Happy Birthday, Lilo! | Personal

Happy Birthday, Lilo! | Personal

A few months after Nathan and I got married he started his master's degree online. This was before I ever began my photography business and I'll admit - I very quickly got bored and lonely. As he spent long hours toiling over math problems I could not understand I filled my time with any and everything I could. Still, it just didn't seem like enough.

So in the natural course of married life I decided that I wanted a dog. My dream dog was an Irish setter or a standard poodle, but with Nathan allergic to dander and our condo with no yard, neither was an option. Instead we settled on a cockapoo and I drove about 3 hours to pick up this squirmy black puppy we found...

How to Help a Friend through Grief | Monday Musings

How to Help a Friend through Grief | Monday Musings

This blog has been on my heart for a long time, but I have hesitated to write it because it’s a hard thing to talk about. Though I had experienced loss before, losing Joel made me face true grief in a new and bigger way. We truly could not have made it through that time without our friends, family, and the community that lifted us up as we grieved, both then and now.

One of the biggest blessings to me was that everyone treated Joel like he was our son – because in our hearts he truly is. I was afraid that others would not understand our grief because we never actually got to take him home, and yet the opposite was true. Each person who spoke to us did so with grace, gentleness, and compassion, knowing that we had indeed lost a son...

Downtown Norfolk Wedding | Norfolk Wedding Photographer | Chris + Dana

Downtown Norfolk Wedding | Norfolk Wedding Photographer | Chris + Dana

I have been waiting all year to write this blog, and it's finally here! Chris and Dana have such an amazing story that became the highlight of their wedding day. Years ago, when they were much younger, these two got married without telling anyone. They had two beautiful twin boys together but after several deployments and the hardships of life they got divorced after 5 years.

Anyone can say that marriage is hard, but these two have lived the difficulties. Everything from miscommunications to time spent apart can lead to a result you could never have imagined when you say "I do" to your spouse. But with these two, divorce was not the end of their story. They maintained a friendship and continued to parent their sons and in just 3 years time they began to fall back in love with each other. Last August Chris used Dana's birthday as an excuse to throw a surprise party in the Paragon Theater, ending with Chris down on one knee to ask the love of his life to be his forever - again...