About Us
Hi, thanks for dropping by!
It took us way too long to write this page. Trying to sum up who we are, while talking about ourselves is weird.
Countless drafts later, here you go...
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We are Lauren, Dean and the famous, Jeffrey aka 'Bubu' the pug.
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I ( Lauren ) am originally from Overland Park, Kansas. Right outside Kansas City (GO CHIEFS!)
{insert Wizard of Oz reference.}
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Dean is from a very small town in New Brunswick, Canada ( He calls it BFC, Bum F#ck Canada, lol- he ain't lyin' ) right on the border of Northern Maine.
We both have lived in Florida since the late 1990's. It's weird to think that I have been in Florida for more than half my life now, but I still can't bring myself to say Florida is where I am from. I will always be a midwestern, KC girl at heart. As ALL the people love to cleverly mention once they find out where I am from, "there is no place like home," right?
Jeffrey is our amazing, rescue pug. When I saw handicapped, Jeffrey on a pug rescue website 15 years ago- I knew that he had to be mine. He is extra special with a deformed leg, and now currently blind and deaf. He is 16 years young, (whhhat??), and just the toughest, best pup in the world.
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As we were enjoying life in the sunshine state, we met through mutual friends in 2005 and would see each other out at bars, concerts, etc. At the time, I was in a ( not so great) relationship and Dean would always tease me and say, "Let me know when you are single!" Fast forward a few years later, and Dean got a call from a friend saying, "Guess who is single?" lol
Not long after that we were together and Dean was moving in with me.
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We bought our dream house on a lake with plenty of room for the family we both hoped for in 2013. We got married the following year in 2014 at our favorite beachside hotel and were excited for what was to come!
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Little did we know that we were about to get the "worse" of our "for better or worse" vows very early on.
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We will get into a lot more details as we go. It is WAY too much for an 'about us' page, but I'll just add a quick summary.
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2 floods In our home
2 failed IUI
3 failed IVF rounds
1 stage 3c colon cancer diagnosis
1 stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis
oh and a pandemic!
all in 4 years.
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No, this isn't a reality TV show, this is our crazy life. We have been dealt a difficult hand. However, some things have remained... That is our strong love for each other, our positive attitudes, our passion for life, helping others and making people smile.
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Why "Image If?"
After going through many of the above listed obstacles we had no other choice but to realize, Life is short- Things can change in an instant. So instead of continuing to say, "one day we should do this or that." Why not do it now?
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We sold our house in the middle of Dean fighting cancer ( more details on that to come) because, why not, right!? Decided to rent for a year and take a "break." Then, started discussing this crazy idea.
Imagine if we bought an RV, travel all across the US exploring and share our journey with photos and videos.
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Imagine if during our travels we tell our story to maybe help others get through a hard time, make someone laugh, have someone relate if they have gone through something similar?
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Imagine if we also take the opportunity to raise awareness and funds to causes and charities that have become such a passion of ours.
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So, we turned this crazy idea into a reality. We got our camper. It's an Imagine Grand Design. ( You see what we did there? lol )
We are doing it. Life is short! So, We are taking the leap. What else could possibly go wrong, right!?
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Imagine if no one reads this, or follows us or cares? LOL. That is okay. We are fine with that. We are doing this for us and if we can help ANYONE along the way? That is awesome.
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We hope you enjoy our journey.
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-Lauren & Dean
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