A Mid-Day Post

(I feel like this little girl right now.)

A Mid-Day, Mid-Week post from yours truly. How out of character! I'm sitting at my desk at work (BUST) and I just finished editing a batch of photo and illustrations by non other than that amazingly talented MIKE PERRY. It's silly how tedious and mundane a simple task such as resizing and changing color modes can seem, but when you're working with some of the most fantastic illustrations, you really just don't seem to mind. My computer gave me the lovely Beach Ball O' Doom for most of the time, but seeing how effortless he makes it look (but knowing that it's far from), is just inspiring. Erin and I had a little chat about that. I went on to play around in Photoshop for a bit for a slightly-in-the-style-of-mike-perry album art for a fun little mid-week surprise coming up! Erin also sent me a super cute typeface to go along so while I'm sans-project I'm just trying to be productive.

I didn't have a legit update last night because I wasn't feeling my best after work. I watched a bit of Little Rascals and went to sleep. I'm happy to report I'm feeling much much better today. Aside from a very annoying contact lens.

Also, today I received AMAZING news from Mike. Apparently his FEMA inspector (from last month) received much scrutiny on his end and almost all of his "clients" appealed their rulings due to not receiving enough aid. Basically, the gist was that Mike and I filed separately because we're not married... however, his inspector overruled my inspector and basically put that ALL FIVE OF US LIVED IN ONE ROOM! Plus, with another roommate filing and not telling us what she claimed etc, I was then found ineligible for assistance. A big blow to my already sinking ship of excitement. So much went wrong with our FEMA deal and it's like an amazing answer to so many prayers and Mike had a re-inspection of our house this morning at 10:30am in Franklin. The new inspector took note of everything his old inspector didn't. (Basically ALL of our furniture, our clothing, etc etc etc). All of this came out of nowhere. Like an absolutely totally mind-blowing miracle. I'm living fine in New York City, but at the same time I'm constantly worried about when I go back to Nashville because we basically have to find a place to live within 4-7 days because I get home RIGHT as my last semester of school starts. And with so many people being displaced thanks to the same flood that threw us out, it's hard to say if there will be any apartments available. Not only that, but we're only wanting to stay in Franklin for roughly 4 or 5 months. I graduate the first week of December, and to be quite honest, I'd like to leave then (mainly because Franklin is a very very expensive town). So you can imagine my frustration and my absolute fear about returning home at the end of summer because moving into our own place alone is going to have an astronomical price tag associated with it. Deposits, applications, renters insurance, setting up all of our utilities, etc. Not to mention we don't even own a single piece of furniture (except the sort-of-salvaged couch). Gah!

So anyway, enough rambling. The guy told Mike that we should be receiving some federal aid and I'm at that point to where I could just cry. It honestly could not have come at a better time and I'm so so so grateful of this amazing-perfect-fantastic happening, and the fact all of you have been SO supportive throughout this whole thing. We don't know how much (if even much at all) we'll be awarded, but at this point, anything is better than nothing, right? I'm just grateful that a wrong was righted and we can hopefully move on from this with the least bitter attitude possible (although there's still that one thing... but at this point too, I can't be bothered with childish behavior).

I just had to share the fantastic news. I feel like I've been lifted from my rut (as I've felt sick the past day) and hopefully this can put a little bit of pep in my step and we can start looking for a new home in Franklin.

I'm putting together a few things to be posted over the next few days, and this weekend there will even be a giveaway from a sponsor. Keep your eyes peeled! And above all, have a fantastic Wednesday (even if you're just working for the weekend!).

xoxo

A Recap of the Past Few Days...

This weekend, we had Toby and it was Mike's Dad's birthday so we loaded up and headed down to Lawrenceburg Saturday morning. We had a lovely little lunch with his immediate family and grandparents, etc. We spent the day blowing bubbles (or at least watching the kids blow bubbles) and eating cake. We lazed around and then Mike's brother Ryan, sister Lanie, her friend, Mike's neice Kaitlyn, Mike, Toby and myself went for dinner at the Brass Lantern (if you're at all familiar with Lawrenceburg you'll know it's one of the only places to eat and it's pretty much a staple there). Mike and I ordered Pasta Primavera and I asked for marinara on top of mine but much to my dismay, they brought it to the table and it was a little bit of red sauce mixed with SO MUCH beef! Ugh! I was 30 minutes late for work because we had to wait for them to bring me another dish :( Either way, the food was good and the company, too.

(my roots are SO bad! ugh!)

