wil and kris (and gracie and ava)

after playing around on the computer for some time last night, wil figured out how to post a live webcam shot on our site…different from our personal webcam pages (which are just random photos we upload once in a while), this page is a live feed from our desk…so click the “webcam” page to catch us on the computer, watching tv, or gracie snoozing (or getting into trouble) while we are out of the house!

pretty cool!

update: gracie is a hit! she’s become a celebrity- her popularity has spread to my science class, the girls at work, wil’s entire starbucks, and all of you back at home! her fame hasn’t quite gotten to her head though…it think she’s a bit oblivious that she’s the new truman show.

wil and i have had fun watching her all day (although she sleeps for about 85% of the time) but also being spotted on the cam ourselves once in a while- it’s fun to know you guys can see us when we talk to you online or on the phone. now i just need to keep reminding myself that i can’t walk around the office in my underwear…the world wide web doesn’t need to see that much of me!

life scares me sometimes.

the whole idea of taking chances, making big decisions and spending large sums of money (often together) usually are the biggest causes of worry for me. but today i have two relatively life altering things to share. and…i feel pretty dang good about both.

after a very long day in front of both of our computers together, wil and i nailed down europe and drum roll please: bought our plane tickets. knowing that this was too big of a purchase to wait on for fear of pricing and availability (yes, i know there might be last minute deals, but we just couldn’t risk such a big thing like that for a few less bucks), we settled on dates, cities, and activities so that we could claim our two seats on the long crowded flight over the sea. but it feels great! we’re going to europe! no turning back! maybe our trip got a bit condensed since the idea arose, but hey, we are still getting over there! and we are going to run all over france and italy as fast as we can. we actually did a ton today- finding and pricing everywhere we want to stay and see- so i guess we’ll just chink away at the itinerary and reservations as time continues to progress towards the big day. maybe we’ll even release our itinerary for outside criticism…we’ll see.

as for me personally, i made a pretty big decision a couple days ago. after mulling, praying and thinking about it for some time (say, about a month) i decided i want to stay at alcott upon graduation. for many reasons i came to the conclusion that switching to a large corporate, commercial architecture/design firm is not where i want to be in the next couple months. without getting into too many details, i just realized there were more benefits to me and to wil and i as a couple if i stayed at alcott. i love my job, workplace, boss and coworkers; we have some new clients and steady large projects that will continue to keep us busy; i can continue to learn and challenge myself there; and the nature of the company and carolyn’s personality allows me to stay flexible (day to day and long term); among other things. the desire for corporate is not as strong as it once was, and if it ever does come back, i am confident that i will still have opportunities and skills to pursue that direction, if it’s here in nashville or starting fresh when we move back to the west. it also helps when you tell your boss you want to stay and she says that she couldn’t be more thrilled…that’s always nice.

and well, one more thing. it doesn’t quite fit the “life changing” category, but you may notice the music has changed to our recent music like: imogen heap/frou frou. enjoy!

after looking at an unused tv sit atop our dresser for the last six months i decided it was time for a swap. i guess the fresh change of the new year got to me and i decided it was time to put the tv in a new home and possibly plug it in the wall to use it. *hey what a concept!* well, it ended up that moving the one little tv led to an entire adventure of figuring out how to put it in the office and be able to comfortably watch it with the futon and desks and bookcase. on a whim, wil and i switched up the entire office and it’s a brand new room. with each item in a completely new spot, the space is much more cozy, usable and unique! the best things about the rearrange:

• dust no more! man, some corners in there hadn’t seen the light of day for a while.
• organizing… yes, i love to organize and what better way than to buy cute office desk accessories and boxes to fill!
• life in order… i think once you start keeping track of important bills and documents on your own, you become an adult. that started a while ago for me, but i have done a very poor job of keeping safe things in a safe place. it’s nice to know my car title is stowed in a nice new file instead of hanging out on my windowsill in a pile.
• goodbye wires… wil was so excited to be able to organize the crazy rat’s nest of wires that was happening behind the desk before. ahhh, so refreshing.
• fresh layout… i love being able to sit on the futon and do my own thing while wil is on the computer (or vice versa) instead of feeling like if i sat on the futon i was just there to stare at wil.
• movies…not only can we watch tv up here through the computer, but we also have another place to watch movies if we need a change in scenery.
• gracie’s sweet deal…i honestly have no idea how it turned out that gracie got to move back in with us into our room, but by moving things around and creating a second desk/nook where her crate once was, we had no where else to put the giant crate than back in our room. what a lucky little monster.

i guess we really caught the freshness bug because by the end of the last two days, furniture has moved all over the house. wil and i even decided to switch sides of the bed!

