Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Thursday, December 25, 2014

The Boy becomes the Fiance

I should be asleep, but I am feeling contemplative, sentimental, and very excited!! This has been a crazy couple days, but some of my favorite ones ever! Christmas today was so special. I love my family so much and being able to spend a day together like today was truly a blessing. Saturday was pretty great as well ;) A lot of people have asked me, "how did he do it?" and because I love the documentation of my blog, I decided to post the story here (for those not following along on Instagram). 

I love a good story. Romantic comedies are the best... And ours is my favorite! Maybe someday I'll tell the story of how unlikely our love story was when we first met. How a weird punk boy met a weird homeschooled girl (who didn't look at boys, talk to boys, or interact with boys in any way) and how they teased and texted and eventually fell in love (with each other's weirdness). But that story is for a different time. Tonight it is the story of how this boy went from being a special man to being a very special man. 

We first chatted at Bubble Island three Novembers ago. He brought me back there on Saturday morning (even though he hates the tea) only to find that it was closed for renovations. Although it was kind of a bummer, we made the most of it and he escaped without having to drink Bubble tea a second time in his life ;) Right next to Bubble Island was a bookstore. We walked by and he saw my head turn and my pace slow. He asked me if I wanted to go in. I knew this was a special day and part of me just wanted to skip ahead to the end. But the other (very large part) wanted to go into that quaint little shop with him and just enjoy the day. He smiled encouragingly and I nodded. The door bell jingled as we entered and I am so glad that we went in after all! It smelled like epic stories and ancient wisdom. On our challenge to find the oldest, we bumped into one that had "1899" printed in the cover! I felt like Belle in the beast's library! It was such a fun way to start the best day ever. 
After the bookstore, he took me down memory lane on campus. Because I always have to go there to pick him up, we have had some crazy adventures on that campus. Sometimes it is fun to think about my parents walking the same trails and making the same discoveries that we are making. Campus is a great place to be! As we talked about some of our favorite things (like Reese Peanut Butter Cups and Pentel RSVP Pens), he pulled them out of his pockets and gave them to me! It was somewhat random, yet so fantastic! Then he told me a silly story about an old myth. He explained the story and contrasted it with the infinite love of God (at which point he pulled out of his pockets the fluffiest, white, infinity scarf of all time!) I was laughing so hard and the imagery and preciousness of the moment. 
Next - in memory of our first (semi-awkward) adventure (modernly called date), we played football in front of his dorm. The air was freezing and eventually he asked if I wanted to do something that didn't hurt my hands in the cold. I walked around the car to discover that he had bubbles!!!! For the next blissful minutes I ran through the bubbles while he blew them across the grass... it was magical :) (I'm basically a three year old at heart). Lastly, he took me to the MSU gardens where I take a lot of photos. We sat on a bench and sang camp songs with his guitar. I love the way he sings and plays music. After two of my favorite camp songs, he asked me if I knew the next one. My eyes were fixed to the strings as he proceeded to play me a song he has written!!! It was perfect. I told myself that I wouldn't cry, but the moment he got down on one knee it became something that was out of my control. I've never been more excited to answer a question in all my life! (Although it did take me a minute to gather myself enough to respond) haha and then the giggles and smiles abounded! (Ohhh and after I sobbed "yes" he slipped the prettiest ring on my finger!) 

The next thing to do was have a party! Xav brought balloons and party poppers for the occasion and we spent some time in the parking lot running around and celebrating. We then called our families to tell them the news. Samantha's response will be forever cherished in my heart! She was screaming congratulations through her tears; I've never heard anything more precious! I am so blessed by these people <3 

And that is how he did it! Turns out, he had saved the list of my favorite things that we swapped when we first started dating and used it as the basis for this day (i.e. bubbles, books, Bubble Island, Reeses, pens, balloons, guitar-singing, meaningful words, etc) SO AMAZING! Hopefully I will get the photos up here soon as well as other stories that come to mind. Sometimes these story telling moods happen late at night and I just go with it (but usually I just go to sleep! *whoopsie*). I hope that you all had a joyous and blessed Christmas, what a gift that we celebrate! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night :)

Thursday, August 21, 2014

A Summer Night

"The simplest things are most often the truest..." - unknown


Last night we ventured out to the Demerly's farm for a quiet night of sunshine and animals. It was the first time I had gone anywhere in a week and it was so peaceful to just walk (slowly) around their farm with my camera in hand. These pictures are worth more than the words I could say about them so I'll just let this post be picture-heavy.


























Thursday, August 7, 2014

Haddie Lounds // Newborn

“The delicate fingers, the wrinkled toes, oh the wonders of a baby that the mother knows.” – Anonymous


I was absolutely thrilled when I got an email from Mallorie a few weeks before she was due to have her baby. I had been wanting to do a newborn shoot so badly and now I had one on the calendar for 5-12 days after their little girl was born. I could hardly contain myself when I got the announcement that she had arrived and found it especially hard to concentrate at work the morning before the shoot. I had used the excuse of having this scheduled to finally buy a bean bag (with liquid resistant fabric) and a soft, plus, queen-sized blanket. I was so ready to try out my new props!

She slept for the first half of the shoot and then wanted to look at her family for the rest of it. It was all so precious! Here are some of the images from the session. I enjoyed watching Haddie's family interact with her and how it is so obvious that they love her. She is a cherished little sister and daughter. 

















 




Friday, June 6, 2014

Corey Family Portraits

I had the wonderful privilege of doing family pictures for some dear friends of ours and their extended family this week. We met at a beautiful park and I absolutely loved the color scheme they had chosen. I had a lot of fun, despite the mosquitoes and they all did great being photogenic and happy :) I have two other photo shoots that I still need to post from the last month as well as another one taking place tomorrow. So exciting to be home for a summer and be able to schedule shoots!




“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” 
 A.A. MilneWinnie-the-Pooh