everything going wrong. everything.

so yeah, i've been in hiding.

and for good reason.

wednesday, this happened:

the movers came wednesday and packed up our lives. they were supposed to leave with it yesterday to head to florida. but to no surprise, they didn't. instead, we get a phone call telling us that someone along the lines 'messed up' and now it won't be there until tuesday or later. which is cool, i guess. but in the end, this was just the foundation that was laid for the "welcome to PCS mess ups" cake we're about to sit and eat later on tonight.
the movers were horrible. and when i say horrible, i mean it. i tried so hard to be nice to them. we bought the, 24 packs of water and kept them nice and cold in the frisge for them. no thanks were given. i bought $50 in pizzas for their lunch -- no thanks were given. oh, and the best part? the tape rolls they used to tape our boxes, water bottles, and candy wrappers from stuff they ate throughout the day? yeah, they left that on our floors for me to clean up after they left. i mean, seriously? le sigh.
then comes an even better part. we hired on an auto transport company on october 1st to have my husband's car transported from here in norfolk to mayport naval housing. they had a driver all lined up and ready to go for today. yesterday, we found out that they never even had a driver for us. they lied and scammed us. not only that, but they tried to keep the money that we'd paid them for this service. not happening, honey. BBB got a phone call and reviews got wrote up by me, myself and i. luckily, the bank was able to get us our money back. so i guess that's ONE good thing that's happened? unfortunately, now we are starting at the begining again. we're on a list to hopefully get the car transported on time before we leave -- but for now, we are just hoping and praying.
on top of all of this, my husband has some pretty harsh things to deal with family wise. several months ago, we found out that his father has cancer. he went through chemo, etc. and was told everything was shrinking, and that it was looking good. a couple weeks go by, and all of a sudden it's worse than what they'd originally thought. a lot of back and forth trying to figure things out, and it's killing him and i that we're unable to be there personally. and of course, tests and simulations my husband has to pass before we leave to florida -- everything is just making everything so much harder on us right now than it should be. or at least that we thought that it would be. but above all, we just want to be there with his father.
and of course, some other things have popped up. the movers left behind some things of ours, and now we have no idea how to get it to our new home. we don't have the room in my car for it so it looks like we're going to be throwing out things or giving them to people who may need it because they don't know how to do their job.
all in all, i am not looking forward to what else lies ahead of us.
but, in the meantime, we are excited to say that we're adopting another pug once we hit florida soil. her name is mocha, and we're getting her from a woman whose husband is also on the same ship as my husband. we're pretty stoked about it. so, to make matters a little better for myself and possibly the 2.5 readers i may or may not have of this blog -- enjoy a picture of jiggy wearing what he plans to answer the door in for halloween this year in our new home:

why can't i be optimistic?

why can't i be one of those women who are overly excited about moving to a new state, town, area....a new place in general? i've been making new friends through facebook in the jacksonville area who are currently going through the same thing i am right now. moving from one state to another [florida] and they're all so happy. but i'm not. rather, i'm terrified. i honestly think that norfolk has left that bad of a taste in my mouth.

exhibit A:  what my facebook news feed looks like, and what it may look like to others:

FACEBOOK FRIEND #1:  SOOOOOO excited, the movers are here and then we're off to florida shortly for this new adventure!

FACEBOOK FRIEND #2:  WHOOOOOOOOOOP! getting ready to load the car up and head to florida.

ME:  the movers come in two weeks, i think i am going to lose my lunch and breakfast.

i promise, i try to be as optimistic as i possibly can with the fact that i'm moving away from everyone and everything i've ever known my entire life. some people comment and say how i have nothing to worry about, but it's easier for them to say that than it is me, SOMETIMES. i'll be going from being able to take a day trip to see family to it taking me two days just to get to my family now. it just sucks.

so in the meantime, i needed a place to come share my feelings on it. i'm terrified of moving.

weekend in review.

this weekend has been full of work. friday night, i photographed another photographer in this area and we had a blast. then last night [yesterday] i photographed a small and intimate wedding at the beach here in the area. today has been filled with editing and getting things together to send out to clients this up-coming week. i'll show you a few of the photographs from friday night's session with the other photographer in the area. i love her, so much fun:




the wedding i photographed yesterday was pretty awesome. the thing i loved the most about it, though, was the fact that every little thing [ other than the wedding dress ] was handmade. it was a complete DIY wedding, and i loved every little detail, like the following:

so yeah, that was fun...

the husband and i got something in the mail from BJ's saying they'd offer us a free 60 day membership. of course, being the semi-frugal shopper that i am, i wanted to go and try it out. we walked in and looked around for about 12 seconds and immediately purchased the memberhip. it was glorious and heavenly. some of the women i've met through facebook groups located in florida said that there's a BJ's right outside of base - so i now know where we'll be doing most of our shopping.

and for the rest of this sunday, i plan to be lazy.

i think it's well deserved.

oh, and i now look like this after this weekend of work.

go on and judge me.

are you going to cry when you move?

for whatever odd reason, ive gotten this question a LOT lately from friends and one or two family members. right now, i'm not sure i will cry. i know i'll have a full blown panic attack on the way TO florida. but other than that, i think i'll be saying goodbye to norfolk with a huge sigh of relief and smile on my face. i'll miss my family and a few choice people in the area - but will i cry? no, just tears of happiness of getting away from this area all together.

but i guess you could say that right now, me and the husband are trying our hardest to focus on the good things that're going to stem from this trip. and yes, i made a list. just for my 1.5 readers.