GASP!

for those who care (who knew redoing an office layout would be blogworthy? eh, we live humble lives), here are some pictures:

-a view from the desk-

Well, it’s been almost two weeks since i began my new year’s resolution of a vegan diet and so far so good!  I feel great! 

Kris and i have done much better than expected when it comes to eating multiple meals all throughout the day and limiting our intake of bad foods.  We are learning to depend on certain foods for certain nutrients and are remembering how to make choices that lead a healthy diet.

I was worried that i would be hungry all the time since i am eating small meals during the day, instead of a couple large meals… but it has been really good.  Eating the right foods has done well to supply me with the apropriate nutrients that last when i need them to last.

I was also worried that i would be tempted to cheat or have significant cravings for meat and cheese… but i really haven’t.  While some of the prepared meats at wild oats look really good, they don’t make me want to cheat just to have them.  My mind is set and made up that i won’t be having any of that for at least 2 more weeks, so there’s no question.  Plus, grocery shopping and finding healthy recipes is fun and a fun way for Kris and i to spend time together.

If you are ever looking for some healthy recipes, veg web is a great website with loads of recipes, mostly vegan and all vegetarian.

So, until next time, this is your vegan friend signing off… have an animal friendly day! =D

-wil

i’ve got two things i want to write about, but i have to leave for work in a bit, so i won’t get to them until tomorrow (my day off).
1. apple (the company) and all that encompasses it and my feelings about it.
2. an update on my new year’s resolutions..

keep an eye out for a post or two tomorrow sometime.
-wil

well, wil has definitely taken ownership of the site the last few posts…so i figure i should squeeze in a note here on the happenings in the last few days as i sit here watching this new “grease” reality series. (not quite sure what i think about it yet)

• i was honored to be asked by cassie to be a bridesmaid in her wedding and with october as the potential month, she’s already on the ball trying to get some of the major things nailed down. and what better way to get that done than to go to the nashville bridal expo! it was an overwhelming but totally fun saturday morning, getting bombarded by vendors right and left with brochures and business cards. i was also really excited to see more than one decorator’s booths show table designs that looked just like ours!
• wil’s 22nd birthday was yesterday and since i had been gone for the last three years, i really felt like i had to make up. balloons, dinner, bowling, cupcakes, gifts and games ought to have done it! we had a great time hanging out with cassie and mike last night (as always), making wil feel special on his big day.
• as mentioned in a previous post, wil and i decided to start a strict nutritionally conscious vegan diet as our new year’s resolution. yesterday was our official starting day, and so far so good! for me personally, one of my resolutions is to cook more throughout the week and so i am excited to really take this diet under my belt and use it to motivate me to research and plan more meals throughout the week.
• since we tend to waste a lot of money on late movie rentals we decided to start blockbuster’s online rentals a little more than a week ago. i don’t know why we didn’t start it sooner, but we have loved it so far! we’ve already watched 5 movies and rented one game in one week- i’d say it was definitely worth it! i absolutely love going to the movies, but since wil isn’t really into going to the theatre, it’s been a great compromise to watch whatever we want, whenever we want without having to drop 20 bucks at the movie theatre. if anyone has any recommendations of what to rent, send them our way!
• well…the time has come for gracie to go under the knife. eeck! tomorrow, we’re dropping off the pup (who’s 90 lbs by the way) at the vet to get fixed! she’s completely oblivious to her impending doom…hopefully she still is in one piece when we pick her up tuesday morning.
• as you have probably noticed… things have been changing on our site little by little. wil has really been involved with adding things here and there to make our site even cooler. in addition to the picture box, he figured out how to load our favorite music to play when you visit our site. hope you enjoy!

hope the new year is treating everyone well so far!