The Begining of What the Photography...

You all have heard me time and time again mention the fact that I have been trying to start my own business. 

This bomb has been lying around from the very beginning from our first post to when I was MIA and more recently when I shared my goals for 2016 post, and everywhere in between...

The art of photography has been a passion of mine since I was young and up until I had my oldest I just kept the idea of photography more as a hobby than as a "career goal".

I started teaching myself techniques, practicing ALL the time (perks of being a new mom) and decided to work in an one hour photo lab. 

I played around with the idea of opening up a biz then but I was very scared and worried about being able to provide for my girls that I opted in for journalism school... an epic fail later I was BACK to the photography idea and played around with it more and more.

The year before I moved to Arkansas I decided I was GOING for it and came up with the name What the Photography thanks to some amazing friends at the book store I was working at. 

Things were picking up some and then we had to move out of state for the hubby's new job...

When we moved to Arkansas we knew no one but my God father and What the Photography was put on hold...

 Since I had also become a SAHM with the move I decided that I would enroll back into college this time focusing on getting my degree in the art of photography while I awaited the right moment to introduce WtP to the Central Arkansas area. 

I wish I would have waited longer to do so but when I took over a year off with it when I went back into the working world then had to take a leave due to our oldest and her health, I figured there was no better time than that moment to do a HUGE REVAMP!

Now I am PROUD to RE-INTRODUCE 

What the Photography!

The ONLY thing that has stayed the same is the name and our colors. 

We have re done our logos, website, facebook page, blog and so much more! 

Some of the details are still being worked out things to that nature so please excuse some of the layout errors etc :) I just COULDN'T wait any longer! 

Meet Aaliyah

Last but certainty NOT least we have my youngest...

Everyone I would like to introduce you to Aaliyah...

Aaliyah filled a hole that I didn't even know that was missing when she came into this world on April 5th when I was 22 years old. 

She was my odd ball arriving at 2:52pm the day after her daddy's birthday

 (and no I have yet to top THAT gift ever since ;) )

As of today Aaliyah is 8 years old and in the 3rd grade at the local elementary school..

(Anyone else catch that all 3 kids are in 3 different schools?)

Aaliyah has always been the type of girl that even in her fanciest 

dresses she is out in the dirt playing her little heart out. 

Since she is the youngest she has always played "I can do it too!" and has kept her big sisters on their toes.

I shot Aaliyah the same questions as the older two girls and this is where she stands:

Favorite Movie:

 Home

This is a very cute one, if you have not seen it you will enjoy it no matter what age you are. 

Color:

Pink

Duh!

(That was her response when I asked... because there is NO other color in this world.... right?)

Favorite Vacation:

The Beach

Amen sista! She has always been more of a fish than a human, you get her in water and I will just tell you don't plan on ANYthing else for at least the day but if she had her way about it... yeah she would never come out.

Dream Job:

Vet

She is also a HUGE animal lover, there hasn't been an animal that she has not liked, minus birds when she was younger...

Animal:

Lion

AGAIN... this animal question really hit me not a single one answered what I THOUGHT their answers would be... JUST FOR THE RECORD... I swear it was a white tiger 

School Subject:

Art

She has always had an amazing imagination and has always loved to express herself with drawing, the older she gets the better she is becoming and I am so excited to see her develop an amazing skill

Holiday:

Christmas

I am pretty sure it has EVERYTHING to do with presents and lights ;)

Favorite Thing to do in Arkansas:

Play in the snow


This is a HUGE change for us since we lived in the deep dirty south of Alabama until moving up here. The kids LOVE it all around... me and the hubby... well we can handle about 24 hours of it MAYBE 48... then... it...has...GOT...TO...GO

Food:

Strawberries

...and strawberry flavored EVERYTHING

Drink:

Root Beer

Such a classic and when you add ice cream to it she is your BFF!



MORE FUN FACTS:



She lost her first tooth at the age of 3 so needless to say she went 3 years with out a front tooth :)


She LOVES soccer and basketball

She has her OWN sense in style

She is the class clown of the family... it is SO VERY HARD to be in a shit mood with her around


She is ALWAYS saying something that will make you die laughing


She is a DADDY'S GIRL through and through...

She ALWAYS has to have at least a handful of "boyfriends"
 ( I will share more on this one... YOU ARE NOT GOING TO WANT TO MISS IT)

She doesn't meet a stranger

She feeds off affection, hugs, kisses, high fives, Big Hero 6 fist pumps... you get the drift..

If you missed this weeks meet and greet check them out below:

Our Story

Meet Ant

Meet Dakota

Meet Alora


I hope you all have a GREAT weekend! We will see you Monday!

