Well, we ended up having to file a police report for Andy’s stolen car, and after 10-15 days we received the insurance money. Yesterday we got a call that they found Andy’s car…it had been sold for parts and basically ended up completely crushed! So all of you that said this might be the way we get a new truck…you are probably right. We actually got more than we could have traded his car in for, so that’s certainly nice. However, we aren’t in a huge rush to get a new truck since Andy and I basically go everywhere together. The only time I can really see us needing two cars is when I have a wedding out of town. So I think we’ll take our time and try to find something that we really want.
Speaking of insurance, we are also hopefully getting a new roof soon. The main damage was caused from the hail storm way back in April of last year, but we’ve had a few storms since then that have contributed. Now to find a reputable roofing company here in town…
Andy and I went to the doctor because of our “fainting spells” but I didn’t really think he would be able to tell us much. He took blood work…which I wanted him to do in case there was some simple problem that could be addressed through blood work. Thankfully everything came back ok, but we were still where we started – asking ourselves “wtf happened.” The doc suggested we could both be dehydrated. This is highly possible as our water intake has decreased. So, we are back to trying to drink the appropriate amount of water needed. The doctor said if it happens again, he will do further testing. He also somewhat lectured me on visiting my new cancer doctor, since I haven’t been there since 2008. I remember canceling the 2009 appointment cause I woke up sick…or I was out of town. So yeah, gotta get an appointment lined up with Dr. Fancycancerpants.
Tiny has figured out the joys of toilet paper! Oh how cute it is to catch her playing with it and unrolling it…it’s actually amazing a how fast she can un-roll an entire roll. It’s not so cute having to re-roll it all back up. Hopefully I can get a video of it and then she’ll magically just get tired of playing with it.
We need a bigger record store. Ok, so I know I mentioned the possibility of us moving to our own building, but we haven’t had a chance to meet with the owner of the property yet. We already decided it was probably best not to invest the money into a down payment towards the building because at the VERY beginning of this whole “let’s own a record store!” venture we decided we would NOT go into debt for it. And although I think we could pay off a loan for the building, once we actually had the money for the down payment, we began thinking a bit more. First off, it would be nice to rent the building for a while to see if we even like it. Secondly, even with all of the drama at the mill, it still has been such a great place for EXPOSURE. Not to mention we would still be a part of this place through Crash Boom Bang, Purgatory Lounge, Dead Workers, and whatever else. So it’s nice to have all of it in one place. If I’m at rehearsal, I’m still right down the hall from the store so it’s super convenient. Plus we always get traffic from other events in the theater that might not otherwise know about us. And summers at the mill are always awesome. Once it gets warm, there are usually shows every weekend – both outside and in the theater. Dustin will begin filming his TV show, which I’m helping with, and that will mainly be filmed around the mill/mill neighborhood. CBB and the DWP have a lot up our sleeves, so I’m sure this summer will be super busy for all of us. Anyway…basically, I think we are staying put for a while longer until we know 110% sure we have something lined up that we love as much as Lowe Mill. But yeah, we got some new record shelves (yay!) but it’s getting crammed in here (nay) so Andy and I have been playing tetris with all of these shelves trying to get them to fit and still look nice.
Can I gush a bit more about how awesome it is to FINALLY have window casings? Who knew such a boring part of the house could really make our kitchen complete. Well, that and we were finally able to install our curtain system. THREE YEARS AGO we found the perfect situation for our kitchen curtains. It’s basically a heavy wire that strings through three “brackets” and you tighten it to the desired length, then cut the extra off. I plan on photographing them…and several places in our house as we have been on an estate sale kick and we’ve picked up a lot of gems for our home. And I’ve never done the whole let-me-show-you-my-knick-knacks kinda post, so I’m hoping to do that soon. And I want to enter our home on the “whole house tour” on Apartment Therapy.
Ok so this has turned out to be a bit longer and more “rambling” than I thought, but oh well! I don’t feel like editing for errors, so you’ll have to take it like it is. Hope all is well with everyone else out there!
Last night we went to Exit/In in Nashville, TN. to see a few of our favorite bands: Smith Westerns, Magic Kids, and Girls. It was awesome, simply put. The trip to Nashville was ever so brief, but when most of it is spent singing and dancing along, maybe short and sweet is best! We tried leaving Huntsville early enough to eat and browse around Great Escape. However, after eating at Taco and Co. it was already 8. Since we didn’t know exactly where Exit/In was in relation to where we were, and how fast the crowds would come, we headed that way. Next time Great Escape, next time! Charlie, Justin, and Josh were standing right outside when we walked up, so we all hung out a bit before the show. In retrospect, we totally would have had enough time to go to a few shops. Ah well. Anyway, the show was fantastic, and the only thing I thought could have been better, is if all the vocals had been turned up a bit more.
