Without Further Ado

Didn't Mean to Lie

I made everyone open their gifts last night so that I could take pictures today and obviously it is dark outside and I still haven't posted any pictures.

The day was filled with frisbee golf for some and buying fabric for curtains in the guest room for me. No one seems to like the red sheet we hung up over the windows because during the day it looks like a little slice of hell from the inside and then at night we are sick of people ringing our bell thinking that we are "open for business" (if you know what I mean) .

So after I bought the material I dropped off The Mom and went to a work meeting. That my friends is how I spent the sunshine. Maybe tomorrow we'll have show and tell.

The Unveiling ... soon

For the last 3 months I have been sewing on our Christmas presents. We gave everyone a handmade item this year so I haven't been able to really show the internet what I have been been making because I would ruin the surprise. However, the majority of my family is coming today so tomorrow I'll do a little show and tell with the presents.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to a great new year.

Surprisingly Empty

Joshua and I hit Home Depot today to get a medicine cabinet for the master bath. I expected the place to be a mad house but there were maybe 20 cars in the parking lot.

Once I stopped and thought about it - of course it would be empty the women have already bought and wrapped the Home Depot gift card or power tool and all the men that would normally be frequenting the store are at retail stores realizing they got nothing for their wives.

I talked to my friend who works at Anthropologie and she confirmed that in fact that is where all the men were today.

I'm the Constrained Type

Right now I am taking a break from writing script treatments for a client. Over the last 5 years I have figured out that I'm a pretty creative person which before I didn't think was possible since I like math. I'm very rarely a "sit down with a blank sheet and be creative" kind of person, but I am creative within constraints. I need a topic and then I can come up with a crazy idea to teach that topic, or I need someone to throw out an idea and then I can morph it into something better.

I often wish I was the blank sheet type but today I'm enjoying the constrained creativity I'm getting to play with. Plus, I just need to team up with a blank sheet creative and then we are an unstoppable force ... like Superman ... or the flu.

The Visit

Joshua's cousin Jeremy was in town for a few days. I really enjoyed having him here because he and I have never hung out longer than 2 hours. He is quite the opposite of Joshua. He is very outgoing, talks to strangers at bars and will drive to watch sports.

While he was in town they drove out to Goodlettsville where their grandparents lived. It is pretty sad because there is a Dollar General in the front yard of their house now, but they also drove out to visit their grave.

Joshua's plan for finding their headstone: drive around and look for it. Jeremy's plan: go ask the front desk. Two points for Jeremy's plan.

Finally

I've waited five years for a client to NOT say:

"we're thinking very traditional, maybe colonial or french country style"

Hear me say I have a large appreciation for and am heavily influenced by architectural history and traditional "styles". However, what I really love about architecture is letting designs evolve out of a combination of the owner's desires, their personality, respect for the site and it's context, ideas of building responsibly (green building, site impact, building orientation/configuration), the function of our built surroundings as a motivator of form, etc., etc., etc.

Sorry for the architectural nerdery, but I love going into the design process with no pre-conceived ideas, so this project has really been a breath of fresh air.

Internet Stalking in my Dreams

Last night I dreamt about people who's blog I read. It was very strange and I don't remember much but the dream was basically a day of us getting to know each other. We introduced ourselves and laughed a lot. I talked about how much I enjoyed their blog and they told me that if I wore more makeup people would like me. There was also a strange sea monster involved now that I think about it.

Isn't the subconscious strange?

Why I Hate December

On Sunday Survivor:Gabon ended. My love of Survivor is only rivaled by my love for Friends but back when they were in direct competition Survivor always won. My college roommate and I would watch Survivor every Thursday night and record Friends to watch later. There was only one rule from 7pm to 8pm and that was NO TALKING - except on commercial breaks. We finally stopped inviting people to watch it with us because no one seemed to really understand that we were NOT kidding about the no talking thing.

While we were in the throws of remodeling our first home in Nashville we worked every night on the house except Thursday night. We combined our one night of TV and our one night of hanging out with the friends and called it Survivor Night (the rule still applied). Then while I was taking classes at MTSU on Thursday nights we would record the show and have Survivor Night on Friday night (now talking was allowed because of our ability to rewind).

I think I have missed 2 episodes in the 18 seasons it has been on the air. There have been bad seasons and there have been good, but no matter what at the end of every season I am so ready to apply for the show. I know I would never win and I have an awful feeling I would be cast as a villian but I would just love to try it.

More than I want a million dollars, I want the experience of 39 days of competition. I really want to know how I would do. Could I keep my mouth shut long enough to make it past the first vote? Would I be able to sustain for 39 days with little sleep? How long before I get hurt in a challenge? Please, we all know I'll get hurt.

Our Paragraph

Every year my parents send out a Christmas letter and each sibling gets one paragraph summarizing their life over the past year. Since being married Mom doesn't consult us anymore about what to include in our paragraph, but I would have to say I have made her life super easy this year. Basically my part could be:

If you want to know about Tiffany and Joshua just go to www.thefykes.blogspot.com and find out more than you ever wanted to know about their 2008.

I don't know if she would really do that though because then everyone she knows would be introduced to the fact that her daughter lets strangers sleep in her house and actually leaves the country with no real accommodations planned, etc. Mom has come to grips with our strangeness but I don't see her letting her friends in on our absurdity. Unless of course they are playing that game where you tell 2 truths and a lie and then she will totally make our life one of the truths that no one in the group would ever believe.

Cozi Here I Come

On my work trips you end up spending 12-15 hours with the people you work with. Conversation consists of all kinds of things-some internet appropriate and some not. There was one really interesting thing that came up at dinner on Thursday night that I think everyone should know about. Mike Breece (Nashville's best jib operator) mentioned this website his family uses called Cozi.

