RSVP STUDIOS

Is there anything like a much needed vacation? And how come you wait all year to take one and before you know it it’s over? I remember the glory days of when I was in my 20′s and my kids were in elementary school. They were so easy to please, all we had to do was pack em into the mini van and head for Disneyland or San Deigo for the weekend and see Shamoo. Remember the wax figurenes, or the toy handcuffs or mouse ear hats?

Fast forward to the here and now. Kids are grown and have their own money, or kinda have their own money but dads always good for a loan and dinner, and the last thing they want to do is hang out with Mom and Dad especially once their stomachs are full and dads wallet is empty. Case in point, last month we took a drive up to San Antonio and stayed at the River Walk. (If you’ve ever done this then you know what I’m talking about and if you haven’t you need to. It’s way cool.) Anyways, it’s me, my wife, my two daughters (last two at home anyways.) and their friend Chelsea. The first place on the agenda is Sea World. (which is totally different then the one in San Diego, but still cool) As we’re getting closer to our destination, we can see the outline of a roller coaster slithering along the horizion. We’re like miles aways and this thing looks like a giant Anaconda reflecting on the hood of our car. If you don’t know my girls or have any of your own yet, you’re in for a real treat once they hit their teenage years. When we lived in California we lived near Six Flags to which they had season passes and called their weekend home. Anyways, I could feel the heart rates in the back seat elevating as they contemplated the enormity of the coster in the distance, a ride my wife and I were determined not to be taking. Needless to say, and much to my surprise, my wife and I were the only ones that actually rode it. Go figure.

Okay, so back to what I’ve been trying to get to. The day were due to leave we’re walking along the River Walk poking in and out of the shops and attractions when the girls want a gelato. Next to the gelato place is one of those soulvenir shops that specializes in stone candles. I was totally blown away at how beautiful these things were. Amber in color rock that had been polished to perfection. I’m not one to spend a fortune on stuff like this but these things were totally cool. The way they work is by setting a small candle inside them and then they magnify that light, the whole rock glows and has that cool old world look unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. So I decided to drop a few bucks on a set of three of them. My wife thought I was nuts, especially when it cost 100 bucks, but I was really diging these things. I light em almost every night before I go to bed and the candles will burn themselves out within three or four hours. Definitely buying more on our next trip in October.

So my daughter Moriah needs a car, (funny how fast they grow up) and for the last several weeks we’ve been on the look out for something affordable but reliable. My thinking has been to spend around 10K, but her budget is more like 5K. Working at Walgreens while she finishes school doesn’t allow for much but I thought we might be able to help her out. We had boughten a used Mazda 6 about a year and a half ago and I thought, well we could sell her that car for between 8 and 9k since we only owed 4500 and use the difference to put down on another car for us. So we went the used car dealer we purchased the car from for 13900.00 and guess how much they offered us for the car? 7K. So I looked at the salesman and said, are you saying that in the year and a half we’ve had this car we lost 7k in value. He said, ”We’ll that’s the cash value to us.” I said, “Yeah but all you’re doing is padding your pocket with our trade and reselling it to our daughter and then your selling us another car as well. Sounds like a sweet deal for you to me.” And we left.

What a joke! I mean seriously, do they think we’re that stupid? Obviously. So here’s the part I really hate. Then we turn to Craig’s list to look at used cars from private parties and having boughten my share of cars over the years I know that it’s hard to find a good car at a great price. But my daughter seems to think otherwise, and doesn’t mind stating it to me in as matter of factly a way as a 19-year-old can. “I’m telling you Moriah, cars that are only 4 to 6 years old with less than 100K miles don’t sell for 1500.00. It’s a scam. It’s worse than a scam, it’s a scammy scam!” Her usual reply is something like, “Don’t be a hater, Dad…” And she will email the seller. Unfortunately when shopping on Craigslist you don’t really know who you’re dealing with because you usually only get an email address, so you don’t know if the car is even in the USA until they email you back. One thing we’ve found is that every car that looked to good to be true has been supposedly owned by someone in the military who was being shipped overseas and the car would have to be shipped from the state they lived in, which was usually well over a 1000 miles away. Funny how people in Florida have to try to sell their cars to people in Houston isn’t it? Long story short, we go on Craigslist last night and guess what appears at the top of the page? A warning: CARS THAT MUST BE SHIPPED ARE SCAMS!!! My daughter finally got it.

But Craigslist can be a great resource so she kept searching for that perfect car that would fit both her budget and image. Eureka!! “Dad, here’s an 06 Camry for only $1500, it only has 78K miles and is in mint condition.” Red flags go up all around the campfire. ”Riah” I said. “Do you really think they only want $1500. That cars in better shape than our Mazda and I wouldn’t sell it for 7K even to you.” Her reply, “I’m emailing em.” I scratched my head and say, “Fine, email em.” Well bright and early this morning a knock comes on the bedroom door. “Mom, Dad… They emailed me back and blah, blah, blah. The person’s in the military and the car is in perfect condition, but they will ship it from Greece.” SCAM!!!!

Seems to me people in the military aren’t that desperate to sell their cars and wouldn’t it cost more to ship a car from Greece then the $1500 their asking? To top it off they say that you will be protected via eBay motors and the money will be put in an account on hold until after 10 days you’ve decided that you want or don’t want the car. What if it were a legit deal and we decided we don’t want the car? Who pays to ship it back? SCAM, SCAM, SCAM!!!

So two things I definitely hate are Car Dealers and Crooks preying on the less experienced…

This weeks “Photo of the Week” was taken at Keven and Rhonda’s wedding several weeks ago. It had been raining extremely hard all day and I wondered if it would affect the ceremony, thank goodness it was indoors, after all people don’t like to drive in the rain. (A big shout out for vallet parking!) By the  time the reception had seriously gotten underway I stole Keven and Rhonda away for a few alone shots. The weather had broken enough for this amazing sunset. I only wish we could see more of it, but we made the best of our circumstances and pulled this shot off. Love it or hate it I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Click Image to Enlarge

For me the Bridal session should really capture the bride to be in the absolute best light possible. When I shoot a bridal I really want to capture something artistic, something that will be timeless and admired by all not just because it’s a beautiful portrait, but also because it turns ordinary people into art. I think we did that with a few a Amy’s images, see if you agree.

Posted by Houston Wedding Photographers | RSVP Studios | Scott Villalobos