...and what a year it's been!

Wow. I know it's only October but all I can say is WOW. What a year we've had! We moved to a new apartment, planned a wedding, got married, my niece turned 1 last weekend, my nephew turned 9, and my other niece, Izzy, turned 11, and my company released it's first video game, Orcs Must Die!. I didn't add in holiday's since that happens every year, but add those in and you must admit, it was crazy. Oh... and I also didn't add all the other birthday's we've gone to since those happen every year as well, but I can to really prove my point :)

To add to all the craziness, Daniel and I are in the process of becoming homeowners. It's so exciting and so nerve wracking at the same time. I can't tell you how many DIY blogs I've visited over the past few weeks looking at kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, even fireplace remodels. Oh boy. I do love a good DIY project though. Anyone that knows me knows how I am about my DIY. If I can do something for half the price, you can bet I'm going to do it. It may take me a while, but I'm going to do it. We're going house shopping this weekend, so hopefully I'll have more to talk about after that!

Daniel and I decided to splurge with some of the money we received as wedding gifts and buy a nice new DSLR camera. I bought the Canon EOS T3 camera and am LOVING it so far. I am definitely no photographer but am really having fun learning how to use the camera and all the different aspects that go into making a good quality photo. Daniel jokes that I'm the new family photographer... I won't go so far to say that but it is a fun hobby for me! I bought the camera JUST in time to take pictures of my niece for her first birthday, as well as my both my niece's and my nephews birthday party. Here's some photo's from the 1st bday shoot and the parties.

 

I love that the pictures started with a smile and ended with a crying fit. Typical Phoenix. I really can't believe she's already a year old. I can't believe that ANY of my niece's and nephew's are as old as they are. I was in 9th grade when Aaden was born, and now he's 9 years old. I remember my sister, Jennifer, driving me and my friends to the mall to hang out while Aaden was a baby in his car seat in the back. He's my little bug, and is growing up way too fast. I love seeing kids develop their own personality. Aaden was such a funny kid, and still is. He'll do anything to make you laugh. I'm excited to see how Phoenix is when she gets a little older. 

Here's some photo's from the bday party. I haven't edited any of the photo's from Phoenix's party yet, but I'll post them when I do. Gotta love the cake smash photos :)

 Hopefully I'll have more on the house to talk about. We're having our company Halloween party this week, house hunting Saturday, Halloween housewarming party for our friends, The Dennis', on Saturday night. Fun filled weekend!

Allow me to introduce myself... again.

Okay, so maybe it's a little too early to talk about life being married. After all, we've only been married 3 weeks. Wow. 3 weeks... THAT'S IT?! Needless to say we've been busy trying to start our lives together. :)

Let me introduce myself... again. I've legally changed my name... so I am now Mrs. Jessica Ortiz.  I'm still getting used to hearing people refer to me as Ortiz, or referring to us as husband and wife. We're in the process of combining everything... and it's no easy task. Hopefully once we get everything combined we can put in an application to be homeowners. It's my ultimate goal and I am BEYOND excited. We've been planning and talking about it for MONTHS now and I just can't wait!!!

We decided to splurge a little bit with some of the money we got from the wedding and bought a new Canon DSLR T3 camera. I'm no photographer, but I love the art and would really like to think I have an eye for beautiful photography. I'm still playing with it but maybe once I figure it out and get brave, I'll post some pictures for you guys.

Speaking of pictures... have you guys seen the amazing wedding photos?! Our photographer, Shani with Timeless Images did an AWESOME job! You can see them on mine or her facebook! Since I wouldn't want to leave you on such a suspenseful note... I'll add some here :)