Personal | More love, less hustle.

This is a pretty personal post.  And I’ll keep it short and to the point, because there’s much more where this came from.  But I’m afraid if I dig too deep, it’ll all come flooding out and I’m not sure that I’m ready for that. But for now the time has come to share some very exciting news for our family.  No, I’m not having another baby.  And no, we’re not selling all of our belongings and living in a spiffed up RV for the next few months. We’re just working toward a new outlook on life …

More love, less hustle.

It’s been a long journey for us to get to this point of making an official public announcement … we’re moving.  Away from Taylor, a place that we’ve called home for the past 15+ years.  This decision didn’t come easy for us.  But we knew in our heart of hearts it was the best decision for us. For our kids.  For our future as a family. We put our best foot forward and tried to make this community a better place. We spent 4 very long years sacrificing our time and energy.  Our young family sacrificed a lot.  It took a toll.  And at the end of those 4 years and Jeff’s 2nd run as Mayor (and 4th election in 8 years) we barely felt like we knew each other.  After the election last November we found ourselves wondering why we should stay.  Or even if we could stay.  We wanted to simplify.  We wanted to move to a community where our kids could ride their bikes up and down the streets and walk uptown with their friends.  Jeff and I did that as kids, and we wanted that for our own. So that brought on a middle of winter soul searching & hunt for the right community for us.  We looked East, we looked West.  We knew we wanted a fixer upper (he’s a Lamarand, after all and those boys love to build!).  We’ve done this before and the thought of doing it again was exciting to us.  Yes, I know.  We’ve lost our minds.  But back in March, this beauty of an old house built in 1913 popped up on our radar.  Out of nowhere.  So the next day, we loaded the kids in the car and took a drive out to see it.  And it was pretty instant for us.  What we saw was a beautiful old house that needed some love.  And the minute we walked inside we could see ourselves settling in a house like this.  It was bright & airy inside, with 10 ft. ceilings and floor to ceiling windows.  Natural light poured into it from every direction.   It is walking distance to downtown & to all of the schools.  It was located in the quaint little Village of Dexter, just outside of Ann Arbor.  Dexter Huh?  We didn’t know much about Dexter, just that we had been out to dinner with friends a few years back, our Chiropractors had an office there, and that I had a few photographer friends who loved the area and loved raising their families there.  Friends have said “living in Dexter is like living in a real life Norman Rockwell painting”.  I mean, who wouldn’t want that for their family?  Thanks to many helpful friends (thank you, thank you we owe you many a beer down at The Beer Grotto!) we got all of our questions answered and just knew Dexter was right for us.

So on a freezing cold March day, we threw our name in the hat and made an offer on this historic beauty.  They accepted.  And so here we are 5 months later, knee deep in preserving, salvaging & restoring an American Foursquare.  To say we’re excited would be an understatement. Jeff, my dad and a crew of 5 have been putting in 12-15 hour days all summer long.  We still have a long road ahead of us, but hope to be moved in early fall.  We’ll be listing our house here in Taylor in the coming weeks along with a complete gut & overhaul on the Dexter House.  The kids and I visit every couple of days to make decisions on the layout & design but for the most part it’s a complete construction zone. This beauty needs lots of love.  But it’s bones are just so beautiful.  Our plans for it include bringing it back to it’s original simplified beauty. Anyone who knows me know that I live for this kind of project.  And move in day can’t come fast enough. So what does this mean in the big picture?  This means I’ll be closer to my client base in Ann Arbor and where I do the majority of my shooting.  It also means that I will have a dedicated office space at home for consults and ordering.  But other than that, it’s business as usual.  I’m sure there may be a few days here and there where I’ll be without internet or e-mail, but I promise to keep all of my clients in the loop.  But I really don’t expect any delays in delivery times, etc.  So yay for that! Today, my wonderful friend Dayna came out to snap a few shots of us for this big announcement.  I’m so thankful to have her friendship in my life, and now she’s just a few miles down the road in Chelsea.  Oh, and that gorgeous canvas?  Yes, that was hand lettered by someone I mentored last year, Mackenzie Houghton.  I’ve been seeing her doodles go up on Facebook and just had to commission her for a few pieces for the house.  I love the way they turned out! But that’s all for now, just a small announcement.  We are so excited for the next chapter for us as a family, and for slowing things down a bit in our lives.  And of course for making room for more love, less hustle.