Smith Westerns
Magic Kids
Magic Kids pizza box set list…propped up with beer, of course.
We returned to where Monday Funday all started, La Alemeda for the first one in February. I’m pretty sure their margarita prices went up…but overall the entire ticket seemed more expensive. I guess that’s why we started looking around initially. It’s like we’ve done a tour of Mexican restaurants here in Huntsville. Still haven’t found the one though. I can’t wait until Summer is here and Monday nights are spent BBQing!
Andy found Tiny sleeping on me like this on Tuesday morning. Hello greasy bangs! After dinner we went to Travis and Nicole’s house for a bit before walking down to LeAnn’s…where there was free pool. Andy and I didn’t stay for long…I don’t last too late on Monday Fundays haha. We walked back to our cars with David and Ellis, but it had started to rain. So wet hair and crashing hard leads to greasy bangs in the morning!
Let me tell you a little something about this tornado. I felt it coming in the morning. It was weird. I was PUNCHED with the premonition. I was getting ready that morning, and I thought to myself “hmmm, I wonder if there will be bad weather today.” And then it was like someone just punched me in the gut and I kinda blurted out loud “there will be a tornado today.” Andy asked why I would say something like that, and I said I just felt it. The day was absolutely gorgeous and around 4pm, I pretty much gave up on the “premonition” I felt earlier that morning. Around 5:30, I saw a massive cloud make its way over the mill. We lost power for a split second, which prompted me to walk over to the huge mill windows and look closer. There were only a few of us at the mill, and we all gathered at the window as we watched this gigantic space-ship like wall cloud engulf the sky. I noticed the tail end of it was starting to rotate, and pointed it out. Cheryl agreed something was happening there, and before she could finish the sentence, the funnel had formed. We all watched in awe as the funnel dropped lower and moved right over our Five Points neighborhood. Once we realized it was moving NE, we all went to the parking lot for a “better” show. The clouds flashed green and blue as the tornado took down power lines an transformers. It didn’t last very long, and we all started getting calls that there is damage to the neighborhood: gas lines leaking, trees on homes, cars destroyed. Everyone that was watching at the mill lived in Five Points, so we all headed that way to check on everything.
Driving into Five Points looked like we were entering the apocalypse. It was pitch black everywhere and you could only see beams of light from flashlights and the crazy flashing of emergency vehicles. My eyes watered as we passed homes that were crushed beneath trees. After we checked on our house and kitties, we grabbed our flashlights to go check on our neighbors. Everyone on our block was ok, so we continued walking to assess the damage. We ran into several of our friends and were relived to know they were alright. Both of our phones blew up with text messages from friends and family, both in the neighborhood, and far away, to make sure we were safe.
It made my heart swell seeing how kind neighbors were being, and how quick people were to offer shelter or relief to those that needed it. The city of Huntsville was very diligent and had the streets cleared by morning…and power restored to most of the neighborhood. The next morning, we walked around again to try to snap some photos in daylight. Five Points was like a zoo. People clearing away debris, people driving around to assess damage, neighbors bringing supplies, gawkers going around with their mouths open. Well, we were two of those gawkers for sure. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. I over heard someone say that it was an f2 that came through.
This was the back end of the storm taken with our point and shoot. I’m kinda an idiot because I didn’t realize we even had that camera with us until this point…AND it records. So I totally could have gotten some awesome footage like all of these people did.
Right after I snapped the one above, I looked straight up, and saw this.
This was the night-of. That power line was just dangling, and the tree fell on the car in front of Creative Healing on Pratt.
We saw this when we were driving home, and had to come back to really believe what we saw. The tree took down all three stories of the front of this house. This is the point where my eyes started watering.
Somehow one of our point and shoot cameras ended up missing, and finally…after a few weeks, Andy found it under the seat of my car! So we now have more pics of Tiny, but i was back when she was three weeks old. So yeah, more pics of Tiny!
boob shot! This is Tiny’s favorite place to cuddle up…at least during this winter weather.
Well, it finally happened! We finally have window casings and sills. Last year we didn’t really bother heating the kitchen (well, not counting the space heater we would stick under the sink to keep the pipes warm) but this year we have a radiant heater! I’m so excited to no longer have to avoid our kitchen in the winter. I mean, it was SO COLD. Our kitchen is north facing, so it stays in shadows all winter. Cold, cold shadows. It’s amazing how well this radiant heater works though! And we no longer feel the drafts blowing in!
