The greatest love story

The Lord continues to remind Mr. D & I that our wedding isn't solely about us exchanging vows & celebrating our new life together. That special day is also about inviting our friends, family & coworkers who don't know Him, giving them the opportunity to learn about the greatest love story: how our Heavenly Father loved us so much that He sent His Son to live a perfect life, die the most gruesome death on the cross in our place & be raised from the dead 3 days later, overcoming the grave.

We are sinners so unworthy of His grace & yet He did this so that we could experience His unending, unmerited love. That's what a wedding should represent. The Bridegroom, waiting patiently for His bride - His people - to walk down the aisle into His embrace.

You are loved more than you'll ever know by Someone
who died to know you {Romans 5:8 paraphrase}

I want to encourage you - whether you're engaged, already married or whatever stage of life you're in - allow the Lord to use the relationships He's given you, the community & neighbors you have, for His Kingdom. Because His love? That changes everything :)

Tennessee dreaming

Mr. D & I hit the road after the 4th of July and drove a whopping 16+ hours in 2 days to spend the weekend in Tennessee. Let me tell you, my fiancé is such a trooper. Since I'm still learning (aka need lots more practice) driving stick shift, it's all up to him on road trips. Such a champ!

From Arlington to Dandridge, TN, and back! While we were there, we spent time with his family, visited the coolest little zoo, took a chalet ride down the mountain, celebrated our friends' wedding. A wonderful adventure :)

Oh, and we saw BEARS!!!!! Adorable baby-ish cubs romping around having play time at the zoo!! For so long, a running thing in my family has been that we do whatever we can to see bears on our vacations. It started back when my family went to Canada. We tried. I even bought tuna cans so we could open them out the car window & waft the smell to attract some. No. luck. :(

Actually right before Deano proposed back in May, we were chatting about what we would do if we saw a bear. Then we met a couple that had seen a bear on the trail earlier that morning. And this whole time, they have been hanging out in Tennessee! At Ober-Gatlinburg's wildlife encounter.

So the moral of the trip: if you for sure want to see some cute bears, head on over to Tennessee. Such a blast :)

Happy weekend! 

the story behind a picture

Sometimes we can see an image & be completely excited about the photo we see, not knowing what was going in the frame before/after the shutter clicked.

Here's what was going on right after the above picture
was taken by our great friend Don in Ohio...

We're just cheesin' away :) 

And then notice where my right hand is & where Mr. D is looking down.
He said, "Are you trying to hold my tie?" To which I replied, "No, not at all."

When he started to move, it was clear I was actually holding
onto the tie haha. Which I don't think I actually intended to do.
He's just too darn handsome to let go of ;)

It made for a few very funny minutes right outside that Panera.

This is why I love taking real life, as-you-go shots of couples. There's no better place to get true emotion & great energy to come out in your photos than when you feel 100% at ease with your groom-to-be & the environment around you.

What some could consider outtakes, I actually find to be
the unplanned greatness that gives you beautiful, real
images to cherish for years to come :)

Happy Sunday! 

down by the waterfront

The ever-stylish Simply Jolleen & I had a lunchtime photo shoot in Old Town a couple weeks ago. SUCH a fun time! She was dancing & leaping across open grassy space, down by the docks.

​A beautiful day with a beautiful friend. 

a hike to remember

Once upon a time (this past Saturday), Mr. D. and I set out on a hiking adventure on the beautiful White Oak Canyon trail. 

About five miles of making our way up and around the Shenandoah Valley trail, he asked me a question that would forever change our lives.

Would you take the adventure with me and be my wife?​​

As you can see in the photo above, I was just a little surprised/excited. We stopped for a wonderful picnic lunch earlier and I remember saying, "This day just couldn't get any better...except if we had some country music."

What can I say?! I didn’t know that getting some serious bling was an option!!

We had stopped off the main trail to take pictures at a beautiful lookout point near one of the waterfalls. I was bent down, snapping photos and Mr. D was next to me. Then I turned to him and he grabbed my hands, pulling me up to my feet (somewhere along the way, we put my Canon back safely).  But then he didn’t get up. Ohmygoodnessisthishappening? was racing through my head.

After I said YES, we began the challenge of putting on the ring without dropping it off the cliff. Although the odds of it falling were probably pretty slim, we were both like, “OK, move slowly. Make sure it only goes on Lorin’s finger.”

Which we successfully did! Newly engageds, 1. Mountain valley, 0.

The rest of the hike down the path was full of giddy smiles, some skipping and what felt like walking on a cloud. Plus handholding – I told him that if he didn’t hold my left hand, I might get distracted by the sparkle and walk right off the trail.

​Please ignore the unpainted I've-been-playing-outside nails. We took some pictures on Dean's phone to attempt to send to our families. Hello, no reception!

This was taken by a sweet married couple, just a few minutes before the proposal. Little did I know :)​

My guy, exploring the last of the trail's waterfalls while I took pictures/stared at my gorgeous new ring. And just to clarify, that's my camera bag, not a purse, he's wearing.

Since Saturday my favorite thing to do is ask: “Hey, remember when you asked me to marry you?” To which he responds, “Hey, remember when you said yes?”

To the man who holds my heart, our relationship has been so full of love, laughter and adventure to this point. I am beyond blessed that God brought us together. You have constantly challenged me to be more like Christ and filled my heart with happiness. I can’t w-a-i-t to spend the rest of our lives living out His adventure for us <3