LEEDing

In celebration of acing the LEED AP exam, we decided to road trip around the Nashville area in search of bad examples of energy and environmental design.

First up we stopped to document our lovely mass transit system. As you can see from the sign attached to the telephone pole, this is a "bus stop." You might also notice there is no bench, or covering. Needless to say, I've never seen anyone at said stop (other than this motley crue).

Next up we stopped at one of the local recycling centers. I have to say Nashville overall does a pretty good job with recycling, however this center being moved probably means some people won't participate any longer.

Megan the friendly ghost says "boo!"

Ever driven by a totally empty parking lot at night that looks like a football field? Yeah us too. LEED calls this Light Pollution / Energy consumption, we call it our band cover art.

Can you say URBAN SPRAWL? Note the sign: "14th fastest growing" Who puts that they were 14th on a sign? Also I would like to note that we left south Nashville at 9pm and returned back from our trip to the 'burbs after 10pm.

Although we weren't cruising around in a fuel efficient vehicle, we were definitely an HOV. Yay for carpooling and good friends!

You Know You Want It

This my friends could be yours for the small price of $149,900.

This is my first listing at 446 Westcrest Dr. It is the perfect home for someone who just wants to move in their stuff and then sit down and watch TV.

Isn't it the cutest? I'm having an open house on Sunday so maybe I'll have it sold before you hear back from me.

Those flashing ads that promise you a free TV

Well I read a blog that says those things are legit. Of course not all of them are but this woman makes thousands of dollars a year completing these online offers. It sounds ridiculous right? Feels a little like that woman who fed her family on sweepstakes back in the 50's. I don't even want to try to explain it to you, so you can read all about it at Money Saving Methods.

A friend and I decided last week we are giving it a try. We spent about 4 hours filling out and signing up for stuff online. I am getting trail German language course, some green tea pills, 25 music downloads, some magazines and coffee. Then if I followed all the rules and jumped through all the hoops correctly at the end of it I'll end up with a $500 Visa gift card.

Now if you thought the whole Walgreens/CVS stuff was difficult this stuff will make your head spin. The short story is we created a spreadsheet and are tracking everything we signed up for so we know which items we want to keep and which ones we will send back at the end of the trial period.

So here is the current status: Our first of three tier items have qualified. I have downloaded 3 of my 25 songs and our coffee ships tomorrow. I'll let you know how it progresses.

Also any help on choosing my song downloads would be greatly appreciated: so far its Patty Griffin and Katie Herzig & Matthew Perryman.

What happend to 90-95?

Today the heat just exploded on us. We haven't broken the 90 degree mark this year and now everyone in the city is sweating out 96 degrees. I know all my Texas people are going to say "what a hard life," but our weather comes with it's own summer headaches - like dying in tornadoes.

Reunion

If you grew up in the 90's and haven't seen this check it out. Zach Morris on Jimmy Fallon. No really Zach Morris!

Check it out!

The remains of a Lawn Party....

This weekend was filled with party prep and party time. I did squeeze in the sale of my first property as well. Overall, I would say a very successful weekend.

The party was a blast and although the weather called for a 60% chance of rain, we didn't see one drop. I think when Joshua and I did the count we had about 40 people participate which was a very manageable number. I was very glad all the invitations we sent weren't accepted because I don't know what we would have done with everyone.

This was the most mentioned item on the serving tables.

I was talking to my mom and she suggested we put the toothpicks in something. I don't have a toothpick holder, or a small plate, or anything like that so what am I going to do at 11pm the night before? My plan was to decorate the tables with shuttlecocks and they have holes so this is what I came up with. Nothing really profound and it was a pain to execute, but now everyone thinks I'm brilliant so I guess it was worth it.

The only downside of the party was I didn't get a chance to game it up due to all the mingling, so last night Joshua and I went out in the backyard and played badminton. People...badminton is awesome. You should come over and try it. Plus, because our court is on a slope you get some unexpected exercise trying to get from one side to the other.

Hope you all had a great weekend as well.

Happy Wednesday

If this doesn't make you want to dance in your office I don't know if there is any hope for you.

I want to...

...take better photographs
...enjoy being alone like I used to when I was younger
...make a quilt
...be continually focused on things that really matter
...enjoy completing things as much as I enjoy starting them
...be fluent in Spanish
...travel somewhere new this year
...be able to eat whenever I want like I could in college
...memorize one scripture verse a month
...find a way to get free ice cream from the grocery store
...be a good friend
...be outside more
...sell the Miller's house in less than a month
...not be sore

In the Bush

This weekend was consumed by one task: stain the deck.

Since we bought the house, our deck has been a bright orange color. It grew on us to the point we finally stopped noticing it really. It did blend in well with the bright orangey tones of the brick. But after living with it for two years, and after it started looking like it had stuff growing on it we knew it was time to get after it with some brushes and elbow grease. Of course we had to pick a color first. Of all the decisions Tiff and I have faced during the course of our marriage thus far, choosing colors takes the cake. Nothing else can put us into a quandary like having to agree on what color something should be. We both tend to just look at each other like "how will we ever conquer this monumental hurdle in our lives?"

Well, now it's all done.

We're both sore in many places, I have scrapes and bruises from fighting through the holly bushes (see pic above) and you should have seen the contortions my wife had to master to paint under the bench.

We're still wrestling through wether we "love" it, but if you ask me it doesn't really matter. After we've both invested 10 hours of our life, like it or not, the color is staying.

Busy and a Blog

Turns out those two don't mix. This is how you know I'm not natural born writer. I don't fall asleep at night thinking of the most wonderful blogs for you people.

I do think I need to start making some time for the creative part of my mind. Lately it has only been used for marketing and business ventures. Honestly though, I think it's just as happy to have work as the logical side of my brain so it isn't complaining yet.

Off the Mark

Forecast today - 90 and sunny

Currently it is raining, the sun has completely disappeared and the wind is blowing so hard it is actually raining sideways. I'd say weather folks were off just a smidge.

I'm just glad I made it home a little early on the scooter, otherwise, I'd have been the person you see somewhere along the road cowering under a tree shivering.

Out of our Misery

I bought a purse this week. Technically, I re-bought the purse I originally bought a few months ago. I found it at a Target in TX and decided to just put me and my friends out of our misery of looking for a purse that I both liked and could afford. So without further ado, the first purse I have bought in at least 6 years.

Now I just need a wallet because my tiny wallet gets lost and looks ridiculous in a purse this size.