The windows before we started work. Well, these are just the windows above the sink…there are three sets of windows like this in the kitchen.
During the work. This is under the above set of windows. The sink has been pulled out to run the baseboards behind it and install the window sill.
During work. Measuring the sills.
The kitchen is still disarray in this shot, but you can see a completed window – with casings and sill. All that is missing is a couple coats of paint. I plan on painting everything when the weather warms up a bit because I think painting in these temperatures is a waste of time.
a sill a sill a sill! Now to fill them with trinkets!
Sadie and Tiny say hello by the heater
After weeks of work, we can finally put our kitchen back together. Sadie missed her “spot” by the window…although she loves having it back!
Our living room scattered with kitten toys, records, and dvds. We were on a Bill Murray kick (Stripes is on the tv) while we made our gingerbread house.
hahaha it took us like 10 minutes to throw that thing together. We actually forgot about it before Christmas, so the novelty of a gingerbread house was gone when our tree was out the door, but I knew it wouldn’t last for a year so we just kinda half assed it. More like quarter-assed it lol.
As much as I dislike the cold, I enjoy seeing the pretty snow flakes. While we only got around an inch of snow, it still made for pretty pics!
…we need to put back up our yellow jasmine. The big wind storm that cam through here a week or so ago knocked it down.
backyard
I found that cooler on the road! Oh well, one person’s trash is my treasure!
Betty and Sadie in the snow! Betty isn’t our dog…she belongs to our friend Dustin who came over for a bit and we all had a snowball fight.
snow paw prints! I’m pretty sure these belong to Sadie and Betty.
Tiny and Maple
I love this shot of Tiny! You can see her tiny little tongue licking the snow. She didn’t stay out too long cause she started shaking, so I put her back inside by the heater and she cuddled in a ball and went to sleep. awww.
our snowman! I found the beer can in the bushes, so I “recycled” it…right?
While White Rabbit Studios had a wonderful start in August of 2009, I’m super excited to see what 2010 holds for us. Mind you, my business partner and her husband and child are planning on moving within the next couple of years or so…but I still think it’s important to plan on us being a partnership indefinitely. Because we’ll probably find a way to maintain the business, even with miles between us.
Anyway, 2010. Onward to a new year full of new ideas. We are hoping to master the photo booth and be able to offer it as part of a wedding package. We had a “booth” set up for an art show a Lowe Mill and we had an absolute blast! You can view some of our favorite shots here. We have two weddings we are definitely planning to set it up, including my friend Billy White’s wedding (lol it’s a nice day for a White wedding!) I’m really excited for that wedding. His family are characters and their friends will make for great photo booth subjects. He and his gorgeous fiance are getting married at Burrit, and Steph and I already know that place is nothing but great backdrops. We’ll probably get in touch with some of our other brides and see if they are interested. I don’t want to promise too much until we’ve got every detail of this down…
Another thing we are hoping to add is the option to have Super8 video. This is exciting because although Super8 doesn’t record sound, it will be SO much fun to add a sweet song and create a montage of happy memories for the loving couple and their families. I also want to boost our film options and hopefully build an online portfolio for it.
I’d also like to have some pre-made options for Save the Dates, birth announcements, invites, etc. I know this is more Andy’s territory, but I think I could whip up some templates to at least get some fresh design on our page.
After sitting on the idea a while I’ve finally gotten my butt in gear and got Hi-Fi Weddings started. Unconditional love and thanks to Andy for helping me execute the details for this new design, that I adore! I’m sending out emails to all of my favorite bloggers tomorrow in hopes they’ll fall in love with this idea and will be interested in mentioning HFW on their blog. In exchange, I’ll give them a free ad spot. My head is spinning with ideas for this site. Do I want to do a formatted type post and a Q & A of sorts? Or do I just want people to submit what they want, and I’ll just blog about it? I’m kinda thinking the latter so I don’t push myself into a corner. Music will be the main content, and I’d like to set it up where you can hear the song and even purchase it. Should I do itunes or amazon or or or? I’d also like to do monthly mixes…or at least seasonal mixes of love songs and such. I’m hoping to build up some content and have enough to launch it all by Valentine’s Day. Eventually, I’d also like it to be a place where brides can find like-minded vendors to be the perfect fit to their wedding day. Whew…I guess time will tell how this venture goes.
