Looking Forward to the Big Day!!

Welcome back to my little corner on the big wide web! I'm so sorry I have been gone a while, and I know I said I would update you on my travels, but sometimes it just seams so much easier to Instagram it all :). If you haven't checked out my Instagram account, you can click here to get caught up on some of the things I have been posting throughout my move from Del Rio, Texas to Vacaville California. The whole process has been a major whirlwind, as Stephen's graduation from Air Force Pilot Training happened the same week as the move. We had about 10 or so friends and family out staying with us, as well as movers in and out boxing everything up. Meanwhile I was scurrying around like a squirrel gathering acorns for the long winter, trying to gather everything up that we would need for a month before our new house closed in Vacaville. We kept most of our kitchen supplies, stuff for our cats, clothes for a month, and way too many other things, because when it came time to move everything out before graduation into our two cars, it was like trying to stuff an elephant into a wine barrel...it didn't work out too well.

Thank goodness for all the family we had  to help us, it ended up working out ok, and somehow all of our stuff made it from our little house in Del Rio, to New Mexico, then to Arizona, then a temporary living facility at Travis Air Force Base, then Stephen's Dad's place in Bakersfield, and my sister Holly's place in San Luis Obisbo, back to bakersfield to pick up the cats, and finally into our new home a month later in Vacaville. Whew! The poor cats didn't know which end was up by the time they got transported to six different locations throughout the month.

When we finally closed on the house, it was a glorious feeling. Here's a short story on the house. My mother-in-law and I went out to California about a month before moving to look for places for Stephen and I to live. We of course wanted to be in a house of our own rather than renting, but thought it would definitely be a long shot before we would be able to find the right one. We looked at houses without Stephen for two days, 10 houses one day, and 10 houses the next. We were exhausted by the second day!! The first day was rather depressing....I mean it was just house after house of fixer-uppers (as housing prices in California right now are just insane compared to Texas), and neither Stephen or I are really into DIY projects. The second day, a house came on the market THAT morning. It looked rather small in the pictures, but clean, so we thought we would give it a chance. The minute we pulled up to the curb, I got a good feeling. Inside was warm feeling, bright, lots of windows, beautiful genuine hard floors, it was very clean and you could tell the owners took a lot of pride in it. Finally!! We looked at 9 other houses that day, and nothing compared. At the end of the day, I was texting pictures to my husband, not even saying yet we should put an offer in, because we only looked TWO days! However, my mother-in-law Maggie confirmed what I was thinking...."Maybe you should put an offer in on that first one?!" We jumped on the opportunity, as the weekend was coming up, it showed really well, and would probably go fast. We wrote a personalized letter and included a family picture of the two of us with our cat Jenga, and BAM! They accepted our offer two days later even after receiving several offers OVER asking price, as well as a FULL CASH offer!!!!!!! God is soooooo good. They said the Air Force had been good to them, and they had been praying as well for the right owners, and felt connected to our letter :). We are fully aware that not all house buying experiences go like that, so we are feeling beyond blessed. We love our new house, and our little town with coffee shops, weekly live music, and a weekly farmer's market. I wouldn't have ever seen myself in Vacaville, but the little town has won me over!

Now, for the pictures!! I never really had a chance before the chaos to post these adorable engagement pictures of Lauren and Tyler I took back at the end of June, so I apologize!! But they are definitely worth sharing. Lauren is a dear friend of mine from a Christian Sorority I was in during College at San Diego State University. I am so excited, I have the pleasure of photographing their wedding coming up at the end of this month!! Woot Woot! Congratulations to the two of you, I'm looking forward to the big day!!