I rushed to work (it's about a 45 minute drive) and it was just work, ya know? Not too busy but not dead either. It was my last night so they wrote things on the glass and Rick, the DJ, kept announcing it and yadda yadda yadda. I didnt leave until after 2am so I didn't walk into his parents' house until 3am. phew! I was exhausted. We woke up at 10am for breakfast and then at 11:30 we were sneaky and went back to bed for 2 hours. DREAMY! Our room had no windows so it was pitch black. So so good! Mike did some housework for his parents before we left and then at 3pm, we headed towards Franklin with Toby in tow. We grabbed some lunch at Blue Coast and ran some errands. Sarah was a bit late picking him up but we didn't mind spending more time with him.

We came home and watched Knocked Up before bed. Much to Mike's surprise, he didn't have to work Monday so we had to go BACK to Franklin to meet with the FEMA inspector for his claim. Here are some photos of the house...

After that, in typical Franklin fashion, we went for lunch at Genghis Grill and then ran a lot of errands. We spent a good portion of the day just shopping around for stuff and getting me things for NYC. I can't believe I leave next week! I'm not ready! Gah! We worked up an appetite before leaving that night so we went to Blue Coast Burrito (its one of the only places we can eat 100% vegan so we eat there a lot haha). On our way home we stopped in Spring Hill and went to several stores and got Mike new shoes and all that jazz.

We came home and watched Cirque Du Soleil (Mike had never seen a performance, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Cirque!) We watched "Dralion" and then went to bed.

Yesterday I woke up as he left for work and I stayed in my jammies all day. But I was SO productive! I wrote out schedule for myself and I stuck to it! For two hours, between 1 and 3pm, I did nothing but crafts for my new Etsy (more about that later). From 3pm til 5pm I worked on some freelance designs for Knitcole.com, and then from 5pm until 8pm (but really 11pm), I crafted yet again and worked on penpal packages.

(yes, Charlie, the Bichon, DOES have a mohawk. Ha, I know)

Mike came home and made some yummy dinner (Whole Wheat Pasta + Squash & Broccoli!). It was so so good! He's a dreamy cook! And we caught up on some Community and Office before heading to bed. Phew!

So here I am once more... going to try to be productive today. I'm going to try and maybe dye my hair (with a YouTube video since I get asked exactly *how* I do it) and I'm going to take photos of new Etsy things to sell. 100% of my Etsy earnings will go directly to Georgia's double-eye surgery which she's about to have. It's going to be super expensive thanks to the anesthesia but she needs it so we'll make it happen. If you're interested in buying a headband, barrette, pin or brooch, stay tuned!

xoxo

Friday Friday!

Here's a quick recap of the happenings from Thursday and Friday (I'm about to have to leave for work!)...

Thursday: Woke up early and got ready to go to Franklin. Loaded Georgia up in the car because she needed to go to the vet and I high-tailed it to Franklin (a grueling 1.5 hour drive basically). I had to meet the FEMA inspector at the house at 11am and I was falling asleep the whole way. I finally got to the house and there was a Disaster Relief group from a church in Florida working on the house... 3 women and 2 men. The FEMA guy shows up and we go through the paperwork and he starts to inspect the house. I wish I would've taken photos because you would NOT believe what was happening. All the walls had been torn out, all of the flooring (like 7 layers) had been torn up, and the entire place was just gutted. Nothing remained. As we walked through the house to asses what I had lost, I started crying. I just bawled like a baby. The church group was so kind and sincere, but I just lost it. After the inspector took photos and toured the house, he went around to get the square footage and the church group asked if they could pray for/with me. I was touched at their kindness but I still couldn't help but cry.

I feel like I've done a decent job of holding it all together throughout this whole ordeal, but when you're forced to really really LOOK at it and relive it once more, it hurts. Some days are better than others, but I'm just happy that there are people willing to help. (So thank you so so much to everyone who has reached out to me, be it wonderful and heartfelt packages, cards, letters, emails or words. They mean so incredibly much to me, you can't even begin to understand.)

After that, I headed up to the vet in Brentwood and had G checked out. Two things were wrong... she had all sorts of tummy problems and her hairloss has gotten progressively worse. After many tests and thoughts it was her thyroid, we ruled that out with a good test result. Turns out she just had a tummy bug and the hairloss is a result of a really awful allergy. A lot of bulldogs have skin allergies so it's nothing out of the ordinary, but it still sucks. Not to mention she has to have surgery on each of her eyes again (for a separate reason). Her eyelids roll as she grows and they roll inward so her hair scratches her corneas... thus resulting in constant wet eyes. Another thing that is just common in a lot of breeds. Caitlin said her sister's lab just had surgery for this. I'm more than positive everything will go well.

