More of Hill and Matt :)

More from Matt and Hill's wedding ... everything about this day other than the heat was perfect and beautiful! 

 

Oh the places we have been ...

Peter and I have been married for about a year and a half ... I started reminiscing the other day about all the places we have been over this short period of time. In this week alone we will have traveled through DC to South Carolina to Michigan/Ohio and up to Canada. We have been so blessed with the love we have for each other and this crazy life. We were able to sit and talk for a while on the beach in the mist of this crazy week thankful for all the passions we have been able to pursue, the friends we have and are blessed to see this month and the love that continues to grow for each other and helps point us to the love that Christ has for us. 

So here it goes ... oh the places we have been: 

                                                                                                                                                   

We have moved ... twice. The first place was in need of some serious TCL which we happily gave it and sadly left to move closer to the city. The place we live now we LOVE but it may be moving season again in September... only time will tell... 

                                                                                                                                                   

We got a dog ... who dances to the beat of his own drum.

 

We got him at 12 weeks old and before his 1st birthday he had (takes deep breath): Swallowed a chicken bone; tried to be the king of our house, all while proving that I am not the most stubborn creature on the face of this planet; almost died getting attacked by a monster dog; broke or chewed or peed on the majority of or living room ... and established that his dog bed would be our kitchen counter while we were out of the house. 

Needless to say ... he was lucky he was cute and that he had been purchased by the biggest dog loving sap in the world, who happened to have a pretty big stubborn streak herself :) A year and a half later, Elbie makes us laugh every day, he loves to cuddle and sit on our laps like a human ... he hasn't broken, chewed or peed on anything in probably 6 months ... other than last week when he peed on his best friends head ... we're pretty sure he loves this dog named Koa and was marking her ... but I mean we named our dog Elbie ... unusual name, unusual dog ... I'd say he's owning it pretty well :) 

                                                                                                                                                  

 We celebrated our first Christmas together!

We got our first tree. Being from Massachusetts and having gone out and chopped my own tree every year,  I was adamant about doing the same here in VA. We found a place that was about 2 hours away but we have a small car so we first drove 1 hour to Peter's parents to pick up a bigger car then 2 hours to the tree place. We found a beautiful tree, cut it down, Elbie saw a rabbit and ran face first into a fence ... it was like a cartoon and I was crying from laughing so hard... anyways we headed home. After driving 1 hour to his parents 2 hour to the tree place and 2 hours home ... we realized that our house keys were on our car keys and they were at his parents house ... so back in the car we drove 1 hour our and 1 hour back ... So 7 hours later ... we had our tree. 

 And then 2 days later ... it died. 

                                                                                                                                             

Weddings ... weddings ... weddings ... 

So although I have been doing photography for a while now, I made the jump full force into weddings this year. It has been fun ... exhausting and full of learning. On the off chance that I wasn't shooting a wedding on any given weekend, Peter and I were attending one :) It has been a year full of love and marriage. 

                                                                                                                                                   

We feel that we have really embraced our city ... we love that we can jump on the metro and catch a Nats game or go sit on the steps of the Capitol building and talk ... the fact that we can go for a walk or run on the mall and around the monuments is something that I hope never gets old. Although life has been exhausting at times we have been enjoying it and have been energized by making an effort to focus on the positives and learning from all the moments ... you only live once! 

Matt and Hillary's Wedding Preview!

 So ... by far the hottest wedding I have ever shot. With temperatures hitting 111 with the heat index it was a day full of sweat, fans and overheated cameras :) The bride and groom looked AMAZING ... how a bride can look this good in that kind of heat is beyond me! So happy for Matt and Hill, it was so obvious how much they love each other and Christ and I am blessed to have been a part of their day!

Here is a little sneak peek ... more too come soon!

A country wedding

The first of our many July weddings was at Rockwood Manor in Dublin, VA. It was a hot but beautiful day!! After we realized that the wedding was 5 hours away ... for some reason I thought it was 3 lol, we buckled up, drove and sang our hearts out ... Peter changed in the parking lot (this is becoming a road trip pattern of ours). 

This was the first time Peter met a lot of my girlfriends from work, it was such a pretty wedding and so much fun spending time with all of these people I love! It was also nice to be a guest and not the photographer for a change, don't get me wrong I love being the photographer, it was just a wonderful change of pace. Of course ... I couldn't help but take a few pictures of the day. 

Welcome to the wedding that pinterest built! If pinterest was around when I got married I would have been in big trouble! But in all seriousness, Amanda's ideas and the whole day was so perfect it should really be in a magazine!