Welcome to our Nerd Cave :)

So I took the liberty of snapping a couple of pics of our new apartment. Though we aren't COMPLETELY done just yet, the entire tour gallery will have to wait till the end of the week.

But tonight's post will show you several of the accents of our apartment that make it the best "nerd cave" of all of Nashville. :)

This is part of our living room which is showing you our DVD, video game and book collection. We got a PS3, PS2, Wii and an N64. I was SO excited about combining our stuff because I knew we would have a nice entertainment center. The Sheldon Cooper poster was a must-have for my graphic designer fiance. 

Matt had sculpted the arm from Full Metal Alchemist when we were in clay sculpture class at UT Martin. I told him when he finished it "we WILL have that at our place when we get married" He was quite pleased at this request. :) I think it's bamf.

On the shelves of our DVDs, we got some cool Marvel figurines: Venom being the coolest. 

Zombie Spider-Man on the other side. 

My Hunger Games magnets.

Matt is a huge fan of Scott Pilgrim. So he painted this inspired portrait of us as two Scott Pilgrim characters, above will be painted "The Garretts" in the title font. :) 

I know it's not nerdy perse  but I am really enjoying our city themed bathroom.

Now I can not wait for these to be done. Matt's been working on them for quite a while. Its going to be a series of portraits of our friends in neon graphic colors. So excited to see them all put together. Only 4 more to go!

Loading and unloading, done. Unpacking and organizing, EFFING DONE.

I got two words to sum up my experience these last 4 days.

moving. sucks.

Never in my life did I ever imagine that moving (and not just that but downsizing from a 1200 sq ft. apartment to an 800 sq. ft) would be so overwhelming and stressful. I do remember lots of people saying that this will be a big challenge and test for mine and Matt's relationship. Sure enough, the week before the move we fought more than we have fought our entire 3 years of being together. I thought the madness would never stop.

But I will say, on the day of the move, this guy really went above and beyond for all the work he put into us moving. We got all of our furniture moved in last Saturday and by the end of the day I just had no idea what to do. I wish, looking back now, that I took pictures of this process but I was too stressed out to even imagine doing that. I wanted to separate all the boxes and put them in their own individual rooms but we had NO ROOM to even do that. We got the bed put together and just clunked out. When we woke up the next morning I tried to get started on the living room, thinking if I could just get the "main" room looking decent I won't feel so overwhelmed. 

About 15 minutes in, I felt like I was making it worse than making it better. I tried to organize by putting the crates and bins in the closets, but they wouldn't fit on the shelves. I tried to hang up mine and Matt's clothes but we only had room for half of mine. We had no storage space whatsoever. We had hardly any cabinet space for all our dishes and groceries. Everything felt like it was just getting smaller and smaller so I just fell onto the couch in tears. I had no idea how we were going to put together this apartment with all of our stuff we had no room for. Matt, being the sweet thing he is, came over and handed me a blanket and said "you're just tired. lay down on the couch and take a nap." Realizing I really was exhausted (especially since I didn't sleep much the night before) I did what he said and fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up a few hours later, I realized that he had already set up and organized the entire living room, dining room AND kitchen..... Just another thing to brag about. My future husband is the absolute best. :)

Anyway, it's now Tuesday and it FINALLY looks the way we want it to. It was rough moving up here, but working with Matt on this has been just a blast. We have always lived apart since we've started dated, even had to maintain a long distance relationship 95% of the time. Knowing that I was setting up and decorating our first home together, there's just nothing like it.

I got a couple of pictures to post throughout the night, including some accents that give our apartment an "awesome nerd touch."

Look out Nashville, the Garretts have MOVED IN!!!! :))))

one more week. and already worn. out.

As you could probably guess from the topic I have had a busy last couple of days.

I got an email last week that I have New Teacher Orientation this weekend for Wilson County Schools. Well, might as well go up there and stay several days to get some stuff done right? There were so many things I was needing to do:

-Put down a deposit for NES (Nashville Electric Services, which charges me a whopping 180 bucks to begin services. GROSS)
-Put down my deposit for renters insurance and new car insurance

-Get to working in my new classroom.

I thought I could kill several birds with one stone so I decided to drive up there Tuesday, stay the night with my funny Nashville-ian friend Mary Beth for the week while I got some things done. Here is what's happened so far.

