codes Department.  I'm gonna write you a letter.

Mary Jane, Marchgiving, and our Doggie Disaster Weekend

We'll start at the beginning. 
Our plan this weekend was to take the pups to the vet get Mary Jane's "good leg" checked out, get their shots, have Marchgiving at the Vecchiomisterton household, and paint the 2nd living room.  That was the plan.

Saturday morning:  We get up have some coffee and start getting ready to head to the vet.  I'm putting clothes on and Matt lets the dogs out.  I hear one of them screaming.  Not howling at a squirrrel as usual but screaming in pain.  Of course, it's Mary Jane.  The genius was chasing a squirrel and ran head on into a stump that is as big as she is....And it begins.
We head to the vet hoping to get in early.  We get in and discover that her shoulder is swollen (from running into the stump), her "good leg" probably has a partially torn ACL, and they both get all their annual and every 3 year shots.  They weren't happy campers.
Saturday afernoon:  Matt primes and paints the trim of the 2nd living room.  While I head to Bellevue to discuss wedding centerpieces and to the grocery then prep for Marchgiving.
Saturday night:  Marchgiving goes off without a hitch.  Good food, good drink, nothing was set on fire - Success! 

A picture from last year since I forgot my camera this year. Fail.

We get home, let the pups out, and get ready for bed, it's about 230 am.  Matt proceeds to pass out and I keep hearing puppy collars rattle.  I get up to find Mary Jane's face swollen so bad that her eyes are barely open and she keeps shaking her head.  Cue prompt freak out:
"Oh my God, oh my God, Matt....MATT - look at Mary Jane!"
Frantic calls to the emergency vet and a mad search for some Benadryl ensue.  So began one sleepless night on the couch....
Sunday morning: MJ is in a Benadryl induced coma, Doobie is being Doobie, and we paint the walls of the 2nd living.  Matt says, "Does it look like Doobie's face is swelling?"  Shit.  Yes, it does.  His ears are burning up and he's shaking his head like crazy.  Cue Doobie's Benadryl induced coma and 4th call to the emergency vet. 
Sunday evening:  MJ's stomach is upseat, meaning I've cleaned up her stomach contents 4 times today (I'll spare you the visual), and Doobie is running around like he's on crack trying to make his paws stop itching.
The only thing we can figure is the vaccines are causing this allergic reaction.  Our pups are miserable, we feel helpless and the new vet will be getting a phone call in the morning.
ANOTHER Benadryl coma is headed their way.

The good news is we have a painted 2nd living room and we have enough Marchgiving leftovers to last a week.
I'm scared to even ask the question....is there anything else, seriously??