Ohh happy day! It is 2016! How crazy is that?!?! ;) So exciting to start a New Year with new beginnings!
For all of you who recently got engaged… CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You are embarking on one of the most AMAZING journeys of your life together! We could not be more excited for you!!!
Please let us know if we can help you all in any way! Yes, we are wedding photographers and would LOVE to meet your wedding photography needs. However, we are also BIG believers of LOVE and would love to help you start your marriage on an AMAZING track! ;) Check out our non-profit site at www.amazinglifetogether.com for more details on that!
In the meantime, we have asked our AMAZING Liz and Ryan couples from 2015 to reflect back on their wedding and share some of their feedback and lessons learned from their own weddings! It is our hope that their thoughts shared through a series of blog posts in the next few weeks will help you all as you plan for the first day of your AMAZING marriage together! ;)
Here’s to an AMAZING 2016! Let’s make it one that is overflowing with LOVE!
A few weeks ago we had one of our brides and grooms and their families over to share their wedding photos with them for the first time. As we gathered in our living room, the family started asking us about our family. We quickly pulled out our “What Does Family Mean to You” album and started sharing all about the fun we had making the album! Then we got really crazy and decided to share the video we made to go along with the album! As the tears filled my eyes again, I was reminded of how truly special our family is! Our bride and groom and their families were in awe. The love that radiates the pages of that book and the truth that is shared through the words on the video struck us as if we had never seen the pictures or heard the words before. That evening we were blessed with the reminder of how truly special family is… and even more importantly… how truly special OUR family is!
During the photo shoot for the album we asked everyone the same simple question, “What does family mean to you?” Today we wanted to reflect on that a little further. So we decided to think of a word that starts with each letter in family. Faith: Family is having faith in each other. Faith that we can count on each other no matter how hard or difficult something may seem. And having faith that someone will always be there to stand by our side. Always: Family is always there. If we need advice on taking a new job, taking care of each other when we are sick, or just someone to make us laugh and turn a not so good day into a happy day, we can always count on family. Memories: Trips to Disney World, campfires outback, graduations, weddings, and so many more. The most important memories in our lives have always been when family surrounds us. Inspiring: Family is inspiring! It amazes us to see all the incredible things our family does each day with their lives. We are all unique and different but all amazing and inspirational! Love: Family is unconditional love. No matter how difficult things may seem in life, family is there to love us unconditionally. Youth: Thinking of family brings back memories of our youth, playing tag, baseball in the backyard, and fun family picnics. Youth is also the refreshing of family with new children, nieces, and nephews. No matter what, when we are around family, we never feel old, but instead like we are always in our youth.
I think Liz’s MeMe summed it up best: “I pray every night that our family loves one another and does for one another… When anybody is in need that they will be there to help them. That’s my prayer of life.” – MeMe
Over the past few weeks, with wedding season in full swing, we found ourselves in a bit of a cycle. We would wake up, blog, work, work, work, and work some more, until it was time for our fav tv show to come on (The Bachelorette, of course) and then we would move our work station to the couch and continue to work. Seriously, that was pretty much the story of our days! We were getting the work done, but we struggled to make time for balance.
Last week, we decided to switch it up! We took a little time off the blog and found time for us. Everyday we took a long walk just to enjoy the moment! It was pretty magical. Even though our days were still very productive and hardworking, by the end of the week I said to Ryan, “I feel like we are on vacation.”
However, it definitely took me till the end of the week to actually slow down and realize it is ok, in fact… it is actually a good thing to find balance. I am still working on that everyday! We have the hardest time taking breaks and taking time for ourselves knowing there is always something to be done for the business!