Tuesday Night:

I stopped in Dickson on the way to Nashville and had dinner with four of my favorite students from Perry County: Farrah, Nicole, Hunter and Ian. Words cannot describe how much I adore these kiddos! It felt very different going out to eat dinner with them as friends, since they're technically no longer my pupils. I kept remembering how they were when they came into my Art I class as sophomores and it just amazes me how much they have grown into such precious young adults. My advisor told me that you never forget your “first batch of kids”. I always thought she was just crazy, and a bit of a freak. Oh, how I was so wrong, and she was so right. When I hugged them goodbye for the last time, it made me realize how happy I am with the career path I chose for myself. I know I complain and nag all the time on here about my job but the truth it, I really, really do love it.

Wednesday:
Got up at the crack of dawn (ok, not really the CRACK of dawn, more like 7am) and went to NES and paid my Godly expensive deposit. That was painful but at least we get it back in a year.

Went to Cherry Creek to sign our lease, pay our pro-rated rent for the month of July AND my entire month's rent for August. So that's about $1,500 right there. WHOEVER told me that moving “is no big deal” deserves a nice long night with the back of my hand. But, nevertheless, I AM getting to finally move to my dream city. It's by far worth the price I've spent.

Went out to my new classroom at Mt Juliet Middle to decorate and go through my inventory. GOOD GRACIOUS THIS WOMAN LEFT ME WITH SO MANY GREAT ART SUPPLIES. She has left me paint, paper, origami paper, bookmaking supplies, a kiln, construction paper, and best but never least A CRAP LOAD OF PRINT MAKING SUPPLIES. (<-----------THISSSS) I spent pretty much the whole day there. From 10am – 7pm of nothing but organizing, planning and decorating. Here are just a few snapshots of what it looks like so far. I plan on doing so much more to it.

View when you first enter.

Another angle. The poles in the room are very weird. I didn't notice them much when I first saw the room but as I walk around and move about in my new room, I just feel like they're in the way and also so out of place. On the plus side. They do have outlet holes, so that will come in handy. Especially if the kids ever use hot glue guns.

View from the back of the room. Still got a lot of decorating on the walls (future mural ideas possibly?). Also notice how hardly NONE of the chairs match one another. How funny is that :)

My desk and curtains I hung up today! I knocked off the Pinterest craft of decorating an ugly desk with wrapping paper. It matches my curtains PERFECTLY!! :D I also love that desk beside mine in front of the window. I'm planning on making it one of my “isolation” tables.

View from another corner of the room. You can see my kick butt paint station from here.

Gloooooory, Glory, HALLELUUUUUJAH. I HAVE A SINK.

The printmaking supplies I stumbled across. Out of everything I found today, THIS is what I freaked out about the most.

A flipping KILN.

And of course, my teacher trade-mark. The “dark aluminous room”. When I was at PCHS, we were practicing still lives so I brought in three lamps for our light source so they could see shadows. After we finished our shading project, we liked the feel of the room so much, we kept the big lights off. Not sure if I will continue that with these middle schoolers, but it's always nice knowing I can go to this look whenever I like. I actually loooove it with the lights off.

And for some other snapshots around Nashville:

A brand new apartment complex in Bellevue that I absolutely love but will probably never be able to afford. No matter how many times I sell myself. :/

A big long-haired kitty I almost took home with me. Seriously people, take care of your pets. Especially if it's as cute as this one!!!

Move in day in a little over a week. I am counting down the days. Still. And be expecting a huge blog post about our moving experience. Hope it's better than worse.

Five Favorite Films

So I am sitting up on my couch unable to fall asleep (and begins that teacher-summertime-insomnia). While up and about, I've been browsing the internet for some movie reviews since I am a movie fanatic and I am always looking out for a movie I'm wanting to see. I came across a channel made by Rotten Tomatoes where they ask actors and actresses what their top 5 favorite films were. They interviewed some people like Jonah Hill, Edward Norton, Katherine Heigl, Tilda Swinton, Michael Caine and some other great people. It surprised me who had great taste and who had bad taste. (Ice Cube has GREAT taste in movies ironically!)

So it got me thinking. What ARE my 5 favorite films. After much, much, muuuuch deliberation I've finally came up with my list. What better place to share than here! So here are MY top 5 favorite films (for now that is):

5. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

I just watched this movie literally 3 days ago and it's already made a great impact on me.

Being a life-long artist, I am a huge fan of Wes Anderson's style of film making. I think his style of films are by far the most beautiful in the industry. For those who don't know, Moonrise Kingdom is a love story between a boy and a girl who decided to run off together which brings their family to create a search party for them around town. It's one of the best coming-of-age movies I've seen in years not to mention a marvelous cast. I just love all of Wes Anderson's quirkiness he puts into his characters. The movie made me laugh, it made me tear up, it made me feel melancholy. The soundtrack was brilliant--- overall just a fantastic movie.

