02/07/2021
✌🏼💙 T e x a s
I love this photo. It reminds me of a time I like to call “Peak Dallas.” Alex and I were newly married, Gaston Made was growing, we were supported by an incredible, creative community, and it seemed like anything was possible. We worked hard because we wanted to, and still pretty much got a lot of sleep (a thing I have a very immediate sense of appreciation for now.) We had the safety net of my full time, corporate job, and lived in a cute rental house in the city. We had (just enough) responsibilities. There was a freedom in this time. We went to concerts and art galleries, got involved in our church, met up with friends on a whim, ate amazing food, and traveled on the weekends. It was a pre-pandemic (and pre-baby) life. Of course during these times, it’s only natural to dream of and plan for the future. We knew we wanted a family, a home, all of those things, and we were ready. It was the calm before the next big change, and I remember feeling oh so present in that space. The feeling of “this is a special time, and it is not forever.”
Cut to now. In the span of roughly two years we’ve bought a house, experienced a major theft, had a baby, adjusted to the reality that is full time working + parenting, and shifted our entire lives to be safe through a pandemic 🤯 I was laid off from my job of 9 years (goodbye safety net) and we watched as the world around us seemed to continually catch fire, literally and figuratively. We’ve had to take multiple steps back/forward as we figured out how Gaston Made would exist in this life tornado. And even still, where Dallas fits in our future.
We ultimately came to the decision to move home, to Kansas. A place where both of our families are firmly planted. A place that has always been our foundation as a couple. A place where we can rebuild, and have the time & space to actually grow our family and business into everything we hope it will be.
Dallas has given us SO much. Ten years of friendship and discovery and life and growth. We started something here, with the help of incredible friends like and who brought the vision of Gaston Made to life in photo form..*ctd in comments 😆*
