Let the journey begin…

Welcome to our blog… A place that was brought on by an idea, a “goal”… a dream some would say. So I thought it would be fun to document the life we have trying everything in our power to achieve this goal(s).

First… Let me give you a little back story.

  This is us… Andy and Darlene. We’re from Washington State. We met back in 2007 online on what then was known as ‘Cherry Tap’ now ‘Fubar’ it was like an online bar. Was pretty much an instant connection when we met in person. Wasn’t a week after we met we moved in together. While our relationship came under interesting circumstances we knew that it was meant to be and stuck it out through the hard times. Hard times meaning we were both still legally married. It provided some pretty interesting times in the very beginning… Nothing was going to hold us back from the tremendous attraction that we had for one another.

Andy brought two daughters to our relationship and I brought one. His girls lived with their mothers at the time and my daughter lived with me/us. (Eventually in 2012 his second daughter would end up moving in with us.) Things were going great in July 2008 Andy purposed to me, of course I said, “yes!” Not long after that we found out we were pregnant. Summer of 2009 came and I was already six months along in our pregnancy, one week away from finding out what we were having. Unfortunately the worst happened. We miscarried. It was one of the worst experiences in my life, our lives… Something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. While an experience as that would usually bring hardships to couples, we grew closer than before, we had a stronger relationship. Took me sometime to overcome the miscarriage, but I did. And while it weighs heavy on my mind from time to time. I will always wonder what could’ve came from that baby. Where we would be today.

While it wasn’t something I talked much about, nor really do, it was something constantly on my mind. It didn’t take us long to decide to try again. We were hoping for that rainbow baby. April of 2010 we got just that. Another daughter.

2010 was also the year both of our previous marriages were finally something of the past and we both could move on and make things final for the two of us. In 2013 on April 2nd in the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas we sealed the deal. Was a great way to celebrate the two of us. Extremely memorable, the trip there, the time we spent there, our ceremony… It was amazing and I couldn’t of found someone better to of married.

During all the family building I was also working on building a very successful photography business. Andy was there by my side. Aiding in the growth of this business, encouraging me and giving amazing suggestions. 2011 we made the business official. We never thought that when we started this venture it would get as big as it is today. It’s crazy all the places we have got to shoot, the places we have seen, all the different people, their styles… Its definitely been an awesome experience getting to work in this business. Really this business was a foot print of things to come. I started out shooting nature. I really enjoy landscapes and capturing all the wonderful natural elements.  Then I decided to try my hand with people and we have been doing that ever since.

Andy is a Real Estate Broker with John L. Scott. He just recently picked this up as a career. He had been in a lot of construction, landscaping, handy man type of jobs. He decided in 2018 it was time to put in some roots on a solid career. This was his choice. Went to school completed it in less than six months, got his license and he’s now in full swing of constantly being busy selling and helping people buy real estate. I’m super excited to see where he can make this career go. It has a great potential to get very big and keep him busy.

Anyways, back to the goal(s). It wasn’t long into our relationship that we learned that the both of us had a great desire to be outdoors. Hiking, fishing, traveling, even just car rides taking us to new places we’ve never been before. We have talked about taking so many different trips to places, seeing different places… We knew then that it was just a destiny that we were brought together and that traveling together experiencing life and the outdoors was just something we wanted so much. And to be able to share that together only made it that much better.

So far we’ve been able to do a great deal of adventuring. I honestly feel like its just the tip of the iceberg compared to what we have talked about and have been dreaming of. Here we are. Our main GOALS are to “Get Out And Live Spontaneously” We want to someday be able to pack up the car and just drive. No real destination in mind. Just go out and see the world. See new places, people, and things… We’re extremely excited to share our adventures with you all. We thought it would be fun to blog them. Give our kids something to look back on one day. Kind of a digital scrapbook. Hope to have you guys follow along and see what comes of our adventures. ❤