for month in (month_start, month_end):

    for date in (date_start, date_end):

        try: #this is just a general try in case there is a breakdown in finding one of the elements
            driver.get(url)
            results = driver.find_elements_by_xpath("""//*[@class="results"]/div""")

            for result in results:
                sample_element = result.find_element_by_xpath("blah").text

                #seems to be where the problem starts
                specific_element = ""
                try:
                    #this is a specific element that I know may not exist
                    specific_element = result.find_element_by_xpath(""".//*[@class="specific"]/div""").text
                except NoSuchElementException:
                    specific_element = ""
                    #I have tried pass instead as well with no luck
                #throws an error here and won't continue if the specific element is not found
        except:
            #pretty much a copy of the above try with some changes