Last October, we had only gotten a few hours of sleep because we had been babysitting for a friend, so we were maybe a little sillier than usual when we took our sunrise and beyond engagement photos. I’m glad Ryn Manby, our brilliant photographer gave us some of the silly proofs as well!
Mary: “I LOVE being with you!” Stephen: “I know…”
Stephen: “What IS that smell?” Mary (keep smiling) “What smell?”
Nose to nose is best.
Mary: “Stephen, your pull is SO strong!” Stephen: “Uhh…actually it’s a train.”
Wow, it used to be 230 days; now we have only 101 days left until Stephen and I commit ourselves to each other for life! My joy over entering marriage with Stephen is growing, and this engagement season has had its shares of stress, but now is a more tranquil time. Both of us have waited so long to get married that we are just so thankful to have each other and this season.
A wedding season sort of feels like you have your birthday for months because of the congratulations, the parties, gifts, and all the focused love. I treasure this time and am thankful to each of you who have added to the joy.
2016 bursts with a new horizons and beautiful people to connect with and enjoy! Happy New Year, Wonderful Blog Friends. Here’s some more shots of California: Continue reading →
“Mary, I have a question to ask you. Will you be my wife?” Stephen said as he held out the diamond ring. (I had always wondered how the guy would say it: “Mary, will you marry me?” seemed too repetitive; Stephen did it just right!) My smile deepened as I said, “Yes, yes, YES!!!!” as he slipped the solitaire diamond on a simple white gold band onto my finger. The diamond shone in the light, but I focused more on my brand new fiancé. We laughed, cried, and prayed together before going back to the houseboat to share the amazing news. That day, August 13th, 2015, my hands now had three rings distributed between the ten fingers, and there are stories behind each one of them. This is the story of the Celtic knot ring I’ve had for seven years, a ring I wore for two weeks, and the engagement ring I’ll wear the rest of my life.
Those mushrooms made a hearty lunch yesterday, and the cucumber, kiwi, and mango peels were great natural ribbon. I made an S in honor of my fiancé, Stephen! Here’s a couple more shots: Continue reading →
It all began at the College Avenue train station platform back in January of 2013 at 6am… One dark, cold morning as we waited for the train to come to take us downtown Chicago, Stephen stood next to me, and he started talking. He cheerfully said, “Good morning!” and then talked with me until the train arrived. His friendliness surprised me, and he seemed nice; however, since I had just started dating someone else, I kept things cool. We said “Hi!” to each other after that because we often sat in the same train car.
A couple months later, when I sat there talking on the phone to my long-distance boyfriend, after seeing Stephen looking at me, this thought ran through my head: “Why am I dating someone 1,000 miles away when there’s a perfectly interested guy sitting right over there!?” I shook the thought off and dated the long-distance guy until he broke up with me. I wasn’t ready for Stephen then because he both annoyed and intrigued me… (Early in the morning he talked loudly with his train buddies in the train, and he seemed to me like a boring suburbanite…I didn’t know that he had grown up in vineyard country, loved chopping firewood and the outdoors, loved God…I could sense that he was interested, but I had some growing up to do.) Over the next year and a half I tried going on over a dozen first dates with other guys (that never worked out, but) while running into Stephen a few times at church because his friend Lauren had invited him.
I love seeing people in love! Being able to capture photos of the excited love after an engagement happens is an honor. Love has many seasons, and the engagement season contains great joy, so why not take special photos during that time.
Another photography first for me: Last Sunday I snapped engagement photos for my friends. I had a few ideas, and then let them tell me what and where they wanted photos. I clicked away, and some of my favorites are below.
I’ll let the photos show you more of what happened:
Last week my sister married her best friend Danny!
Here’s some helpful and fun things that I learned from helping with my sister’s wedding:
-Ruth gave all of her bridesmaids a soft pink robe to wear as we were getting ready for the ceremony. It made us all feel special and beautiful. The dresses she had us pick from also looked great on all of us; a dusty mauve and we got to pick styles that fit us :).
-Make sure your parents get to the church! When we came down from our hotel room, my parents had missed the shuttle, so we all crowded into the limo, and we all made it to the church in time.
-At the ceremony in the church, just seeing how joyful and happy Ruth and Danny were made me beam! The Ave Maria made me tear up.
-Fresh flowers are worth the money. My sister chose roses, and their fragrance added to the beauty of the day.
-Donuts instead of wedding cake is a fun change of pace. My sister got The Donut Vault to drive their old-fashioned donut truck to the venue to serve amazing, moist cake donuts! Triple chocolate, chestnut, and wedding cake were among the options. My sister had two for everyone, and there were a lot left over.
-Live music and dancing added to the night. Danny and Ruth’s dance lessons paid off because they looked like they knew what they were doing. They are a handsome couple.
-Having over a year to plan gave my sister time to plan a gorgeous wedding. It also gave us time to get closer, so I’m thankful they took so long.
Trees of Transition 
