Well that was a long time... in a galaxy far, far away....

Like my nerdy title there? Yeah, don't lie, I know you love it. No but seriously... 2014? Seriously? That was the last time that I published a post on here. Since my last post in 2014, we ended up moving into the new house and it was a disaster! The move was fine, but so many things weren't finished and it was not quite a livable space, I have to admit. We had no fridge, stove, dishwasher, or kitchen sink. Nope. That makes for a very hard living situation when you have five young children. We ate out a lot and used the microwave to cook as well. We used plastic utensils and paper plates. And if I remember correctly, we did not have all the light fixtures hooked on the ceiling which mean, we were in the dark in some spots. But we did it, and looking back I believe we are stronger because of it.

Three years later and we are still working on our remodel. Our house looks pretty much the same on the outside except I have finalized a look for the exterior. It is my hope and goal to have the exterior of our home go from this:

To this:

Quite the improvement, right?! I love it so much! It's just a matter of saving up and making it happen (I hope).

This was what I was thinking of doing to the exterior 3 years ago and I'm so glad I didn't stick to that idea because I love this design waaaaayyy better!

A lot of things have happened in the past 3 years, with most recently completing a year of teaching Spanish at the local middle schools. What an unforgettable and fulfilling thing to do in life! I loved teaching. I was truly happy being a teacher. Unfortunately working full time, going to school full time, being a mother to my five children, being a wife, and serving in the community all took a toll on my health and my doctor told me I needed to cut back. There's a lot more details that played a role in this decision but I do believe I did the right thing, as hard a decision as it was (and still is) for me.

Other than that, well, we now have an almost complete kitchen. It's still missing some work and as soon as we are done with it, I will post pictures. I have done some decorating and I am almost done, however, we still have quite a few things to still do with the remodel. My goal is to get it done within the next two years (fingers crossed). One thing that I have learned through this process is that buying a fixer upper is NOT like a reality TV show. 

As far as other interests go, I have continued to learn and practice my photography and am now offering my services to the public. I will post photos very soon. I am having sooooo much fun with my photography and I have come a looooong way. The photo on top I took recently of our little desert town while coming down the hill from a photo shoot. I LOVE looking at the sunsets in our town, they are beautiful! Here it is again in case you missed it!

Well, I will update on what's going on in my life as I go. I didn't want to write one huge blog post because how do you cover three years of life in one blog post? Yeah, I couldn't do it "ain't nobody got time for dat! LOL). Anyway, come again and come often as I will be posting more about my life, my photography, and my home decor. Speaking of which, I am thinking of becoming a professional Interior Decorator. But that's another blog post! Thanks for reading! Till next time!