Are we crazy?.... New fun stuff = awesome

Rene and I have both come to love photography and we both have very different styles. So when we go out for a shoot or vacation we constantly ask each other for the camera (back and forth, back and forth, it actually gets quite comical).

So, after fighting over our Canon 20D for over a year Rene and I finally broke down and decided to buy another camera. Now if you know Rene, this involves A LOT of research. He was constantly online searching and consulting our amazing photographer friend (Shelley) what would be best for our next step.

Of course at first Rene wanted the newest camera out on the market (Canon 7D) but decided a used Canon 5D would be best! We found a good deal on Craigslist and now after breaking the bank just a little, we are now the proud owner of 2 Canons. This is beginning to be where all of our money is going these days so I am thinking we are going a little crazy ... but it is FUN!

AND WE LOVE THE 5D! It takes great pics and now we both have a camera to use when we are out.

But now the question is....... WHO gets to use the 5D???? :-)

Show me the CASH!

Okay, so I know I am WAY behind... but I got to catch up sometime!

Since FB won't let me post my pictures I will do it here (better anyways, though I think only 2 of you actually visit my blog. And for that I love you!)

Rene and I spent Labor Day weekend visiting Shelley & Ben (yes, THE famous Shelley that I always talk about). She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy CASH ROBERT just 10 days before our visit. It was a great chill weekend spent helping them out, relaxing and beach time! By the end of the weekend we even got Rene to hold Cash (a major feat as he never ever holds babies!)

THANKS SHELL AND BEN, you did well.... Cash is a cuttie!

Car Salesman are the devil

Ok, I understand that is a bold statement.  But I am royal tired of dealing with these guys.

And I do say GUYS...I mean have you ever come across a woman standing out there like a vulture?  NO, 99.9% of the time it is a dude waiting for anyone to approach and they can snatch them up like a snake.  I am sick of these dudes trying to rape us of our money and confuse the hell out of us.  

We are in the process of buying a car and have had to shop around for the best deal for the best car.  So in the past 4 days we have visited 5 dealerships and I wish I could say I would never go in another one again BUT I still haven't gotten a car!  

This past weekend we were THIS close to signing the dotted line but all of a sudden I got a bad feeling about the deal (and thanks to dad) so we pulled out and left.  AND THANK GOD WE DID!  The salesman was screwing us and taking us for a ride!  Not only did he not give me my fleet discount but couldn't even add correctly!  Another dealer offered us a "great" deal on a used car to later find out that GREAT price was $2,000 more than the internet price!  Though being sort of a saleswoman myself I do have to give them props - they are good at what they do - BUT do they really have to F***k us from here to New Zealand??? (obviously I am a little ticked off, those who know me know I don't talk like this)

These guys take you on a drive share stories with you... one guy even had a dog with the same name as ours, Whiskey, which was a little weird.  You start thinking they are pretty cool and you like them as a person so you wouldn't mind buying a car from this "nice" guy... but then WHAM they take you for everything you got.  SO DISHONEST!!!

So we did our research and have learned a lot over the last few days.  Biggest advice is DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!  We have stumbled upon some awesome and VERY helpful websites on how to beat them at their own game and how to not get saddled with a crummy deal.  Please read them as every person looking to buy a car or ever planning on buying a car needs to read:

http://consumerist.com/248445/dealerships-rip-you-off-with-the-four+square-heres-how-to-beat-it

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/page003.html

Plus once you start looking there is lots there to learn!  So we will head out next weekend with a new outlook and I have a good feeling we will come out with a defeat! WISH US LUCK!

New 4-Eyes

Like my new glasses???

Finally after missing my favorite glasses of all time for 4 months, I broke down and bought a new pair. It was beginning to suck not being able to see at night after I took my contacts out.  They are black and green. 

Oh Seattle, where art thou?

Recently I had a quick layover in my favorite city of all time, SEATTLE. Though just being in the vicinity of this marvelous city and not able to reach it made me sad (I only had an hour therefore could not leave the airport)

Just the precious moments I was there to smell the salty air and see the sun trying to break through the cloudy sky reminded me that I do love it there.

Have I ever lived in Seattle, you ask? No.

