Slater Builders Inc

When I graduated Vanguard University in 2005, I didn't know what I wanted career-wise. I was working part time for a company called Slater Builders since the middle of 2003. Their a construction company that does smaller end commercial projects. I was assisting the CFO in the accounting department doing odd end jobs. I was offered a full time position when I graduated and since I didn't know what direction I wanted to go in, I took the job. Well, 6 1/2 years later I was still there. It was a great first time job but difficult at the same time. Being stuck in a small cubicle for 8-9 hours a day with little interaction with other people can get very old, and quickly. I am so used to being busy and being outside and working with people, that it was very difficult to do my job, especially something I wasn't passionate about. The people I worked with were great, very supportive and lots of fun. I was blessed to have that kind of support in the work place, the job itself, however, just wasn't something I wanted a career in.

Now that Levi and I have moved, I've obviously quit my job. It was a bitter sweet goodbye. Change is hard (for me anyways!) and this was my first 'real' job, and my life has been planned around if for so many years. But it is time for me to move on and experience new things. There are so many other things that I am passionate about that I am excited that I have the opportunity to explore those passions. I feel like the sky is the limit now and I can really start getting into the things I love. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me!

We want a dog! Or two...

Ok, so Levi and I both grew up with dogs in the family, ever since we were little. The first dog I remember my family having was an Old English Sheep dog named Kiley. Now my parents have a Boxer, Darby, who has been in the family for over 10 years now. She was originally my brother's dog until he went off to college and then she became the family dog. A few years or so ago my brother got a Boston Terrier named Gracie. Gracie and Darby are the dogs of the DeLoach house. Levi grew up with an Australian Shepherd mix named Keanu. Now the Luster's have a Lab named Mika and a Shih-tzu named Ty.

I don't have pictures of Mika or Ty, but here are some of the DeLoach family dogs:

Gracie

Darby

Clearly, dogs have been apart of our lives for a long time. We knew we would want a dog when we got married, but we are unfortunately unable to have one in our condo because our landlord put in new carpet. (Booo!) So, we are enjoying life without a dog until we live somewhere we can finally have one. The thing is.....we can't decide on a dog! We both want dogs that we grew up with. Levi wants a Shih-tzu and a lab and I want a boston and a boxer...oh no!

Well, recently, we have really had dog fever. Maybe its because we are moving so our chances of having a dog are quickly approaching?? The last couple of weeks we have looked at a bunch of dogs in the local pet stores and we finally found one that we both love! Wahoo!

Who could resist this face?!!

We LOVE a Cavalier King Charles! They are so cute! We reallly wanted this one, but couldn't buy it for many reasons. We were already picking names for her and everything :( But at least we know we like the same dog! We are thinking of getting 1 small dog and 1 big dog and getting them at the same time so they are never alone. We don't want to buy from a pet store, so we will have to find a breeder. Another dog we agree on is a chocolate lab, so that is in the running for our 'big' dog. But we just never know what we will like next or what will come our way....stay tuned!

Christmas Cards & Pictures

Levi and I had a friend take some pictures of us for our Christmas cards this year. It started out with a simple idea and Heidi (our photographer friend) turned it into an amazing little session :) We told her we were thinking of doing something along the lines of moving (since we are moving to Arizona in Jan) and Heidi took the idea and ran with it....literally. She got up at 6 AM on Saturday morning and went garage sale shopping to find some old luggage and look what she found! She even found an awesome trunk. The pictures turned out great! The colorings were really cool and fall looking. We were so happy with how they turned out. Thanks Heidi!

Fall around the Luster House

Levi got me flowers one day...they were beautiful fall colors

Some of our fall decorations

Our pumpkins! They didn't last long before they got moldy. Luckily we were able to use them on Halloween for the trick or treaters :)

Our 1st Anniversary

Levi and I headed up to Santa Barbara for our 1 year anniversary. We had a really great time, and loved everything we did. We stayed at Oceana Hotel which was right across from the beach. It was a small hotel with a lot of personality; the rooms were fun and bright. On our actually anniversary we went out to dinner at an italian restaurant called Ca Dario. After dinner we went through our "Make The Wish" cards from our wedding as well as eating our wedding cupcakes from Sprinkles. They were just as good as they were on our wedding day :)

After we celebrated our anniversary, we were able to really enjoy Santa Barbara. We walked downtown, went into some of our favorite stores and ate at some really great places including The Habit. Their burgers are one of our fav's! When we were in Urban Outfitters, we actually ran in a few famous people - Katy Perry and Russell Brand. We aren't really fans of either but I get slightly 'stockerish' when I see famous or semi-famous people. I never think I will but when I'm in the moment, I surprise myself. Levi was able to see this for the first time and couldn't help but laugh. He was able to take a picture of them walking out while I 'casually' acted like nothing was going on.

One of our favorite things we did was go horseback riding. We went to a place called Circle Bar B Ranch. We absolutely loved it. We plan on going back one day for a longer visit and being guests of the ranch for the full experience. The ranch is tucked away in the mountains and has some incredible views of the ocean along the property. It was very peaceful and relaxing. Our horses Wiley and Herman were great to us and we plan to take another ride with them in the near future.

1 year under our belts, and many more to come!