Hi readers! Today’s post is special because I’m directing it towards only one person. It’s the person who God chose to use in order to sweep me off my feet, and draw me closer to Him. It’s the person that He chose to bring an incredible amounts of overflowing joy into my life - to bring laughter from the depths of my soul that I had no idea existed. This post is written for my sweet husband, Eric, on our 3 year anniversary. *But feel free to read along with him.

To the man who’s length of a relationship with me has FINALLY surpassed the length of my longest relationship - record held by Austin Christian from Kindergarten to third grade- haha (shout-out to Chamberlin Elementary):

Sometimes I forget how blessed I am to be your wife. I’m not trying to be sappy because it’s our anniversary, but I think you should know how I think about you and our relationship. You truly were a gift to me from the Lord. Not just because I got a husband out of the deal… I mean, being married is definitely a gift. But what I really mean is that God laid out specific gifts for me by bringing you into my life. Like here’s one. He saved me from a LOT of unnecessary heartache and guilt. I’ve always wanted to be married (OBVIOUSLY - I had a boyfriend in Kindergarten! Most kindergarten-ers think boys are ICKY). I truly believe that because of a lot of insecurities I had as a teenager and also because I always desired to be married, I dated a lot. Too much, really. I dated some really nice guys and I dated some… well… I just shouldn’t have gone there. When you came into my life, the Lord knew the paths that I was choosing for myself and honestly, he just saved me from a lot of pain. He saved me from unnecessary baggage that I would have had to carry. You were a blessing to me because God wanted to show me what His love was really like through you. I just had never experienced that kind of unconditional love before and you showed it to me. You still show it to me everyday. Wow. Using you, He swept me off my feet.

God also gifted me with this CRAZY joy that I had never experienced before. Although I was always a happy person, through you, He brought true laughter into my soul. Cooks, you are FUN-NY. My life would be SO boring without you. I love the fact that we are SO silly together, we laugh at everything, and sometimes it’s just fun to be immature. Riding carts down the aisles at Wal-mart? Rapping and beat boxing in the car? Giggling when something sounds like a fart? I hope we still act like kids when we’re old. Why does life have to be so serious and boring? I’m so blessed to have been taught that by you. I remember being SOO embarrassed when you acted silly in front of other people. I didn’t want people to think that I was immature because of you. Oh the Lord has taught me so much about what it means to be joyful and what it means to respect my husband for who he is. I’m a lot more silly now because of you and I LOVE it. I love who God is forming me to be through you.

I could go on and on about how many blessings I’ve received JUST because you asked me to be your wife, but I will only share one more. I just want to thank you for being patient with me while God is teaching me to be more like Him. I know that you see how He’s using you in a mighty way through worship at StoneWater, but he’s using you in a mighty way in my life, too. I’m learning every day about unconditional love, about respect, about patience, and really about righteousness. I know that when I screw up, God gives me the encouragement that I need to keep going - a lot of times He does that through you. I love how the Lord has put us on this path together, to run this race together, to seek His face together. I enjoy worshiping the Lord with you more than ANYTHING in this entire world. Worship is my favorite favorite favorite favorite thing to do… I just love to give glory to God… and to do it with you… well, it’s just indescribable.

God is using you in a mighty way in my life, Eric. I hope you see that. He didn’t just put you in my life so that we would live “happily ever after,” but He’s truly blessed me with the PERFECT person to accomplish a mission with. There is no one I’d rather spend my life with than you. No. One. I love you more than chocolate cupcakes. Happy Anniversary.

Pictures by Visions In White Photography

On my way out to the Langdon Ranch, I saw THE biggest snake I’ve ever seen. HUGE. I mean it. Way bigger than the one that was in my kitchen. I mean, this thing took up half the width of the dirt road. It had to be at LEAST 5 feet long. I think that’s part of being out in the country… So once I got past the snake, I was super excited to find some non-snakey locations to photography this sweet little gal. We had fun using different props and trying to get some raw emotions out of her!

The Langdons go to StoneWater Church with us and I was so thrilled when they contacted me to do a photo session of their daughter. Hopefully I got some treasures for their family! By the way, I was feeling a lot of vintage washes and textures for this set of pictures, so let me know what you think!

A few months ago, I got the pleasure of celebrating Kim’s graduation with a photoshoot. Her mom got to hang out with us and it was so fun to see them buddy together! A few weeks later Kim’s mom, Linda, contacted me to see if I could do a photoshoot of her other daughter, Rachel. Of course, I was more than delighted!

Rachel and Kim are polar opposites. Both incredibly sweet, kind, and fun, but SO different in lots of ways. It was so neat to hear the story from Kim’s mom about how they prayed for a little baby girl, finally got pregnant, went to to get an ultrasound, and it was a boy. Although excited, they were a little disappointed because they had been praying for a girl. When the day finally came for the baby to be born, they were incredibly surprised and delighted when the doctor told them they just had a baby GIRL! How cool that God did that for them? I don’t know what the ultrasound tech saw when she did the exam, but God heard their prayers and gave them a little girl. So awesome.

So anyway… here’s their baby… who is no longer a baby anymore! She’s going to be in the 8th grade next year! Rachel, thank you for letting me spend the evening with you taking pictures of your beautiful self! You are awesome, girl!

I love the Green Kids! They have made several appearances on my blog - such as Here and Here - and I’m always happy to hear that Morgan wants more pictures of her family! She and I are kindred spirits when it comes to pictures of family! This session is also special because Morgan’s husband, Tanner, is in the Army and is going to be stationed in Kentucky in June. It’s sad to see them go, but I know they will be back to see their family and hopefully I can snag some photographs of them whenever they make a return!

We had a short session one morning last week and I enjoyed every minute of running after the kids grabbing whatever shots I could get! Morgan, I love you, girl and I pray for so many blessings in your life, in your marriage, and in your family! And don’t forget to call when you come back to Texas for a visit! Enjoy your pictures!

This session marked my one and only “Bluebonnet Session” of the season! You gotta love those Texas bluebonnets! We woke up early for the shoot in order to get some soft light - lo-and-behold the light was BRIGHT! So much for soft light at 7:30 in the summer-time! Goodness! I think we made it work, though! These two kid are super precious and very well behaved… not to mention dressed to a T! I loved their little outfits that their mom picked out for them!

Jenni, I hope these are exactly what you were wanting! I enjoyed meeting you guys for an early morning shoot! Hope to do it again soon!