Meet Alora!

Well you guessed it!
My sweet Alora is the middle girl and so she is second up for introduction...

So everyone...

Alora came into this world exactly ONE week before my 19th birthday.
On September 27th at 8:04 am she made her appearance and joined Dakota and I in this crazy world I now call my beautiful chaos.

(I will share more on her birth story also later)


As of today Alora is 12 years old, a 6th grader and in Middle School.

Alora has always been my little accident prone daredevil and out of ALL 3 of my girls I am pretty sure she has top rank for trips to the emergency room and surgeries.

I asked her the same questions I asked Dakota for her introduction and here is what she came up with:


Favorite Movie:

Avengers: Age of Ultron

This is ACTUALLY a family favorite, we have all been so excited over all the recent super hero movies but I think the Avengers series has got us hooked the most.

Favorite Color:

Blue

So I SWEAR the other day it was purple...
Since I have struck out 2 for 2 with the kids favorite colors MAYBE I should do this more often..smh

Dream Job:

Chef

This I TOTALLY get for her! She has always been a foodie and honestly the less picky of the family. She has NEVER been afraid to try new foods.
I know a few years ago this was narrowed down to being THE TOP chef in the White House...

Animal:

Hawk

Yeah so these animals are shocking me left and right...


School Subject:

Science

Her reasoning... because she gets to dissect animal parts... my response...
GGGRRROOOOSSSS!!!


Holiday:

Christmas

A kid after my own heart ;)

Thing to do in Arkansas:

Skate

She recently learned to roller blade and there hasn't been a day gone by she isn't outside with them things on her feet. I am just thanking God she hasn't tried to do it in the house yet... but I am sure when there is ice and snow on the ground this WILL become a reality.

Food:

Potato Soup

Not just any potato soup though! "The kind you make mom" was her exact answer. Though I would LOVE to take credit for it I will have to give a shout out and a HUGE thank you to my ex brother in law Shaun for sharing his recipe with me!

Drink:

Hot Tea

What can I say she has an old lady spirit to her some days


Vacation:

Disney World

We were lucky enough that when my brother graduated high school (he was the only one out of my mom's 3 kids) that my grandparents and dad took him, his girlfriend (at the time), my sisters older two kids (her other two weren't born yet), my sister Samantha, my brother Dominick, my three girls, Ant and myself all to Disney World. My kids LOVED it, and it made me miss being in California where it was SO CLOSE to go visit. That trip was one for the record books to say the least!

MORE FUN FACTS:


She is a social butterfly and meets NO strangers!


She LOVES musicals


She plays softball

She is the next runner up for braces
(You can follow her progress here on the blog)


She eats ranch dressing on EVERYTHING normal people put ketchup on

BOTH of her BFF's live on our street
(as a matter of fact they both live catty-cornered from us, one left, one right)

She plays the flute


AND this girl can shoot a bow and arrow!


Wanna catch up on the meet and greets?
Check them out!

Our Story

Meet Ant

Meet Dakota

Up next... Aaliyah!

Our Story

I figured that since this week I would be focusing on introducing you all more to my inspirations for the blog and for my life in general I should probably start of with the how our beautiful chaos came to be. 

 (The image shared are random of us not order really)

I was 19, fresh out of my first marriage with my older two girls, Dakota was about 2 and Alora was around 6 months when I moved to Dothan, Alabama to live with my mom and step dad to get on my feet. Being a teenage single mom of two would have to be one of the hardest jobs out there, but it was and always will be so VERY WORTH IT!

I was working full time in the photo lab at Wal-Mart and I was getting ready to start college full time for journalism.

Ant was also fresh out of a bad relationship and was working at Wal-Mart full time in the meat department. 

Since we worked on opposite sides of the stores we only saw each other in passing and maybe in the break room. We never really talked to each other in there, but we were caught a few times checking the other one out.

At this particular Wal-Mart the night before inventory it was mandatory that the whole staff be there from 9 pm until the store was completely zoned and ready to be counted. That year we were there til 2 am and I will never forget it. I happened to be on the spaghetti sauce aisle zoning and prepping it for inventory when we walked over to help. Since my dumb ass self wore a skirt that day (I FORGOT!) he was kind enough to reach all the things I couldn't since it would have had me up and down a latter and well we ALL know that would be a sight... smh...

We chatted the zone away and it was down hill from there...

Later after the zone that night the photo lab crew and some other firends all went to Waffle House for a LATE LATE LATE dinner it was tradition, and after we went back to work to collect cars and head home for a few hours to go to work the next day. 

Ant happened to still be in the parking lot when we got back so me and a few friends stayed a little while longer and was chatting it up with him and a few of the other guys hanging out.