Last week, we had a little lesson in spontaneity. As we were about to walk out the door to head to the coffee shop for the day, Ryan proposed that we take some time to do something fun before we left. I pretty much freaked out. lol. Seriously, we had a plan to go to the coffee shop so my head was already running through everything that we had to get done while we were there. (I am finally realizing that this is a major difference between men and women! I hear there is a book called Men are Like Waffles – Women are Like Spaghetti by Pam Farrel where she talks about this very thing… I will be reading it soon! ;) ). Anyway… after I freaked out and then got upset because I felt like I was ruining all of the fun (am I crazy?!?! ;) )… we decided to take a walk.
We walked down to Inner Harbor and as we walked by the fountain, Ryan decided to test my spontaneity! ;) I said, “we should go run through the fountain” (as a joke, of course). And as soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew I had to do it. With Ryan laughing at me and thinking I would never do it, I said I have to, “I want to be spontaneous!” It was my way of redeeming myself and reminding myself that I am actually fun when I take the time to be! ;)
So, amongst the 20 little kids running around in only their bathing suits, I found myself in the middle of the fountain, fully clothed, with the biggest smile on my face! If this is what it always feels like to be spontaneous, we should all do it more often!
I am going to continue to work on that.
Yep thats me. In the center in the green shirt. (Sorry for the iphone pic! ;) )
Earlier this week we were outside walking together and our conversation went a little like this:
Ryan: “We go together like peanut butter and jelly”
Liz: “I love peanut butter and jelly! What kind of peanut butter would you be?”
Ryan: “Chunky of course” suddenly feeling a little self conscious of my weight and what the implications of being chunky peanut butter might entail I quickly changed my mind “…er, wait, I don’t want to be chunky, I’d be smooth because I am so smooth ;)”
Liz: “How about smooth with just a few little nuts”
I think we will stop the story there. :) ….
This past week while we were editing photos from Kait and Adam’s wedding we came across a particularly funning photo of Liz at the end of the night. I showed it to her and we couldn’t help but laugh. Check out the photo below and leave your best caption in the comments section. :) Whoever said laughter is the best medicine was definitely right. This was the second to last photo taken at Kait and Adam’s wedding. I was setting the camera up to take a self portrait of Liz and I with Kait and Adam and did a quick test shot for exposure. Little did Liz know her mid yawn/snear/my arm itches pose (we still have no idea what she was doing) would end up on the blog. :)
Sometimes we get so caught up in our lives and our to do lists that we forget to cut ourselves some slack. Life is supposed to be fun, people! Don’t take yourself so seriously all the time. Allow yourself to laugh at yourself and the rest of the things weighing on your shoulders will suddenly feel so much lighter. Today give yourself grace, laugh a little louder, and most importantly have fun with life!
… And because it wouldn’t be fair to just laugh at Liz, here is my best “It’s the end of the world” face from a session earlier this year.
Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
That battle looks so different for every single person on every single day. Life has this way of throwing you curve balls when you least expect them. (Or is it that we just never want to expect them?) Over the past few days, Ryan’s family definitely received a curve ball and we made a trip home to PA to be with our family. Ryan’s dad had some complications from back surgery and was in the ICU for a few days. (Thank God, he is doing much better now and is resting in the comfort of home.) As we hung out with him in the hospital for a few days, we were reminded of how precious this life is. The hospital was full of people who had a story and was certainly fighting a hard battle.
It is during those hard battles that the simplest kind gestures can do so much. Those kind gestures look so different for every single person on every single day. Before we even left Baltimore, we were driving down the street. The car was quiet while our brains went a mile a minute, but neither of us had any idea what to say. We were in the middle of running errands before heading out. As we drove down the street, from a distance I saw this young man walking in our direction. Before I could even see his face, he had a certain something about him that just stood out to me. As he got closer, all we could see was his HUGE smile. He was walking by himself, no phone in hand, and with no one to talk to. Yet, for what seemed like no reason at all, he had the biggest smile on his face! That smile could not have been missed by anyone… and I think that is every reason he was wearing that BIG smile. It certainly was a smile that Ryan and I definitely needed that day.
Be kind… a smile can be everything that someone needs to help them through their hard battle.
