new. home.

So there it is....we are moving to Clover, South Carolina.  It's a little town in the Charlotte, North Carolina metro area.  So...that means that Ingrid (email me as soon as possible!) was the first to guess the closest to where we are moving.  She wins a $100 IKEA gift certificate!! 

THIS IS OUR HOUSE.

Yes...this really is our house.  We're moving to a piece of dirt.  It's so strange the life works, the way it moves, and the way it does something that is completely unexpected.  As many of you know, because you've been following our home search, we looked at a lot of homes.  You voted and gave us wonderful thoughts, advice, suggestions and so much more.  We appreciate it immensely! 

I went out to North Carolina pretty convinced that we would, by a miracle of some kind, be able to find my dream house (the 100 year old renovated home in a great neighborhood with fabulous schools).  Every old home we looked at was in a delapidated neighborhood with schools that were even worse.  Needless to say I was pretty disappointed to walk away from those homes.  I also knew that I didn't want my kids to go to schools that were ranking 1 and 2 out of 10 on test scores.  It was a difficult decision but one I knew I had to make for the future of my kids' education.

That decision left us with 5 homes...one of them was my absolute fave but was way too far out of our price range.  It goes without saying that the seller couldn't meet what we were able to pay.  Of the other two homes one went under contract the day before we decided that it was on our finals list and the third home was going to have a freeway built next to it.  Huge bummer.  I was feeling pretty discouraged at that point knowing we had less than 48 hours left to figure this house thing out.  We only had two homes left on our list.  We knew that one of them could work and the other one we had remembered was too small.  Neither of them felt like THE home when we had walked into them.  We were hoping on a second walk through one of them would feel like the one. 

I went out to North Carolina really believing that I would walk into a home and would just love the one that we needed to move into.  I'd hoped I would feel really good about at a home and all other homes would pale in comparison.  Was that too much to ask?

At that point on Saturday morning I hadn't felt really good about a house except about the home that was beyond what would could afford.  We went to the leftover two houses on our list.  I went into the first house and we talked and talked as we walked through it.  We discussed every detail of how we could fit into this home.  It was beautiful and open and I was almost talked into it...until we walked out in to the back yard.  Then I didn't like the house.  The yard was close to other neighbors and didn't have one single mature tree in the yard, no fence, no porch...nothing.  I also had it in my mind that I was moving from Utah where I couldn't get hardly any trees to grow in my yard to a yard that would have an enormous amount of gorgeous trees.  Big strike against that house.

We drove down the lane to a brand new house.  We walked around the lot and it was gorgeous!  There was a grove of trees behind the house the led into a green space area (we don't have those in Utah...they are places that they zone for leaving green and undeveloped...ever).  We LOVED the lot.  Although this had happened a number of times.  We would find a gorgeous lot only to walk into the house and have it be way too small or way too trashed.  Or vice versa...a gorgeous home on a lame lot.

We held our breath as we went into the brand new home.  It was beautiful and the details were so nice!  It wasn't big enough!  Huge bummer.  We went back outside and walked around, saw that the other lot was for sale and hoped it had the same builder.  We looked at one last home that our amazing realtor set up for us (she was quite the patient person taking us around on a whirlwind tour of homes in the area...Nicolette Wiggham.)  As we sat in the sunroom of the next home totally disappointed that yet again it was a house that was not big enough for our family we finally smiled.  We had just spoken with the builder of the brand new house.  He had said that he was planning to build on the other lot, didn't have a buyer for the property, and was just starting the plans.  We were so excited.  He had answered a lot of our questions.  We talked about the possibiliites and finally felt like we had found THE house...we just never walked through it.  We are so excited to be working with Matt Swyt of Alluring homes.  He's a custom builder who does beautiful work.  We can't wait to get the ball rolling with him.  We've aleady been talking about the plans for the house and were thrilled to have found a 1/2 an acre of yard for our kids that opens up into wild land (check out the view that we'll have from our future bathroom).  We finally found something that will work on all fronts. 

When we went to check out the schools for the kids and the church we'll be going to it just confirmed to us that Clover, SC is the place for our family. 

The school that the girls will go to has a class size of 20 or less, they get the option at lunch time to eat in the cafeteria (can you believe how awesome their cafeteria is?  mine didn't look like that when I was growing up!) or outside, the technology in the classroom was amazing, the principal knew every person and child that we passed in the hallway during our tour, the teachers are wonderful, and so much more!