I have been in love with this city since I was 10 years old, when I met my best friend Alyssa. Her family had just moved to the Bay Area from Seattle and Alyssa was the new girl in my class... we were instant best friends! I don't why or how my love affair with this city started, but it could

have been that her family was so wonderfully nice, it

was a distant place I have never been, was by the water and the mountains both at the same time, had interesting buildings, had house boats, wildlife, home to my favorite Orca whales, or that it rained all the time and I love rain... who knows! But I fell in love with Seattle well before I had even been to the state of Washington.

As life comes, three years after meeting my best friend my family moved to Arizona and a few years after that Alyssa and her family moved back to Seattle.

It wasn't until junior year in high school that I got a chance to visit Alyssa in the lovely Seattle. We tooled around Mill Creek (the suburb to the North where they lived), went up in the Space Needle, took a fairy ride across the sound... all of the things you would expect to do. It was New Year's and we even got to see fire works coming from the Space Needle. Though it was winter the weather was gorgous, at least to me. It was rainy, but some days the sun popped its head out. Longing for my best friend who I missed dearly made me want to move to Seattle. So my love affair with the magical city grew stronger.

The first chance I had to try to move to Seattle was college. During my whole love for the city my father dispised it. I applied to University of Washington and Western Washington

University, really hoping to call UDUB my alma matter... very sad to say (and sad to admit) that I was not accepted to the University of Washington BUT did to Western Washington. After the disappointment I decided to not go to Western as it is still a long way from Seattle, so not quite close enough. Strike one.

While we were both attending college, me in Arizona and Alyssa in Washington, we got to visit each other a few times. I remember visiting one summer. We went to the aquarium, Pikes place market, the original Starbucks. All of that made we want to live down the street from the market and downtown. Plus the weather was gorgeous.

When I graduated college I tried desperately to get a job out there but to my luck I landed my dream job but not in my dream city. I was now in Phoenix. Strike two.

No one really understands my love for Seattle... I even think Alyssa doesn't even understand it. But it is strong. The years have passed and I have been up to Seattle a few times for her wedding and other things and each time a little piece of me gets left behind there.

Then I wanted to share my love of the city with my other love, Rene. One spring I took him there to visit Alyssa (and her husband Scott). We had SUCH A BLAST (but would it have been any other way?). We spent a few days in the city eating

crab (my favorite, yum), touring the market, going to China Town (yes they have one in Seattle too), Gasworks park, the Troll Bridge... and discovering even more wonderful things about the city I did not know. We even found a bar called THE WHISKEY BAR, which was icing on the cake (thats the name of our dog). Though it was spring time and the rainy season the sun did try to poke its head out a few times, but I appreciated the cool damp air as well. It never really seems to pour down rain like here in Arizona, mostly a light mist all day. Now Rene found Seattle to be quite fun too (how could he not)! And we agreed that someday we would live there (YES, I converted him!).

So now I am just waiting.... waiting to for the opportunity to arise where I can finally call Seattle home......

PROFESSIONAL WEDDING PICTURES ARE HERE!

As you may have read previously, one of my most dearest oldest friend is a professional photographer... Shelley is AMAZING!  Well she photographed our wedding as a present and we just got to preview them online!  YAHHHH!!!  I am so happy!  These pictures are the best present anyone could ever give us!  They are so beautiful its like we are re-living the it all over again. If you want to check them out just shoot me an email and I will send you directions.  

Thanks Shelley & Ben!

The best horseback ride EVER

To say the least, our honeymoon was AWESOME!! Everything turned out perfect and the stars just seemed to be alined for us.

Rene & I stayed at this adorable boutique hotel we found on the internet HOTELITO (it is so awesome and we highly recommend it).  There are only a few casitas so it is really private.

So upon our arrival to Hotelito we met the owner, Jenny.  She is a charming Englishwoman and very welcoming.  Jenny goes on to explain that she is "in her shabbies" as she has been horseback riding all day. OH REALLY? I ask.  Then we strike up a conversation about horses and end up telling her what I do for a living.  She says "you must meet Kia, my horse trainer". 

It turns out that in the back of the property of Hotelito there are horses and they are building an Equestrian facility.  AWESOME!!!!  We meet Kia and she says she would love to take us on a ride to the beach.  We could not be more excited.... a private ride with nice horses.

So the next morning we wake up and this is what we got to do....

SO FUN!!