Unknown's avatar

About 365 days of marriage

I started this blog in April of 2011. At the time, Bret and I were wedding photographers and it was a way to share how marriage is more about the day to day and so much more than the wedding day itself. For about 5 years, I blogged about the joys and sorrows of the Christian walk, marriage, work, family and friends. I’ve blogged every day since a few weeks after I started. In May of 2015, we photographed our last wedding. Now, I have become passionate about simplicity, particularly in marriage, Christianity, business, travel and life. For a number of reasons, we have become minimalists. I’ve found that having simplicity makes life so much deeper, refreshing and joyful. I hope that this blog will help others see the benefits of living simply.

Day 1474 – The Greatest Love Story I Have Ever Witnessed

In my line of work, I see a lot of love stories. Amazing love stories. It’s one of the things that I really really love about my job.

But the greatest love story I want to share today is not the story of one of my couples. It is of a couple from my church. The wife, Carol, fought MS for 26 years of their marriage. She was in a wheelchair the entire time I’ve gone to the church. I have never seen someone care and love more for his wife like Mark did. I can’t do their story justice at all, so, I wanted to re-share a testimony they gave at church.

It is a long one (45 minutes), so if you don’t have time, I recommend jumping to:
9:00 – this is where Mark sings to Carol – super sweet
20:00-23:30ish – this is THE best part. Trust me, if you watch anything, watch this!
28:30 – this is where Mark answers the question “what advice would you give to an engaged couple?”

I got to see this wonderful couple at a few weddings. My favorite thing about them was when Mark would take Carol, in her wheelchair, and dance with her on the dance floor. πŸ™‚

day_01474

I think what makes their story SO great is that their love for each other came from their deep love of Christ. He was at the center of everything for them. They gave Him all the glory for what they had to walk through and wouldn’t have changed a thing. If I have half of their faith in God and love for each other, I will be an overwhelmingly blessed woman.

Day 1473 – Loch Raven Reservoir Maryland Maternity Portraits – Or Another Royal Baby!

Last Tuesday, I had the joy of photographing Mr. & Mrs. Murphy’s maternity session!

Stephanie was our winner from the March Madness Contest and she decided to use it for a maternity session!

This was our first portrait session with the new off camera flash system…HOLY SMOKES!…it makes a HUGE difference! I’m so so so happy with the pictures!

So, why did I tag this #royalbaby? Well, this dear, lovely mom gave birth to her own beautiful prince yesterday!!! I’ll never forget his birthday!!

Here’s a few of my favs…

day_01473a

day_01473b

day_01473c

day_01473d

Check out the rest of the maternity session!

Day 1472 – My Recommended Baltimore Maryland Wedding Vendors

You may notice I talk about the same vendors a lot. You might also notice that I’m friends with a lot/most of them. Now, you might be thinking….hmmm, only sharing info for your friends, eh?

Well, yes, some are friends. Some I have known for a while. BUT, I stand behind every vendor on my recommended vendor list. If something happens with a vendor, I’ll take them down. If I haven’t worked with a vendor for a few years, I’ll take them down. I’m not paid to share their information. I genuinely love the work each of these vendors do.

If you ever have any specific questions, let me know!

day_01472

Day 1471 – My Brides Are Really Similar

For the last week, we’ve been house sitting for two of our brides. I didn’t realize how similar they are until yesterday.

The first house we stayed at was The Ruperts, the second was The Thorsetts.

Here’s how they’re similar!

They both have dogs.
They live within 1.7 miles of each other.
They were married within 1 week of each other.
Mrs. Rupert got her dress at K&B Bridals, Mrs. Thorsett works there!
They both picked a pretty cool photographer. πŸ˜‰
They both have cable and that makes this chick happy! (Let’s not talk about how much TV I’ve watched this week…)

Look how similar their dogs look too!!

day_01471