1. my husband will be on a ship, finally. he's been shore duty the past three [and only] years he's been in the navy so far. this is what he signed up to do. he'll get to travel the world while i'm stuck at home running a business, a household and two adorable pugs.

2. we're adopting a second pug when we get to florida. her name is mocha, and we're completely stoked that jiggy will have a girlfriend now. [no worries, he's fixed.] no bow-chicka-wow-wow time for these two. just cuddles.

3. since the husband and i don't have kids and don't plan on having any kids [my dream is to have a pug farm one day, go on and judge me] we were only able to be placed in a two bedroom, one bathroom house. and these houses are not renovated, so....yeah, ew. but the gods were on our side and we got a phone call last thursday telling us that the two bedroom was no longer available, but they had a three bedroom, two bathroom, renovated unit that is now ours. HALLELUJIAH!

4. we have a garage. an actual garage. can i get another amen?

5. we're getting away from the thousands of women in this area who have nothing better to do than to cause drama and/or arguments. [DISCLAIMER:  not all are bad, i promise. there have just been a choice few i wouldn't tinkle on if i had to go the bathroom and they were on fire.] some of the women, i'm going to miss.

6. hello, fresh start. need i say more?

7. i'm a photographer. and i was worried it would take me months to get my name out and have some business come in. i've already had 12 interests for bookings. HOLLAH!

the biggest of all these is to have a fresh start. i knwo we're facing deployments and underways where my husband will be gone for some time. but at the end of the day, i knew that's what i signed my name on the dotted line to when we got married a year ago.

plus, those who know me best know i decorate the hell out of anything. so having a new canvas in a huge place is going to be pretty badass.

in other news, jiggy is getting more and more brave when it comes to the beach and the water. we took him yesterday late afternoon and had some fun. of course, i took pictures.

it's not the end, it's the begining.

let’s just get it out of the way and into the open that yes, my husband is in the military.
no, i don’t let that define who i am as a person. nor do we let it define our marriage.
for those who do, please have a seat and i’ll get to you momentarily.

so about a year ago, i started this blog. i kept up with it and ended up having a good amount of followers and readers. but then i just got fed up. nothing ever seemed to just….stick. it probably stems from the fact that i’m one of the most indecisive people you’ll ever met. EVER. but i made a solemn vow to myself, my husband and certain important people in my life that this time around, it will stick.

so my husband and i conquered the first year of marriage. how about that? it’s insanely awesome to think back and look at where you were compared to where you are and where you’re going. in the first year of marriage, we faced so many things. living in crap-tastic apartments, buying a pug and having to dull out money we didn’t have to save his life in surgeries, finding out we have to PCS [move to another state, military style] next month, finding out my father-in-law has cancer [and beat it!], saying goodbye to friendships that were highly unhealthy… to just, changing as people all together. so instead of looking back on all of it, i want to really look back and see physical evidence of these changes. hence the blog. i guess it’s a good idea for family to pop in from time to time to see what we’re up to. but i guess we have skype and facetime for that, too.

okay, did you read that right?
we’re moving to florida!
wanna see a sneak peek of our new house?
you know you do.

ladies and gentlemen, our new kitchen.
where i’ll be told to go in order to make sammiches, i’m sure.
i’ve even started to craft some things for the new house.
and i know you’re dying to see those, too.

i know there’s still a month to go before we head out to florida begin our next chapter in our lives. but honestly, my excitement has a lot to do with the fact that i’m elated to get out of norfolk. since i moved here, it’s given off bad vibes. maybe it’s the fact that its the world’s largest naval station, therefore there are so many different walks of life here. i’ll honestly never know. but in the time that i’ve been here, i’ve started up friendships and have walked away from the majority of them. i’ve started a business and have been pretty successful with it. and i met my soulmate. but at the end of the day, although i’ll be too far from my family… i can’t get far enough away from norfolk and it’s drama. hands down, i hate it here.

the women i’ve met on facebook that are in mayport have been so kind. they’re helpful and the best thing? there’s not millions and millions of them, like it seems out here. i’m pretty stoked to be meeting new people. but sad to leave the few out here that i actually wish to keep contact with. all the others? adios!

so now, you know a little about us.
and how excited we are.
and how my crafting new decor is a bit out of hand.
in the end, you’ll learn to love it.