Someone made mention in my formspring about the possibility that she is from a store or a pet mill basically, but I can assure you that she's not. Georgia came from a single-family that had the momma and this was their first and only litter. They aren't breeders of any sort so I'm not worried about anything like that. However, that is something that I think EVERYONE should take into consideration when adopting a pet. So many animals are being generated out of pet mills... cats, dogs, etc. Breeders who aren't worried about incest and possible genetic deformities as a result. It's heartbreaking because the people who adopt have no idea what kind of medical future these animals face. And the poor poor animals suffer. So please, research before you adopt! A lot of people want a purebred, but you may be surprised at how many problems that animal has down the line. I knew going into this with Georgia that English Bulldogs have a plethora of medical problems... there are so many things that could, and usually do, go wrong with them and they are very high-maintenance.... but my love for Georgia outweighs any of it and I'm just blessed to have her in my life.

Speaking of adorable G... here are a few photos from yesterday in the car...

Afterwards we headed to REI to meet up with Mike and go for lunch at Q'doba (nothing beats Blue Coast... gah!). Then G and I went back to Franklin after switching cars and ran some errands. Then it was the long drive home. I sang along to NFG's "Sticks and Stones" album to keep me awake.

Mike brought Toby down for the weekend. We had some yummy pizza for dinner and we watched Because I Said So before bed.

Today: We woke up and cleaned for a while and played with Toby. We made cinnamon rolls and before long it was 4pm. Mike and I put Toby down for a nap and we crawled into bed for one of our own. We slept for a glorious 1 hour and 45 minutes. Win!

Now I'm getting ready for work and I hope tonight flies.

Tomorrow we have to be in Lawrenceburg by noon for Mike's Dad's birthday lunch. We're going to stay the night so I'll drive to work from there and then drive back at like 3am. It'll be a nice change of pace staying with his parents. It'll be nice.

Off to work I go now! I'm totally going to be late!

I'll leave you with a funny screencap of a text from my best friend Casey (he put extensions in his hair to freak out his girlfriend hahahaha).

xoxo

PS; for anyone who didn't see this on twitter yesterday... Sorry if this is taste-less of me, but I just had to post this. Absolutely ludicrous what people think they can say! Apparently I have an Anon-Accountant. What the crap?! haha

Nashville Flood 2010

Today we went back to Franklin with the Jeep and trailer so that we could potentially salvage some of our belongings. Mike's dad accompanied us. The water in the house, at it's height, was up to my shoulders. Luckily it had receded to about my stomach by the time we arrived. It went down another 6-8 inches in these pictures right before we left. I was able to get some clothes from my closet, a few books and movies. We also got the dishes.

However, everything we had just bought 1 day or 2 prior to the flood, was gone. Including all of our new bedding. We lost all 4 beds in the house, most likely our brand new couch, my Wacom tablet, some Apple stuff, and this and that. I think what hurt me the most was the dresser and mirror in our bedroom that my mother had bought me for moving out of the house. It had collapsed in our bedroom and was fully submerged. Our bedroom was the worst of everyones. Barely anything could be taken from it.

Elle's dad brought his boat from Murfreesboro and we were able to hand things out the window and he brought them to the Jeep. (Yes, the water was still that high.)

Our shed tipped over and our bikes were all inside. It hurts a lot to know we lost those, too. Mike and I worked on that sweet yellow bike for a while. It's just hard to see your life reduced down to a small pile of things.

Granted, I KNOW they're only materialistic things. I know they can be replaced. And believe me, we're counting our lucky stars that we're alive and well, and we have a cozy roof over our head and fresh meals being prepared by my wonderful parents. But it's so so so hard, still.

I bawled like a baby on the front porch before even going in. And tonight after we had returned to Hohenwald, I was crying in the yard as we were unloading things while someone campaigning came up. He said we should just be grateful that we're okay... and we are. SO grateful. But hearing that fifteen hundred times a day from people who haven't experienced it doesn't settle our spirits. I'm in no way trying to be selfish... it's just that we have lost EVERYTHING. Like so many people in our town and Nashville. and it's just unfathomable to think about where to start.

However, I remain 100% confident that we WILL get through this. We are ready to start a fresh, new life. We are ready to make this merely a memory. We're trying to not dwell on disaster.

There are more photos at my FLICKR. Click HERE to see the set. We're going to try to go back tomorrow if the water has gone down and I'll have more photos then, too.

Please continue to pray for our neighbors. It's such a scary thing to experience.

All of your emails have been what has gotten me through the days. You're all so so so incredibly sweet and I'm so humbled by all of this. You guys are keeping me strong.

Thank you all again. So much. This hasn't been easy but you're making it so much more bearable.

xoxo