Our First Home

Levi and I lived in Irvine, California for just over a year. We loved the location, our street, our house, the bike paths, being surrounded by parks and greenery...I truly loved where we lived. We did have the 'weird' neighbor but who doesn't?!

This morning, I looked through all the pictures I took of our house. It brought back all the memories (and all the tears!) and it feels like if we were to go there right now, everything in our house would be right where we left it. I want to walk in and go upstairs to our bed and look out the window and see Irvine and feel like we are 'home.'

As I'm writing this, Carrie Underwood's 'Temporary Home' song came on. Perfect timing, huh? As sad as I am to have left our lives that we loved so much in California I have to remind myself of the words in her song:

This is my temporary home

It's not where I belong

Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through

This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going

I'm not afraid because I know this is my

Temporary Home

I know God is taking care of us on this new adventure in our lives. Our first home will always hold so many 'firsts' memories and I am blessed for the time He gave us there. Here are some pictures of 11 Eastmont, our first home.

Living Room

Kitchen

Kitchen

Our Bedroom

Our Guest Room

Our new addition..Mason!

After several trips to pet stores and looking online at puppies, we finally have one of our own! This last Tuesday we picked up our new puppy Mason. He is a Cavalier King Charles. He's 16 months old and he is just the sweetest thing! He was a little shy and nervous when we picked him up. He would freeze in your hands because he was so afraid to move.

We took him to the pet store on the way home to pick up a few things. When we got back to Levi's parents, we introduced him to Mika and Ty. He was soo scared at first. But he is already so comfortable around them. He is used to having other dogs around, so its a great transition for him.

"Dad, that's too big for me!"

"Help!"

With a puppy comes the wonderful puppy training! He luckily was used to sleeping in a crate, so we have been very lucky with that. He only cried a little the first night and now he goes right in and sleeps until we get him out in the morning. He is a little picky with eating still, so we are working on that. At first he would only eat out of our hands, but he has to learn that's not happening anymore!

He is a great cuddle buddy. He loves to curl up next to Levi and I when we are watching TV or on the computer. He has a sweet and cheerful presence about him, we are excited to have him in our lives now. We can't wait for everyone to come and meet him!

"What? So I'm a little spoiled!"

The Big Move

As most of you know Levi and I moved to Arizona earlier this month. It was such a tough decision for us. And its hard to believe that we are already here. I can't talk too much about this because it was one of the toughest things I have ever done, and it makes me cry thinking about it! I never imagined I would live somewhere other then California for my whole life. Moving to Arizona was just another example that God really is in control of our lives. We are trying to focus on the exciting things ahead and trusting in the Lord with the direction of our lives.

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 :)