4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Eternal Sunshine came as a HUGE surprise for me the very first time I watched it. I was not expecting this movie to impact me at all but in the end it ended up being one of the most unique and heart wrenching movies I've ever seen.

Eternal Sunshine is about this couple who's relationship starts going south so they undergo this procedure that erases all their memories of them together, but while they go through the procedure, they realize just how much they still love each other. It's one of the most creative and poignant stories I've ever watched on film. I remember watching the movie and crying my eyes out because I wanted them together so bad and I was heart broken every time they were torn apart. Very few movies can make me feel that way, so when once comes across me like that is an amazing piece of work.

3. (500) Days of Summer (2009) 

Surprise, surprise. Another romance-type movie right? WRONG. lol Watch the movie and you will know what I'm talking about. :)

(500) Days of Summer is honestly a movie that I don't really just love, I *adore* this movie. I literally have watched it over 25 times and I learn something new every time I watch it. I think that this is one of the most brutally honest movies ever made which is why not many people like it- but that is the sole reason why I adore it.

There is SO much honesty to this story about Joseph Gordon-Levitt who falls head-over-heels in love with Zooey Deschanel but she just does not and will never love him the way he loves her. And it's during this entire situation that he finds out exactly what kind of man he wants to be and what he wants out of his life. I related so much to this movie and my previous relationship experiences are almost an exact mirror reflection of what this guy goes through in this movie. I literally have felt each emotion he did in this film.

I love EVERYTHING about this movie: the story, the message, the characters. But what makes this movie even greater is the art direction is absolutely stunning. The soundtrack is marvelous and reminds me a lot of The Graduate movie soundtrack. This will probably stay in my top 5 for the rest of my life.

2. Shawshank Redemption (1994)

EVERYBODY is a lover of the great Morgan Freeman. To me this is what started it all.

To me, I don't think there will ever really be a movie that was made better than this movie. Everything about this film is perfect: perfect story, perfect script, perfect cast, perfect acting, perfect ending. There is not one moment of this movie that is flawed. I can't say beyond words how *rare*  it is to find a movie like this. I watch this movie every time it comes on cable (which is a whole lot). It is such a remarkable story about friendship and the importance of keeping hope in our hearts throughout anything we are going through in life.

Some of my favorite quotes of all time come from this film. One in particular, the famous "Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'." I recently had to re-buy this DVD because we watched it so much it got scratched to pieces.

My number one, favorite movie, of all time.....

1. Elizabethtown (2005)

I usually follow movie critics to a tee with film ratings. However, I honest to God think this movie is one of the most severely underrated films of all time.

I'm a huge fan of the "coming-of-age" films. Elizabethtown is about a guy in California who's Dad dies, so he has to travel to his Dad's hometown in Kentucky to arrange his funeral and meet with that side of the family. Through this process, he finds love and finds out just how precious and beautiful life is. There's lots of reasons why I loved this movie as much as I do.  Growing up in a small town in a state that is Kentucky's neighbor, there were so many elements to this film's setting that reminded me so much of my hometown of Lynchburg. The people, the scenery, it really felt like I was watching a film that was shot in my backyard. I feel it reflected the great closeness of a small town and how when one individual passes away, the entire town is effected as if they were all close family.

There are very few directors who can make these beautiful films depicting the importance of living life to the fullest, and Cameron Crowe is one of them. Another reason why I love Cameron Crowe's movies is because he (along with Wes Anderson) puts a giant role on music and the soundtrack of a film as much as he does an actor or actress starring in it. I still, to this day, find this to be the *best* movie soundtrack of all time. I bought the soundtrack and left it in the CD player of my car for 5 straight months. To me, this is the most perfect soundtrack for a film and it really can not get any better than this.

This is a movie that I have literally watched over 100 times. I watch it when I'm sick, while I'm cooking dinner, while I'm having a glass of wine relaxing after a day of work, while I'm in bed trying to go to sleep, I watch this movie all the time. And I cry every. single. time. I watch it.


Well, those are my top 5 favorites! (for now that is. Lord knows that they will be tomorrow.)

Bed time. Now.

New Blog

In case anybody is interested, I have created a new blog on tumblr which will be all for my experience at Mount Juliet Middle School. I'm gonna try to keep up two blogs and see how that goes. If it gets too insane, I will just blend both subjects into this one. I really like the Tumblr look over Blogger but I feel like I have a much better community here on Blogger.