Emmett's school has a gifted and talented program at the school (currently we drive him to a school 20 minutes away for his program), it has band, choir (that has won state for three years running), a science club, lego team, newspaper, and photography club.  They have art every week (they don't have art at all here in Utah) and music every week.  There are so many exciting things about this adventure.

The skies were dramatic and pretty while we were there and I couldn't stop taking  pictures of them.  It's incredibly green and just driving down the road is an experience in nature. 

We are going to miss Utah very much.  We have so many people here that mean so much to us and who have cared deeply about us.  To you, please know that we cherish and treasure the blessing that you are (and will hopefully continue to be even though miles will separate us...) to us.  We have been so blessed by your lives and by your hearts.

adventure. LIFE.

layover.

This is where we had our layover early, early, early this morning.

new. LIFE.

So all of you consistent, fat burning people....

I posted here and had a lot of people want to get off their booties.   So...don't wimp out on me now!  

Every Monday I will give hints and tips to help you out and also a little push to take it to the next level.  Make sure to comment and tell me what you think!

I'll also be starting a contest for those that are inspired more by contests....

I'm thinking that Monday could be our check in day.  In the comments post how you are doing.  How many days you got to go walking, how long, if you kept your commitment to yourself to walk at least 20 minutes 6 days a week and if you're leaving food on your plate.  You can let us know if you did more or less and any tidbits of help you want to offer to everyone.  If you have a recipe that you think is a great one you can send it to me at davina@davinafear.com and I'll feature it here on the blog.  If you have a picture of you and/or the recipe, send that too (if you don't have one that's okay).  Make sure you send your info, name, blog address, etc. so I can make sure to let people know who you are.

Move it Monday.  Make sure you're moving your body every day and then telling us about it every Monday.  I can't wait to hear how everyone is doing at being consistent.  Remember that's the most important...just do something.  Move. Everyday.

So...I walked everyday but Sunday since I posted.  I've also eaten smaller portions and then left some food on my plate.  Except when I went to Noodles and Company...I totally ate it all before I realized that I didn't leave any food on my plate...I did order the small though, instead of the regular (that's what I usually get...).  So I'm becoming more aware of what I'm eating so that's a good thing, right? 

Even though it was cold enough to make my eyes water this morning I still went for my 20 minute walk this morning....I'm committed!

I'm down 3 1/2 pounds...not sure if that means anything at this point....

So how are you doing?  Tell us in the comments!  It's check in day....(And don't forget to send recipes or helpful tidibits to me so I can feature you on the blog!) 

****NOTE:  Make sure to be posting in the comments if you want to be part of the upcoming contest!****

move. LIFE.

$500 Scholarship.

Make sure to get your application in to us as soon as possible!  The deadline for entries is October 1st!

If you've missed the information about the scholarship click here and then contact the studio to get your application.  We've had such an overwhelming response from new photographers it's been crazy!   I'm totally going to need help making a decision.  There are so many deserving photographers getting started out there.  It's not going to be easy to decide!!!

Thinking back to how difficult is was to get started with photography and how few photographers there were at the time that I felt like I could lean on and ask for help makes me so excited that so many new photographers are reaching out and sending in applications for this scholarship.  At the same time it makes me sad that I can't help more photographers and be able to give out 50 scholarships.  Everyone of these people who have written me and shared their hopes and dreams of growing a successful career are so deserving.  To any photographer trying to make a go of this business, know that you are not alone.  So many others are struggling and so many are willing to help and guide you.  It's a blessing to be in this industry at a time when photographers have begun to reach out to one another, to share, to give, and help.  It hasn't always been that way and it's so exciting that we've turned a corner and are seeing all of the new possibilities that come from sharing and loving.

Thank you to all of the photographers so far who have sent in your dreams and put them out there for me to see.  I appreciate so much that you've been willing to share with me your silent hopes.  Thank you.

ONLY THREE DAYS LEFT.

Melissa + Dad

I'm so excited we had over 300 votes in the Father's Day contest.  Thank you to everyone for participating. 

Congratulations to Melissa and her dad as the winners of the contest they will get a free photoshoot together.  I can't wait to meet you and your dad, Melissa!

FUN. LIFE.