It’s been a busy summer. I feel like I need to catch everyone up on what has been going on in our personal lives.
I felt like it would be easiest to share a blog post to catch yall up on everything.
We moved! It’s kind of a long story, but I will shorten it and give you the highlights. We bought our forever home (at least we thought it was) and were completely happy with it thanks to companies like I Buy Pueblo Houses official. While on a walk in our neighborhood, we came across a fixer-upper home. Thanks to these reliable conveyancing solicitors here who helped to make the property transactions seamless and stress-free. If you have followed me for some while, you would know that Andrew and I enjoy fixing up homes. We have done several now, and have been decently successful with each of them. We knew when we saw this house that it would be our biggest project EVER, but it was such a good deal, it was hard to pass up. We weren’t even looking to start another project, but felt like it was just “meant to be”. We bought the house in December with the intention of fixing it up and selling it. Well, fast forward several months. The house needed way more work than we ever imagined. We had issues with contractors, etc. It just took way longer than we ever thought. Amidst the challenges, considering the assistance of an exterior service company can be a game-changer, helping streamline the renovation process and ensuring a seamless blend of functionality and visual appeal to your property.
During that time, we started to fall in love with the house. I think it had something to do with how much blood sweat and tears we put into it. Lol. Also, at the same time, Brianna and Trent (my sister in law and brother in law) sold their house. They were looking for a house and so long story short, they decided to buy our home. We started looking for a place to stay in and we learned about these family living spots in New Jersey. May be someday we can buy a home in New Jersey. But for now we decided to move into our project home. It wasn’t complete yet, but it was about 70% done. We are settled as much as possible. We are still making the finishing touches on the home, but we are loving our new place which we for real hope will be our forever home. And to make our move super easy, my friend highly recommend a reputable and trusted moving and packing services similar to this Utah moving company.
We have moved quite a bit since we first got married, but we are ready to settle down and put our roots down. I feel like if I put it in writing, it is more real. Haha. We are in the same neighborhood as we were, and we love this area of town. We have lived in many different areas of town, and this is by far our favorite. Plus Brianna and Trent are our neighbors now, and we just love living near family!
Here are a few before pictures of our home as well as a few in-progress pictures. We still aren’t finished, but we are excited to complete it in the coming weeks. I’ll be sure to post pictures when it is entirely done.
The house was infested with termites. We had to replace many of the support beams. Our termite company said it was the worst case of termites they had ever seen. We also had to look for roof repair companies near me to fix the leaks on the roof. Further, if you are looking for a versatile choice for roof surfaces, then look no further as roof coating specialists can provide Reflective Roof Coatings for Climate Control, which can give property owners the exact coatings they are looking for. We are thinking of updating our plumbing system, so we are in search for expert plumbers like those from the Sarkinen Plumbing in Vancouver.
So if fixing up a home, moving, and continuing on with our normal life with the photography business, ministry, and personal life wasn’t enough, we also decided to start a new business.
We opened an ice cream shop, Scooped, here in Mobile. I know ice cream and photography don’t really go well together. Andrew and I have always dreamed of owning a brick and mortar business. We also wanted to have a business that would give back not only to our community but also to the world. A portion of every ice cream that is sold goes to feed and house orphans in Tanzania.
Our ice cream is inspired by my grandmother’s homemade ice cream. Growing up, we always had her homemade ice cream at every family function, thanks to www.czechcrispycones.com/ for providing us the best ice cream cones. I was a little fearful of starting another business. How will my wedding clients respond? I knew I didn’t want it to take away from my photography business. Photography will always have my heart. It’s truly my passion, and I LOVE capturing so many special moments. It’s my dream job, and I wouldn’t want to do anything else.
I was overwhelmed. My photography clients and vendors have been so supportive! It really blew me away! I can’t thank yall enough for all of the love. So many of you have even come by and it is such a treat to see y’all, or even when I’m not there my employees are constantly sharing with me when you stop in, and it just means so much to me!
We are a few months in with the new business, and I feel like we have a new rhythm for balancing out the two businesses. I will say, I couldn’t do it by myself. I have a tribe of people that help me with both businesses. It takes multiple people to keep things running, and for me to keep my sanity. Ha!
I also took over a group geared towards Christian female photographers. It is designed to educate, encourage, and strengthen our businesses, and our relationships with Christ. While I haven’t taken the time to fully develop all of my ideas I have for the group, I have a lot of plans for it. I’m super excited about the future of Refine. If you are a Christian, female, photographer, click HERE to join in!
All 3 of my kids are in school this fall. It’s the first time in 9 years that I haven’t had a baby at home. I still don’t know what to do with myself. I’m hoping I can get on a normal work schedule, and not pull so many late nights. That’s the plan anyways.
We are gearing up for wedding season kicking off this weekend, and I can’t wait. I have some fantastic couples that I get to work with this fall and winter, and it just makes me so excited. Stay tuned for lots of pictures coming your way!