I married him.......

This is Mike helping me test the light today on our photoshoot! What a ham!

Summer Projects!

So..this is a post that is NOT about houses...sort of.

I just got back from Ft. Worth and wanted to tell all about the great things we accomplished in Cullen's nursery. First of all, his bedding came in the 2nd day I was there so that was perfect. We quickly made a trip to Home Depot to find all the paint we needed to match. We painted the walls, khaki, the dresser to match the bedding, and the crib, red. Here are some hodge podge pictures. Erin will post a "finished product" pic on facebook as soon as the entire room is done. She doesn't want me to ruin the effect so I can only show a few things!

the dresser I painted

one side of the crib

the bedding

This nursery is going to be seriously adorable.

So now Im home, and have a ton of my own projects to do. I have a couple of pieces of wood stained furniture that are going to be painted white, and a few lamps that are getting a facelift. I have around 5 workshops scheduled for Summer and lots of photo shoots! It is a busy but totally exciting time! Before you know it, it will be August and time for school. Oh, and time for me to move into our new house!

Under Contract....Again

5713 107th St.

We are under contract on this home to close on Aug 28. It is a brand new home so I dont think we will have an appraisal or inspection problem. Thank God. Hopefully, this is the last contract we have to be under.

Don't Hold Your Breath

Ok, so I am a BAD BLOGGER. Long story short....

We lost the house on 103rd because of a low appraisal. I cried and cried and then decided to move on and find another house. Tomorrow, Mike is meeting with a builder who owns several homes that we really like. We will see what comes out of that meeting but I am not holding my breath. We have until Aug 1 to move out of the Magallanes house so that my sis in law and her family can move in while their house is being built. Needless to say, the house hunt is really frustrating and I am just ready to have a solid contract on a home. Mike and I both feel out of sorts not having a real place to call home and have really come to realize that walls do not make a home. Home is wherever we are together. (or at least I keep telling myself that)

I am in Ft Worth visiting my sister's family. We are having fun hanging out and doing a bunch of shopping for Cullen (my soon to be nephew). Tomorrow we will move all the guest furniture out of his room and paint it. I also promised my sister a custom paint job on a dresser for the nursery. Hopefully, I will have all those projects finished by Friday so that we can chill and enjoy the rest of my visit! I will head back to Stratford Wednesday. After that, I have several photo shoots and workshops to fill up the rest of my Summer!

HOPEFULLY (no promises), I will be a better blogger and keep my readers updated more often!

Under Contract

I am reluctant to say that we "got a house" because I know from experience that contracts fall through. For now though, we are under contract to close on this house Aug 3. That gives us the perfect amount of time to save our down payment money and relax for the summer. This house is 3 bedrooms/2 baths, corner lot, fairly new, and in Lubbock Cooper ISD.

There you have it. Wish us luck! Basically the only concern we have is the appraisal. Apparently appraisals all over town have been coming in low and that would just be awful considering what happened on our own home appraisal. Prayers are requested!

TOO much going on!

I have not blogged in sooo long for a couple of reasons...

1. No time

2. too much to blog about

This is going to be pretty long so I will try to break it up and tell a long story short.

Houses:

After the heartbreak that happened with the first house we had a contract on, we decided to put off the house hunt for a little while and just see what happened. I knew that wouldn't last long. Last week, Mike emailed me a list of houses he really wanted to see. So, last night we looked at a bunch of houses and narrowed the search down to two. We are putting an offer on one but know that if it doesn't work out we can still put an offer on the other one. I am making concessions for Mike in that we are trying the one he loves more first. It costs more but Mike REALLY loves it. I would be happy in both houses so I'm hoping that will ease the pain if this offer doesn't work out. Hopefully, we will have a house to move into by the end of Summer and all this will be behind us.

School:

As most of you know, I have wanted to get out of Kindergarten for awhile. Last week, several positions opened up at my school. To be honest, I would have loved to get to teach 3rd or 4th grade again but that is not how the cards fell. I found out today that I will be teaching 1st grade next year. It is bittersweet. I am glad to be moving out of Kinder but not so excited about having the same kids next year. I am going to make the best of it and try to have a positive attitude about it. I'm praying for a good year next year. (maybe a bigger and prettier house will make up for it)

AM Photography:

This part is going GREAT. I have been creating beautiful images and truly enjoying every second of it. One of my school friends, Valerie gave me the honor of shooting her engagement pictures which turned out amazing. Because of that, I am now going to get to shoot her bridal portraits. I am so elated and excited to get some rockin pictures! (she is gorgeous) Last weekend, I was supposed to shoot some of the Post little league teams but that got postponed because of weather. So, on May 30, I will be shooting individual and team pictures for 17 teams. WOW! That will be a crazy day..but hopefully a big PAYDAY!

The Big Move:

This weekend, Mike and I will be moving all of our belongings into storage and moving in with my in-laws. I am glad to be getting out of this tiny house but sad that we don't have our own place to call home. We are so grateful to Mike's parents for taking us in and are looking forward to living mortgage free for a few months. It is definitely going to help the down payment situation!

Babies:

Monica (sis in law) is expecting a baby boy in September! She won't tell us the name but we are really excited that they will be living here so we can see the kids all the time!

Erin (my sis) is expecting a baby boy in October! YAY! This is the first boy in our family and we could not be any happier. His name is Cullen Howard Shanks. I can't wait! I get to go to Ft. Worth in June to help Erin decorate his nursery. It will be different but way fun to buy BOY stuff! If anything...It will be a new adventure for both of us! Oh, and Cullen will have the best BIG SISTER ever!!!

US: We have put off trying until we have a house to live in. I really don't want to be pregnant and living with my in laws and they dont want that either, Im sure! We are not trying not to get pregnant but not trying to either! (if that makes sense).

So all in all...life is CRAZY. But what a blessing to have a healthy and happy family! We know that whatever comes our way, our love for each other and for the Lord will see us through! Now, all I have to do is update this blog more and all will be well. Until next time........

New Am Photog Blog

The AM Photography Blog has changed to ....

www.amagphoto.wordpress.com