Cheers to New Beginnings | Victoria DeMore Photography | North Orlando family & equine photography
Everything that happens in life... it happens for a reason. You may not know it now, it may take days, months, years even, but someday it will all make sense. Dustin lost his job. He worked for a wonderful organization, people enjoyed him in the workplace, he was always a hard worker. Any of you who know him would probably be in shock if you had heard the story. Needless to say, I was right there with you as well. Shocked. Denial. Where he worked was such an integral part of our lives. We met there. We got married there. It meant so much more to us than just his paycheck. It was the reason we met, the reason we were together, and perfect place all around.
Whatever the reason. Whatever the circumstances. We hit a rather uncertain time. In addition to my husband being unemployed, our landlord was selling our condo. We didn't know when it would sell or who it would sell to. We were figuring on an investor who would still want to lease it out and that we would have until mid-December at the earliest as being a closing date and the latest we could stay. Another thing to deal with on top of Dustin job-hunting. We lucked into the landlord being understanding and letting us stay off-lease, month-to-month until he told us we would need to be out by. This came sooner than later and we needed to be out by the end of October.
We were panicked. We couldn't restrict Dustin's job search to just the Central Florida area. He had applications out everywhere to do just about anything. Because of the photography and me needing him to shoot with me for horse shows, local grocery stores wouldn't even consider him part or full time for the deli - which he had several years deli experience - or doing anything else for that matter. It had us scared. Well, I don't know about him, he didn't let on... I'll admit, I was scared.
Fast-forward a bit. We were blessed and Dustin got a job! And he got a job that would keep us in Central Florida. We still had to move close to Orlando, but we could continue to shoot horse shows and take care of the customers we have been for a few years now. It might not seem like that big of a deal, but for me, I am now more focused on the photography business and my own riding - I can now offer exercise/maintenance rides, being short I'm perfect size for a bratty pony or two lol. And Dustin is working in a place he loves, in a job with room to learn and grow.
Most important. We are near family that I hadn't kept proper touch with over the years living in Daytona. The last 6-7 weeks, basically since we started apartment hunting, my uncle was in the hospital. He passed away this past Friday morning. I got to spend many hours by his bed at the hospital - good days and bad. And I feel so blessed for the opportunity to be there. To spend his last few weeks with him. I haven't been in a hospital that much since my mom was ill and before she passed away. A lot of memories came flooding back. But what matters is being there. Being present in the moment and doing for others even if it's just being there. I realized just what all I must have missed. I'll admit I felt guilty. Just as I feel guilty of the time I missed with my mom. I was reminded that time spent with family and friends is never wasted. The last few years I had buried myself and didn't give myself the ability to see past the next bill due or what I needed to do in any job I worked. When really, I should have put time aside, that time I spent worrying over things out of my control, and given it to others.
Including Dustin. We spend so much time working. And although we can be working side by side at our computers on whatever the last horse show was, I feel like we've lost touch with one another. This move, this new beginning, I'm dedicating one day a month to us going out just him and I, someplace new. Yes, the camera will be there. And aside from walking, talking and spending time with each other, we'll take photos of one another wherever we wind up. I don't care what we look like .We could be mucking horse stalls for all y'all know, but we will share our day with you.
To new beginnings and roads less traveled. May we all live our lives more meaningfully.
To all of you, we are so excited for our new beginnings here in the North Orlando area! Dustin and I feel this more centralized location will better serve all of our friends and fans as well open the door to meeting others we might otherwise have been too far from in our old Daytona Beach home. We now reside and base our operations out of Longwood, FL near Wekiva Springs and look forward to capturing all the moments you want to cherish! Please feel free to share us with your friends and neighbors. Love and hugs to you and yours!