Lux & Pups

Have you ever experienced something, that was truly a defining moment in your life? For most people, I feel like it’s a single moment in time. For me is was the year 2015.

I started off the year engaged to be married. I live in Texas but at the time, same-sex marriage was not recognized in my home state. So, we were planning to have a destination wedding in Florida in November (FL was more progressive, already having legalized same-sex marriage). I have never been into wedding planning. I never even wanted to get married until I met my (now) wife. Ugh, the thought of having to plan a party and pay all this money for one day – is not appealing to me. So, a destination wedding on the beach was perfect!! I do have to say I enjoy weddings. I just did not want one for myself.

Aside from wedding planning, we also decided to buy a house. This, I was excited about! I am the youngest of 4 and the only one that had not purchased a house yet. Growing up my parents instilled the importance in owning a house. It gave me security. We had been saving to buy a house for a little under a year and decided to go for it! So, May of 2015 we started looking for homes. I was not expecting the curve ball life was about to throw my way.

A month goes by. It’s the last Friday of June (the 26th to be precise lol). I wake up, get ready for work and say good bye to my boy Bruno and my fiancee Yolanda. I get to work and my phone starts to blowing up (not literally). Calls, texts, emails. Everyone asking if I had heard that The United States of America had voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriages. I COULD NOT BELIEVE THIS. Was it true? I had no idea this was even happening. I call my fiancee and we decide to leave work and head down to the County Clerks’ office to obtain a marriage licence before someone in the Supreme Court decides to revoke this new law.

Our closest friends and my future in laws all dropped everything and head to meet us. While in line to receive our marriage licence, one of the employees tells us judges are working extended hours in the event we wanted to get married that same day. Normally, you must wait a 72 hour period after obtaining the licence before you can actually get married. Since they were waiving the waiting period, we looked at each other and said “F*** it, lets get married”.  And so we did, that day, in front of our family and friends.

This brings me back to earlier when I was telling you about how much I love wedding planning, NOT. Us getting married right then and there could not have been more perfect in my eyes. I will forever be able to say that we got married the day same-sex marriage became legalized in our country. We saw older couples in their 50/60’s getting married. Kids outside of the building with their parents, handing out food, drinks, flowers and congratulating everyone. So amazing, I will never for get that day for as long as live.

Fast forward about 3 weeks and we are now in July getting ready to make an offer on a house. I mentioned earlier I lived in Texas, Austin to be exact. The market is a sellers market here. You’ll have about 7 offers on a house the first day it’s listed for sale. Well, we found a house and made an offer and so did 8 other people. I wrote a letter to the seller basically just telling them that this house is meant for my family and explained why. It worked! They accepted our offer and the house became ours. Bonus — our house has solar panels! That comes in handy during the Texas summers.

2015 was truly a wonderful year for us. Not only for my little family but for many families throughout the United States. I will never be able to explain how it felt to get married and purchase a house all within a short period of time. By no means am I trying to paint the perfect picture. I have had my struggles when it comes to my family accepting my “lifestyle”, but I will save that story for another day.

No matter what your goals are, they can be accomplished. Set your mind to something, write out a plan to execute it and get it done. Having a home and a family of my own was something I longed for, even without knowing I wanted it so badly. I, now, feel at home. I was 29 years old at that time. It took me 29 years to feel at home, but I did it. We did it, my wife and I.

“The ache for a home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned”

XO Emely

 

Picture was captured by Hyde Park Photography