So here ya go:

http://mjmsart.tumblr.com

#crapmyfiancesays

Thought I would begin with a fun twitter hash tag since I'm a tweet-a-holic.

Let me just begin by saying that I seriously have the best fiance in the world. I know what you're thinking ("you're supposed to say that about the guy you're marrying, Mallorey") but I say it because it is just the God-honest truth. WHY is Matt the best fiance in the world? He's pretty much FREE ENTERTAINMENT.

Seriously, Matt has and always will be *hilarious*. Ever since we were college friends, it's been one of those relationships where we would be with a big group of friends, one thing would happen, we would look at each other and crack up laughing, when everyone else is silent looking at us like "the heck are they laughing at?" because we were the only ones who thought that particular thing was funny.

But anyhow.

We're spending a day in Nashville hanging out while we wait to go see The Amazing Spider-man in IMAX (nerdy much?). We spent a good amount of time together in the car driving all over the city and I kept thinking to myself "I wish I could record half the things you say so everyone will see how crazy you are." Since I didn't have a recorder, I thought I would share some funny Matt Garrett moments with you here. Enjoy.

----

Me: Hey baby, I'm trying to tape up these boxes. Would you mind handing me the scissors and the ta-
Matt: SHUT YOUR MOUTH WOMAN! DID I GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK?! GET BACK IN THAT KITCHEN AND MAKE ME A SANDWHI--- I'm just kidding, baby. Here you go. *smile*


Me: *spending a good 5 minutes complaining about co-workers* I'm just sick to death of being treated like dirt by people who get on my ever-loving nerves.
Matt: Yeah.... I know exactly what you mean. I have some co-workers I can't stand either.... You know what I do though? I DEAL WITH IT!

Me: Turn left up here at the light.
Matt: No, I turn right up here.
Me: No, the GPS is telling you to go left. Hurry...you're gonna miss it!
Matt: *swerves to take the left turn at the last minute* See baby, I told you it was left! But you neeeeever listen to me. *smile*

*out to eat dinner at Cheddars*
Me: Mmmm, this chicken is sooo goo-
Matt: *loudly* SHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......*whispers* Women don't talk.

More to come soon. :)

Wedding Planning & Nashville Anticipation

So it's been quite a wild last few weeks. Matt and I found an apartment in Hermitage that we will be moving into on July 19th called Cherry Creek Apartments. We loved this apartment because it reminded us very much of our college apartments at Martin called University Village Apartments. This place has some wonderful things going for it: gated, 3 swimming pools, a jacuzi, free tanning, tennis courts, volleyball courts, fitness center and most importantly: our own washer and dryer in the apartment. !!!!!!!


I've already got all the lose items in the apartment in Parsons packed up and ready to be thrown into the u-haul once the 19th rolls around. I must say the anticipation of moving is about to kill me. I've been wanting to move to this city ever since my senior year of high school. It's great how everything just falls into place when it's God's timing. :)

As if a new city, new apartment and a new job wasn't enough, I've been doing a lot of planning lately for our marriage! After a lot of discussing and weighing the pros and cons, Matt and I have decided to elope......to Hawaii! That's right. On October 2nd, we're gonna hop on a plane, fly to Honolulu and get married Oct 3rd on Waikiki beach just the two of us. There are some aspects of a wedding I would have loved to experience: walking down the aisle, having bridesmaids and groomsmen helping you prepare for the day, leaving in a fancy car to the honeymoon. But in the end, what it came down to was the simple fact that I just wanted to be married. Knowing me, how I feel super weird being the center of attention, this is by far the best way for us to go. Financially it works out great as well. Matt and I have had quite a difficult last 2 years of our dating life. We were straining ourselves emotionally from being apart, financially from always being broke and hardly ever being able to save up, and mentally as we both worked jobs that made us miserable (more on his part than mine). We DESERVE a vacation. Not just a vacation, but a FANTASTIC vacation. What better way to treat ourselves than on an elaborate honeymoon.

When we return, we will have a throw down reception at my parents country club in Shelbyville. That day will be so exciting and I can not wait to send out save the dates for that! More details you can go to our wedding website:


So most of these days, as we wait for July 19th to come around, all I can do is daydream and think about all the things I'm excited for such as....
hanging out at our new beautiful apartment
 getting up in the morning to work out in their brand new 24-hour fitness room (gotta look good for that honeymoon!)

Move in day is July 19th, guess what follows the day after. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES PREMIERE. I can not think of a BETTER first outing for me and Matt in Nashville. NONE.


And I am counting down the months and days till my feet will be in the sands of Waikiki Beach and finally become a wife to my best friend.