The first time I met Amber & Garrett for a session, it was raining. It wasn’t pouring down rain, but it definitely wasn’t ideal for a photoshoot. Instead of canceling, they wanted to make sure I got some pictures of their dog Vido because we wasn’t doing to well and they didn’t know how much longer he was going to live. So, for about 15 minutes we ventured into the mist to grab some shots of Amber, Garrett, Aspen, and Vido. After the shoot, we rescheduled for another day a week or two later. Only a few days later, Amber sent me an email saying that Vido went to puppy heaven and she was so thankful we got the shots that we did of the pup. In honor of Vido, I did this post, hoping to cheer them up a little!

The good news was that we got to reschedule for a nice, sunny evening, with perfect weather for just the two of them. Since our first meeting, Eric & I had a chance to hang out with the Wigintons (we are always happy to make new friends!) and so on the second shoot I felt like we were old friends. It was fun to joke with them and just see them comfortably together. Although, I know most guys are NOT comfortable in front of the camera (believe me, almost every session the girl says “He really doesn’t enjoy pictures”), but just knowing certain things about them as a couple allowed for lots of casual conversation and fun moments during the shoot!

Amber & Garrett, I’m so glad you booked a session so we could become friends! Now you have some new pictures for your beatiful red accent wall!

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

Lucky me, I got the pleasure of photographing the Caywood family the day before they moved to Millry, Alabama! We had fun walking around the park they spent a lot of time at as a family during their time in Granbury. Garrett and Betti are going to be working in the youth ministry at a church in Millry and were just beaming with excitement over what the Lord is doing in their lives. I really enjoyed spending the morning with them and just hearing about all the excitement.

It was so fun to capture their sweet family as they transition into the next season of life. Betti and Garrett, I pray huge blessings over you, your new church family, and of course the students you will be working with! Keep me updated on all that God does through you guys!

Top of the morning to you all!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I unfortunately came down with a nasty cold when I was out with the pastor’s wives this weekend. We went to IKEA on Friday morning and I started feeling sluggish. By late afternoon all I could think about what laying down in a dark cool room. Even though I hadn’t seen Eric in a week since he had been in South Carolina visiting friends, I just couldn’t wait to sleep. When I got home, Eric wasn’t home. I figured he was either out on a call (he’s a volunteer firefighter) or had run an errand. Just as I was about to hop in my comfy bed and lay my head down on a soft pillow, I got a call from my dad. He told me he and my mom were with Eric was in the Emergency Room. My dad let me know that Eric had gone to fight a fire and gotten heat exhaustion and was dehydrated. The medics had taken him on in to the hospital because of an elevated heart beat and wanted to give him some fluids, but he was doing just fine.

I have to admit that for a few minutes I felt very selfish. After all, I WAS feeling terrible and shouldn’t Eric know better than to not drink enough water? Didn’t he know his limits when he was fighting fires? It was JUST my luck to have just gotten home from driving through the worst TRAFFIC - in the POURING RAIN - with my nose dripping like the Niagra Falls & my head feeling like it could be somewhere in OUTER SPACE. Oh no… I couldn’t possibly just have ONE night for Eric to feel sorry for me, to take care of me, and to tuck me tightly into my bed before the sun went down. Poor me.

And then I realized that none of that brought glory to God. I had a decision to make. I could either: A.) Be mad at Eric for being at the hospital from his lack of hydrating his own body, which was making me stay out of bed when I’m ACTUALLY sick  - also from knowing that we will have a  HUGE bill from the emergency room - and also from the fact that I’d been looking forward to running into the house to his open arms for the first time in a week… and now he was laying on a rolly-bed hooked up to 3 different machines with a dress on (not romantic)

or

B.) I could choose to bring God glory in an non-ideal situation. I quickly chose B and repented for being so selfish. I thanked God for keeping my husband safe and the fact that the only thing that happened to him was dehydration and that he would be able to come home with me that night when many people around the world lost someone they loved that day. I then prayed for God to provide the finances that we needed to pay for the medical bills. I knew we did not have the money for it, so it would need to be supernatural provision from the Lord. Finally, I chose to be excited to see my husband despite the circumstances and stay positive throughout the evening all for the Glory of God.

After staying at the hospital until 12:30Am, eating Whataburger (sans my Diet Dr. Pepper Eric dropped while getting out of the car) around 1AM,  and finally getting into bed well into the wee hours of the morning, I looked back on the evening able to boast in the Lord. It was SO good to see all that God did because I allowed Him the room to move. During the 5 hours at the hospital, Eric and I had amazing conversation about all he learned on his trip and all that the Lord had been doing in his life last week. He also shared how the Fire Marshall came up to the ER and told him that the county would cover the medical bill (hello supernatural provision) and I felt closer to my husband than I had felt in weeks. What a neat time for God to bless us despite the circumstances.

I pray that I can give God more permission in my life by choosing B. more often!

Even though my illness escalated on Saturday and I ended up having to give over the Worship Leading for Sunday to my husband (who is amazing at planning on a whim and did a superb job in worship), I felt good enough to put together all the goodies I bought from IKEA! Eric and I spent yesterday afternoon pretty-ing up the house a bit. I always enjoy just being with him and it was double awesome to spiff up the house together!

I thought y’all might want to see some pictures. Am I right?

Here is the front room before (ish):

And now with a little redecorating…

I bought 3 new canvases to put on our walls. This one is a 20X30.

Close up! Pictures taken by the talented Erin Woolsey.

The other 20X30 canvas of our family!

Our living room before (ish):

And now:

A 30X30 Canvas! LOVE IT!

Our bedroom before (ish):

With the help of IKEA:

Love this lamp shade!

And here is the bedside table that Eric put together from IKEA. If you don’t know, IKEA uses pictures ONLY for instructions. Poor Eric had quite a time putting it together, but he did it! It looks awesome!

Here’s the upstairs guest room before we moved into the house:

And now it’s a full fledge guest room (or Micah’s room):

Got that little bench for $5 at a garage sale. So proud.

Don’t even pretend like this isn’t the cutest thing ever.

My office before we moved in:

Now:

Curtains from IKEA!

And the good ol’ college diploma. At least it’s good for decorations!

More pictures that I posted a while back of our house are here if you are bored.

In order to honor a very special dog, I interrupt my normal blogging pattern. This family wasn’t the next in line for blogging, but I wanted to do a special blog. I hope that’s okay with everyone. My new friends, Amber & Garrett, emailed me not too long ago asking if I could do a photoshoot with them and their dogs! Well, of course I said yes. I LOVE little doggies. Or big doggies. Or animals in general (just ask my photography partner, Micah… she laughs at how much compassion I have for animals… and how much I desire to take their pictures… HA!). Anyway, when I found out a little more about their dog, Vido, I was even more compelled to squeeze in a photoshoot for them!

Garrett got Vido when he was 8 years old. All together, he has been in the Wiginton family for FIFTEEN YEARS! Since Garrett and Amber got married, Amber also became the adoptive mom to Vido and they were all very happy together. Recently, they found out that Vido had a tumor in his stomach and he did not have very much longer to live. Thankfully, in order to remember Vido and his happy-go-lucky attitude, we got to have a photoshoot of all of them together.

It is with deep regret that I tell you that Vido had to be put to sleep yesterday. Amber and Garrett, I know you will miss him so much, but I pray that these photographs will bring joy to you! It is with pleasure that I present: Vido!!