Engaged: Cody & Seth

They met in high school. They dated and then broke up. Then Cody's mom asked her why they weren't dating... they hung out, went for a hike, talked it over and well, the rest is history. They went hiking again this winter and when they came back, Cody had a ring on her finger! There may have been a squeal that came out of me when she showed me the ring at church just a couple days later. You know, if I had those kinds of reactions to things. Which I do. But you know you love it when I get all happy and can't keep my excitement inside! I'm not afraid of making a scene. Especially when it's something as fun and amazing and wonderful as this!

Thank you guys SO much for asking me to be a part of your day in July. I can't wait to shoot your wedding because I know it's going to be so sweet and such a statement to the Lord and what He's done. I hope you enjoy your engagement pictures!

Oh how I love laughter!

And oh how I love the light!

Now that's the look of a man in love with his future bride.

This is actually on the steps of our "new" church buliding downtown: Grace Church at Downtown Baptist. The light reflecting off the stone was incredible!

Cody you are gorgeous!
And Seth, you make me laugh! Only because I make you yawn at my boringness... don't worry, I'm ok with it!

Ok, so the light all over downtown that day was incredible.

I love everything about this picture.

Family = Love

I have family all over the place. Which means I may have one of the largest families ever. Granted, I'm not blood related to most of them but I may as well be! And I love it. I'm so blessed to have so many amazing people in my life that love me as much as they do. Butch and Nell are two of those such people. In 2004 I moved to Brussels, Belgium to work with them and teach English. As missionaries, they had already lived in a variety of places and had been in Brussels for 7 or 8 years by the time I got there. Their daughter was getting ready to graduate high school and attend college at the University of South Carolina (tragic, I know) and their son was just starting high school.

A couple of years after I came home, their assignment in Brussels was up and they moved back to the states. The best news? They were going to be less than 2 hours away from me! And I have fully taken advantage of them being so close and have been lucky to see them (and both of their children!) many many times, which has only brought us all closer.

Butch and Nell were passing through Greenville this weekend so I emailed them earlier in the week to see if they would want to do pictures while they were here. Their next assignment is going to be in Montreal, which means I'm not going to get to see them anywhere near as much as I've been lucky enough to. But, now I have a few pictures to remember them by. And holy cow... y'all photograph SO well! Seriously, Nell you are gorgeous and Butch... you were joking but you really worked it!

Butch & Nell, I'm going to miss both of you SO much. Thank you for everything you have done for me over the past 6 years and for loving me as much as you do. I don't know that I'll ever be able to thank you enough. Je vous aime. Que Dieu vous bénisse. Bisous!

The lighting in here was delicious. You may laugh, but it's SO true. It was amazing.

If you know Nell, you can't look at this next picture and NOT hear her laugh! I love it.

They could be in a magazine...

This is so them!! I love it.

Courtney... DON'T Smile!

So, I'm kind of behind on blogging. And it's funny how I seem to say that a lot. Oops...! I promise that I don't do it on purpose. And I could give you an excellent list of excuses. But I will spare you because you're here for the pictures, not to read my most awesome list of reasons why I'm behind on blogging. Maybe I'll post that list later. Like, next year. When I'm behind again. ha!

So here they are... this was one of my last Christmas sessions and this family was so fun! I work with Bill at Upward so I've known these guys for a few years now and love being able to hang out with them and get to know them some outside of "work". And no, not all of them work with us! But you don't always get to see co-workers and families outside of the office.

Courtney had the hardest time with the "look off in the distance and look pensive" request. Which made for some awesome laughing pictures! And, photographer's secret regardless of how well you handle a camera, that's sometimes the best way to get the most genuine smiles. Try it!

Beautiful Believers

It's funny how I know this family because I knew OF them long before I ever met them face to face. They had been in Greenville and I heard about them through friends right after they moved to NC. Well, even though they didn't live here anymore, they seemed to keep popping up in conversations. Who are these people that seem to be so awesome?!? Well, they moved back to Greenville just in time for Ashley and I to co-lead a discipleship group at church. And the more I got to know her and Des and their little girl (and now their baby boy!), the more I fell in love with them! Even with Des's awkward sense of humor. ha!

Ashley and I had been talking of doing family photos for a while and I was beyond thrilled when we finally put something on the calendar. Thank you guys so much for believing in me, for trusting me with capturing your family photos and for being such wonderful friends. Love you guys!