Christmas Photos

i was debating for awhile if i wanted to get photos taken of kenneth and i for christmas but i'm so so so happy that i did.  i feel like most people that do family photos have a family bigger than 2 people haha. so i felt weird that it was just kenneth and i but i'm so happy we got them taken! it's fun to have more photos besides your wedding photos. and t's a great excuse to get some pictures taken every year and then when we're 80 we can look back and see how our lives have changed and grown. being new to the area i didn't know any photographers and so i creeped on instagram and found jenna alexander. she posted an instagram saying that she was doing these mini sessions. we got in contact and within hours we were down on the beach with her taking last minute photos because she had one opening. jenna was seriously the best! she is so sweet and made us feel so comfortable and is just so down to earth. i feel like i've gotten really lucky with getting professional photos taken. all our photographers have been the best ever and i'm so grateful. i'll always treasure these photos of our first few months here in saint augustine. 

Life with Harley

oh how times have changed since i last blogged. i really wish i wrote more in 2015 because i feel like i left out so many important details and realistically i don't see myself going back and documenting them all ha. i'll try and do a recap because this is the only journaling i really do.. yikes. hoping to document more this year but don't hold your breath.

2015 was not our year. kenneth and i joke that by default 2016 will be amazing just because last year felt so bad. and if it's a win by default, i don't care, we'll take it! so far 2016 has proven to be quite lovely because of the newest addition to our family... harley!! on january 2nd we adopted this cute little pup!! if you know me... you know what a big deal this was (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) seriously freaking out. we've had harley for a month now and i can't even remember what life was like before we had him.

i am so obsessed.

kenneth and i had been talking about getting a dog foreverrrr. but we know what a big responsibility it is and we wanted to make sure it was the right time. after the holidays we finally felt ready and started looking. well... basically kenneth looked and that day he found an adoption event that was going on that weekend and so a few days later we went. on the website we saw a picture of harley and fell in love. we decided we would go down to the event and if it worked out then it worked out but i didn't want to get my hopes up.

i really wanted to rescue a dog because there are so many dogs out there that don't ever get any love and get put down and it breaks my heart. but at the same time, i selfishly wanted a puppy because i've never had a puppy before and i really wanted to see it grow up. so when we saw harley, it seemed too perfect. we drove down to orlando for the adoption event and when we got there, there was a line of people already waiting and we were 30 minutes early. my heart sank when we drove up. harley and his entire liter were rescued from a kill shelter and as we got in line i prayed that the people before us would pick his siblings. at 9am we signed our names on a list and then waited around until 2pm when the adoption event actually happened. once the dogs arrived they just went down the list and asked what dog each person wanted to see and you could go spend some time with the dog to make sure it was a good match and decide if you wanted to adopt him or her. we were 9th on the list and to this day i just think it's part miracle (& part me sweet talking to the 8 other people before us and basically begging them not to take harley) because when they called out our name, all of harley's siblings were taken and he was the last one and we got him! when we took him over to spend time and make sure we all liked each other my heart just knew. he loved to be held and just snuggled up to me and gave me a few kisses and life immediately got a thousand times better.

i could write about sweet harley for ever because i love him so much. i am the crazy dog lady and that's totally okay with me. the rescue place told us that he is half australian shepherd, half golden retriever. who knows how accurate that is but i just think he's the most handsome dog in the world. and he is so smart! when we got him he was 3 months old and he's already gotten so much bigger at 4 months and i just want time to slow down! it's so fun getting to see all his firsts like when he first saw himself in the mirror haha. he kept scratching his paw at the mirror and barking at himself haha he was so confused. or when he first went to the beach. or when he had his first puppy dream and he barked in his sleep haha. i just think he's the best.

life with harley is so so so good. kenneth has been so busy with starting grad school so it's extra nice to have harley around. my favorite part of each day is when we all go walk on the beach and watch the sunset. the last few days in florida it got up to 80 and it was so nice! but it was just a fluke and it's getting cold again. but it makes me excited for summer. i'm hoping i can convince harley to like the ocean. right now he's not too sure about it haha.

my heart is feeling extra happy and full these days. hope yours is too.

Northern California

our last days on the west coast were spent lounging around my in-laws house and spending some fun times with the family. my niece's azzi & quincy are such cuties and we had fun just hanging out with them.

love that azzi loves the camera. i'm grateful for technology and to be able to share these photos with her when she gets older. i love being an aunt so much. 

^^ (quincy, kenneth, me, my sister-in-law renee, azzi)

kenneth and i spent a month living out of our suitcase. it was so fun and i would do it again. but it was definitely nice to get back to georgia and sleep in our own bed.

now i am giving myself a high five for blogging about our west coast road trip! i know it's sort of all over the place, but i'm feeling accomplished. if you're reading this, high five to you for getting through it too haha. this is mostly just for me and family because i'm the worst at uploading photos on facebook or emailing them so this is my place to document it all.

xx

The Bay + SF

kenneth & i spent the night at steven's home in the bay area. we spent time catching up and then crashed. the next morning we had breakfast with his family and then headed out to do some exploring with steven and his mom. 

we made a stop of the oakland temple, which was closed for remodeling but it was still beautiful to see.

then we headed to san francisco. since i've done the whole san fran tour before it was fun to be more relaxed as we visited the city. we took a trolley car around which i didn't get to do last time so that fun. 

we ate an early dinner at this 1950s style diner and shopped around. it was so cold. i could not believe it was july and freezing. it was just fun to hang out with steven and his mom. they were the best tour guides and it's always so nice to have locals show you around so you don't have to worry about the stress of driving and knowing where to get to everything. 

we grabbed dessert at the ghiradelli chocolate factory, yummm.

and finished it off with a stroll around chinatown and a drive along the golden gate bridge through some pretty thick fog. 

san francisco has become one of my favorite cities and i love visiting. i'm excited because my brother-in-law and sister-in-law are moving here this summer so it'll be fun to visit more.

xx