Where Have You Been?

it feels weird writing a post after months of not doing it.
it feels a little like going to the gym after taking months or years off and your body is like this is weird but i like it and i need it.

life has been cray to the cray.
i've had 0 time for documenting, journaling, or photographing.

with working full time, buying a house, moving, renovating a house AND starting/rebranding/tweaking/ nurturing my own business all in the last 6 months i've barely survived.
blogging seemed like the first thing to go, then the gym, then cooking, then ya know the list goes on about the things you have to let go of during those storms.

i'm so grateful for my break from blogging.
i realized how nice it is for people not to judge the little glimpse of your life.
i realized how nice it is to not feel like you have to constantly be taking pictures.
then i also realized that if i'm not blogging then i'm not journaling and then i'll forget.
and forgetting is a scary thought.
there has been so many moments these last 6 months where i would think oh man that's hilar i need to remember that. anddddd then i forget.

all this being said i'm back.
don't know for how long.
but i'm back for now and happy about it.

okayyyyyy soooooo i best start from where i left off.

California Work Trip/Fun Trip:

i landed and headed to...cafe rio, duh.
where would you go?
right when i landed my cousin hannah said shayla (other cousin) had her baby!
so that was fun getting some great snaps of the babe.

the kids were hilarious ya know not eating their food, not wanting their food made like that, ya know just being kids.

we woke up and went to the happiest place on earth.
it was even happier cause it was FREE ...
thanks to the best disney employee to walk Main Street USA!!!

then the cousin told me she was prego cause there was no hiding it anymore.
i of course was like ummmmm IG prego announcement at princess beauty castle? i think so lol
we cracked up and no surprise that wasn't the one posted.

asher was so freakin cute, i wanted to burst when we road dumbo together.

cute disney family. can't wait till we take our kids all together...oh yikes that might be a bad idea. 

this was probs the most hilarious ride with HB.
she was so spooked she cried well we both cried. i was laughing so hard the entire time.
such a mean cousin.

yo get out of our pic minnie

 the next day i woke up and shot my gorg friend's wedding in newport!
luckily i talked my other cousin, alta, into coming with me and helping me shoot!
couldn't have done it without her.
it's just so nice having a second shooter to eat cake with be awk with getting those up close and personal shots of the first dance.

after working you crave...sprinkles ice cream?>
we drove down to get ourselves something fattening the whipple way is always the ice cream way.

we met our other cousins down at the beach for a bonfire.
it was priceless and gorgeous day.
ugh i sorta held back the tears knowing it would all be over and i would be going back to houston ...and packing boxes and moving and painting and and and all that crap.

the selfies of the evening.

the next day i drove down to my old homeland of palm desert.
i drove down our old street and it was EXACTLY the same.
i'm so glad i went because i was reminded that our decision to move was okay maybe even good. i got closure. the move to houston was so quick and rushed. i got nervous during the whole process that we were making a mistake because we were finally getting settled in the desert. and then BAM. houston.
i was reminded of the slowness and quietness of palm springs, it's nice, but i remembered how bored i got and how we were always having to leave on weekend to get out.
it's the best place to vacation cause it's ALWAYS sunny.

the next day we drove to beach or hike and balboa island.

california you will always have my heart.

OTI.

i was so mad at cash for pooping all over the floor i yelled out OMG!!!
my niece penny, looked up at me and replied with OTI!!!! APPLE PIE!!!!
i died.
she thought i was just yelling out random letters. so she did the same thing.
it has stayed with me & since i always say OTI APPLE PIE when i'm so fed up!

this last month i'm totes FED UP.
and i just want my current status to be OTI.
we've been house hunting.

we told ourselves if we make it a year here then we will buy a house with out lease is up.
we told ourselves once we live here a year and get to know the area we will know where we will want to buy.
we told ourselves it will be worth it buy because the market is going up in houston. people are making a lot of money on their real-estate so why wouldn't we want in on that action?!

my response...
OTI APPLE PIE!

we have put in two offers.
one house had all sorts of problems, we got outta that losing $500 on the inspection we paid for to find out that there was all sorts of problems.
then the other house was a bidding war. we went 12k above asking price!!! and still lost.
then we found a house we wanted and was about to put in an offer and then BAM just like that it was under contract in less then 24 hrs from us saying lets look at this.

all the wards we have been to that the houses are in are a complete strug.
all the houses are in neighborhoods that you wonder about your safety.
all the houses are in good location so higher in price then we want.

BUGGIN
house hunting bugs so bad.

then when you think all is done and closing is near. BAM they say you're not approved for the loan.
an then your crying like someone died.
then you call your lender and say ummmmm have you added everything in including bonuses?
then they say no.
then your like ummmmm okay well maybe you should do that before that before saying we didn't get the house 6 days before we were scheduled to close and 3 weeks before our lease ends and have to be out of our townhouse.

can't even handle how much of a roller coaster house hunting is.
IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SEE ON HGTV.

we put an offer on this house. after the inspection of 50 pages we ran. ugh i hated losing $500 we had to spend on inspection and application fees. that sucked big time. 

this one wasn't for sale. but i wanted it. 

this one was so yikes. next to yikers apartments that was prob a meth lab.
we didn't go inside. we just drove right by. 

one thing we told our realtor was that we wanted a pool. a must / a need.
we got so bugged swimming at the gym pool with 300 billion kids running and splashing and crying.
sometimes you just want to chill at the pool.
sometimes you want to get in the pool with the lifeguard saying you have to move to make room for swim lessons.
sometimes you want to open your door and hop into a cool pool of water on a humid day.

however to get a house with a pool in the city is basically unheard of unless you're a millionaire.
BUT good news (or it could turn into really bad news)
we were cleared to close on January 12th at 2pm.
so we shall see. we may just be home owners after all.

Fun Run.

the first day of november we did a color run. 

it was a night run at the sam houston race track. 

it was a lot of fun, except for the fact that it was the night as the duck game...all phones had to be turned off until we returned home to our couch and dvr to watch the game. 

omg duck fan husbands.