Its a website that is like a family organizer. I'm excited about the calendar that everyone can access but I know you have that on google, or yahoo. Here is the part that is going to blow your mind. You ready?

There is a place for a grocery list. I know that doesn't sound very special-but people, you can call a number and have your list read to you. Or you can text a number and have it sent to you. So if are out and have some time to stop by the store you can do it with your list just by texting a number. Now that feature won't work for me unless I have the coupons in the car but you can get your appointments sent to you as well over text.

I think this has to be the most interesting and great idea for a busy family so that everything is not just in one place but it is accessible from anywhere. The Breece's have a central computer in their kitchen where they keep it up and runnning so that it is easy to use.

Hands down, best idea last week. Thanks Mike!

Winter Keeps Coming

So we were greeted with snow as we returned to Nashville. Actually to be more accurate the snow attacked us around the Murfreesboro exit on Interstate 24. I think 3 people in our van would have laid good money on us never making it home. However, we did make it home completely safe and here in Nashville the snow was much more pleasant.

It was a beautiful dusting that I'm sure made every school child happy. Well, except the smart ones who realize they are missing their last day of review before finals. Joshua even had to cancel his early morning meeting because our road was just one big sheet of ice.

I don't think it has snowed this early since we have lived in Nashville. I hear we are in for a "real" winter and because we have a garage and work at home I say, "Come On!"

I love going to sleep with the moon reflecting so brightly on the snow that it lights the windows in the house a bit. I love watching Austin try to manuever the yard looking for a place to pee where she doesn't get the blasted white stuff on her. And most of all I love how our Christmas tree is so sparkly in front of a window that shows nothing but snow.

Happy Snow Day!

Just Giddy!

So while I've been out on the road working I've also been coordinating the completion of our FYK Architecture (pllc) website. We have been working on it for a while because we all know you can't have things fast, cheap and good.

So we chose the latter. But people - this was worth the wait! Plus, I love it when I get to work with friends and so last night, with Joshua on the phone, Greg and I launched the page.

I want to introduce everyone to the FYK website. Enjoy!

Special thanks to Sam, Nathan and Michael for photo and text consulting/comments.

What am I doing this week?

Serious work for the Lord!

One Hour? Right!

Joshua and I put up the Christmas tree last week. We were planning our day and Joshua kept saying "So the Christmas tree will take an hour and then we can watch TV."

This is one of the few occasions that I let him live in his delusion. Normally I would correct him but I'm trying to be a better wife. You know, less annoying.

About 2.5 hours in he stopped and looked at me and said "Yeah, this is going to take longer than an hour. What was I thinking?" That is an excellent question.

Currently Listening To: Into the Wild (ST)

Eddie Vedder - Society

We watched this movie not too long ago, and I loved it. I had a mix of emotions during and after. It invigorated me, made me want to drop everything and head off into the wilderness on an adventure, while at the same time I was really angry and grieved over....well I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it. Let's just say after watching this and having a conversation with my good friend Josh (not Joshua....Josh) I've given thought to the "rules" we each live by, self imposed or otherwise.

The soundtrack is equally great, this song in particular ties in beautifully to the film.

Where in the World?

Joshua and I periodically go through the "where should we live?" conversation. Just out of curiosity if you could do your job anywhere where would you live?

No need to leave a diatribe but feel free to expound if you would like.

Tis the Season

So I stumbled on this at one of the blogs I read daily. I know a lot of you will be all about it as well so I wanted to spread the joy.

Amazon is giving away a free Christmas song everyday until Christmas. I love that Barenaked Ladies was one of the first ones out of the gate because I LOVE that CD. I can almost promise we will be decorating our Christmas tree to that album this afternoon.

Seems like there is going to be quite a diversity of artists so everyone enjoy and early Merry Christmas!

If Only I Loved Sci Fi

Joshua and I watched a movie last night that an acquaintance recommended - Serenity. I really wish I liked that genre of film because the writing was witty and there were some great one liners.

It would be the perfect film for college friends to obsess about and constantly quote to each other. You'd hear people saying "I'm a leaf in the wind" and "You best make peace with your dear and fluffy lord." Kind of like in my friend group you heard "P.C. Load Letter?" or "Ummmm. Yeeeeah. I'm gonna have to ask you to go ahead and come in on Saturday."

I would actually really love to read this script because I don't think I can sit through the science fiction plot again but I'd love to get another crack at catching some of the humor buried in the dialogue.

Just to Clarify

At the party we had a few weeks ago we played a game where everyone in the room answers questions about themselves and then people have to guess who said what. The question that is sparking this post is "What would make your home complete?" Seems like a simple question right?

My Answer: A queen size bed for guests

Joshua's Answer: A baby

Everyone thought it was hysterical that two of the boys in the room wrote down baby. I didn't see the humor since one was my husband and as far as I knew unless being bored is a good reason to have a baby we were NOT trying to have a baby.

When all the guests left I asked Joshua why in the world he wrote down baby and this was his response: "Coffee table would have been too obvious."

4 People are the Perfect Fit

So we discovered this Thanksgiving that four people are the perfect fit in our kitchen. We each had our own counter space, plenty of elbow room and no one was ever on top of another person. I honestly think that we might have had room for one more, but lets not push it.

The Smiths came over to bake with us and so we turned this

into this

and this

and this

and Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread.

We split up the booty and now for the next few weeks days we are going to be stuffing ourselves with baking goodness.

Let me just say that baking with friends is the way to do it. You aren't having to make the mess all by yourself, you aren't having to eat everything yourself and when you are debating if 3/4 cup of Karo syrup is enough you have someone beside you saying "Sure, whatever, just throw it in!"