Me and him became closer and closer over time and started talking more and more. 

He disappeared for a few months after leaving Wal-Mart and I couldn't find him. Over that time I had moved out of my moms, had a new boyfriend but was still at Wal-Mart. 

Ant popped up about 4 months later and it was like he had never left. 

Since I was in a relationship at that time Ant and I became best friends. 

As time moved on I left the relationship and Ant and I became official. 

He moved in with me and the girls and we became a family.

When things got busy with me between work and school I moved out of my apartment and moved back home with my mom. This caused Ant to have to move home too. 

We saw each other daily still and soon decided on a child between us. 

I had gotten a promise ring the first Christmas we were together and I knew one day in 20 and never as we always said we would get married. I was not ready for another marriage at the time and nor was I going to get married just because of a baby.. again.

Aaliyah was born the day after Ant's birthday in 2007. Ant and I had been together for almost 3 years. That June we got married on a whim in his mom's living room. 

My family did not know for two weeks prior and honestly we were still living separately for almost a month after saying I do.  

As you can tell we are FAR from traditionalist and we tend to do things the hard way... what can I say I have always been known as a rebel.

The first several years we moved A LOT,  and depended on our families for help on so many levels. We had to make a change...

The last 4 years we have been in Arkansas with no family except for my god father close by. We don't have our moms near by to call for help, to watch the kids for date nights, to go over for dinner to see the rest of the family etc. It has been VERY HARD at times but in ways I am glad we did it. 

November 1st we will have been together for 12 years in June we will have been married for 9. To say that our marriage has been all happily ever after, and rainbows and butterflies would be a lie. 

We fight, yell, scream at each other. We hardly agree on things since we are both opposites in EVERY WAY possible, we have witnessed births, deaths, weddings, divorces, affairs,  drama, drama, drama and more drama. Which is to be expected since we both come from LARGE families (He is one of 7 and I am one of 9 well make that 10 now). BUT with all of this we fit, we are what is needed to balance each other out. I am patient where he is not, he is strict where I am more laid back, he is all about the kids sports where I handle the arts, the list goes on. 

We BOTH do however LOVE our ink :)

We didn't require a huge fairy tale wedding, hell we are still laid back on our date nights. As a matter of fact Saturday night we had not kids for the longest time and what did we do?

Had Chex Mix for dinner and watched movies... 

Here's to more years of our beautiful chaos 

Welcome to Inked and Sassy: Let Me Introduce Myself

First let me say Welcome!

 

I am so thrilled that you have taken time out of your day to stop by and read my blog.

 

I have been blogging off and on now for about 4 to 5 years and for quite some time now I have thought about starting fresh on my blog.

I have had this desire to shake things up a bit with not only my blog but with my business and I figured I might as well do it all at the same time!

 

Crazy I know....

 

If you followed my old blog I hope that you enjoyed it and if you didn't feel free to hop over there and catch up on what you missed on some of our series that will soon be featured here.

 

 For some reason I am now locked out of that account ever since my computer did the windows 10 update (got to love technology) so truthfully I was kind of forced at hand to start this new one sooner than I wanted BUT everything happens for a reason so I will take it and run with it!

 

The old blog didn't really have a set "theme", I was FAR from consistent AND I was really wanting to not have to play catch up from ALL the posts I have missed over the last year or so...

 

 

ANYWAYS....

 

Here's a little about me:

 

My name is Sandra...

I currently live in Arkansas and have been here for almost 5 years but was born and raised in Southern California until I moved to Sweet Home Alabama in my late teens.

Alabama became my home where I married my husband of 8 years:

 

 

 and was granted the honors of becoming a mom to my 3 daughters; Dakota 13, Alora 12, and Aaliyah 8.

 I am a recovering teen mom ;) I started my party early!

 

 

 

I am currently a back again SAHM raising the kids, managing the house and husband plus I am thinking about going back to school in the spring and because my life isn't chaotic enough I am trying to start up my own photography studio and boutique.

 

CRAZY SHIT RIGHT?!

 

 

Here on the blog I will share with you guys tons of things like recipes, favorite apps, some sneak peeks into our daily chaotic but beautiful life I should also add dramatic... VERY VERY DRAMATIC... what I have 3 girls!  1 preteen, 1 teen and 2 ADHD sounds like a bad country song... ;)

DON'T JUDGE ME!

I also feature amazing ink work since me and the hubby are both HUGE FANS of the expression and art work in tattoos plus we are INKED ourselves so those will be shared too.

 

I invite you all to go check out our Facebook page and follow us there or right here on blogger!

 

 

Can't wait to see you guys next week!