Our April In Their Own Words couple is the amazing Brooke & Matt, who had a kick ass Paola wedding.  They got married last July, and we LOVE them dearly.

I hope that you all enjoy reading these In Their Own Words features, because I’m going to keep sharing them.  Great stories deserve to be shared with the world.  Great stories add meaning and value to our lives.  Great stories should be shared and passed down from generation to generation.  Jenny & I love the fact that we get to play a part in so many great stories.

Brooke – This image pretty much sums up our relationship, and I think that is why I love it so much.  It’s just Matt and me, walking down the road of life together, holding hands.  I don’t think either of us knew this picture was being taken at the time – we had just finished some portraits, and were heading back to meet our wedding party and get the ceremony started.  There was an antique car show outside of our venue on the day of our wedding, so we spent quite a bit of time walking around with Josh looking at all of the cars, and stopping for a photo every now and then.  At this moment though, we were just walking together, not a care in the world, heading in to get married.  It was like it was just him and I walking down this road, like no one else was even around.  I think you can see that in this image, too.  At first glance, all you see is the two of us.  But then as you look a little longer, you notice people and cars here and there in the background.  To us that day, it felt like it was just the two of us, and we were just walking along, starting the journey down our road together.  Even though there were actually a ton of people around, and most of them were staring at us and telling us “congratulations”, we were in our own little world.   It means a lot to me to know that no matter where life takes me, or what road I’m walking down, my husband will be there with me holding my hand along the way (and he’ll even hold my sunglasses for me )

Matt – About an hour before marrying the most beautiful, caring, intelligent woman in my life, we exchanged cards.  Well, I think it was Josh and Jenny that did the exchanging, but when Josh showed me that the two cards were almost identical, I was amazed.  And so was Josh – so much so that he had me hold them so he could get a picture.  Now don’t get me wrong, the card and what she had written inside was beautiful and emotional for me, but you don’t get to see a picture of that because I was trying to be tough in front of the camera.  I am so glad he thought of capturing  this though,  because it meant so much to see another sign that we were meant to be (although I didn’t need another sign, I knew she was the one for me!).  This just goes to show those who don’t know us not only that we think alike, but how we feel about one another, and that is why this is one of my favorite pictures – even though it doesn’t show my beautiful wife, and the sincere words inside the card, I think it says a lot.

Isn’t my wife beautiful? I sure think so.

Jenny & I go WAY back in the day with the Ramirez family.  I’ve known Lorenzo since I was a sophomore in high school and we spent TONS of time together hitting up all the sweet metal shows back in the day (yes, I was a HUGE metal head).  Jenny & I met Kathleen when we were working at Wal-Mart (that seems like FOREVER ago).  Lorenzo was one of my best men in our wedding.  Kathleen was one of Jenny’s bridesmaids.  Long story short, they got married, and now have 2 beautiful children.  They also live far, far away.  Lorenzo is in the Air Force and they are currently stationed in Germany.  They came home for a few weeks recently.  These images capture everything that Jenny & I know and Love about Lorenzo, Kathleen and their kiddos.  Good luck in Afghanistan, bro.  You’re in our prayers for a safe return.

It’s been long enough.  I need to write another one of these what I’m loving posts, not because it’s been a long time, but because I have a few really cool things I’m loving lately.  Enjoy!

The Power of Half – I picked this book up based on the cover (yes, I judge books by their covers), and I’m SO GLAD that I did.  It tells the story of a family who decides to sell their house and donate half the money to a good cause.  It’s an easy read, super inspirational and has definitely inspired some awesome changes in the way Jenny & I not only interact with our kids, but how we choose to give back.  More info on that will be announced soon enough (although if you check out our “fun links” tab at the top, you’ll get an idea of where we’re headed).

I love Sheye Rosemeyer.  Her photography is beautiful.  She’s STRONGER than most of us will ever be (just read through her blog and you’ll know what I’m talking about).  Well, her post the other day, Giving-ness {The Me I Want To Be}, got me thinking. Just read this quote:

“I aspire to live with giving.”

Ok, now go read the rest of the post.  Then, think about all the wonderful things that you have to give to your friends, to your family, to random strangers.  Give freely, give passionately.  We CAN all make a difference.  I know that I’m going to strive to give even more than I already do.  Giving unselfishly all that I possibly can makes me feel good, and that’s what life is all about right?

I want to end with an image from a session I’m working on.  I won’t go into much detail other than:

1. He’s in the military.

2. He’s being deployed in a couple of months.

3. This image is everything I love about photography.  She absolutely LOVES her husband.  When people open up and connect to each other, it’s just beautiful.

The weather is finally nice around here.  Banana needed a break this afternoon from the chaos that was 8 kids (all 5 and under) running around our house, so we headed out back for a quick portrait session.  I don’t know about you, but I think she’s the cutest little basset hound I’ve ever seen.