Hustle: the Enemy of Rest?

Hustle is a word we’ve grown accustomed to using when describing chasing our passions and dreams. It’s a word full of pride and has become an anthem for those of us chasing our dream careers. A reported 44 million Americans claim to have a side-hustle in conjunction with their current full time job, the majority of those 44 million being between the ages of 18 and 25 (source). Which personally, I think is awesome! My (now) full time photography career began as a side hustle as a freshman in college, and over six years, slowly, with lots of sweat (and many tears) morphed into my chosen career path – and for that, I couldn’t be more thankful. But recently, as I was reflecting over the past six years, a surprising question popped in my head:

Was I using hustle as an excuse to avoid my need for rest?

“Was I using hustle as an excuse to avoid my need for rest?”

I can remember a time in college when I was hustling hard. For longer than I care to admit, I took 18 credits per semester, worked three part time jobs, all the while working on my photography side-hustle. The days were long and the rest was nonexistent. The only friends I had were the people I went to school with, hanging out with my boyfriend and/or family almost always revolved around my ability to get work done while “enjoying quality time” with loved ones (editing photos while having a bonfire, studying while watching a movie, etc.), and all in all, I was miserable and couldn’t figure out why. “But I’m hustling!” I thought to myself. “I’m hustling through and working towards my goals. There’s nothing wrong with that!” But really, while I was hustling hard I was missing out on so many more important things. Friends. Family. Hobbies. Anything fun was immediately thrown out the window in the name of hustle.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m so thankful that I was able to hustle hard to make the dream of owning my own photography business a reality, and I am beyond grateful to be able to get paid to do what I love – but in the last few years, I’ve been learning some hard truths about rest. Two years ago, I was working out before a full day of work, followed by a photography session, when I felt a pop in my back. I’ve had back pain my entire life, but I knew something about this wasn’t right. The pain started in my back and shot down my leg to my foot like a giant tooth ache. Over the next few days, I experienced excruciating pain that forced me to miss days of work and many photography sessions – all I could do was lay in bed. After a few months of physical therapy, the pain slightly decreased but was still debilitating. I finally went to the doctors for an MRI and found out that I had a severely herniated disc, along with a few bulging discs.

During this period of my life, I wondered why I was going through such pain. I constantly fought God, begging him to let me continue doing what I loved to do – but then, after lots of wrestling, I realized that this pain might have a greater purpose. I realized that the pain I was experiencing – no matter how extreme – gave me time with my husband. I wasn’t running a million miles an hour  (I couldn’t even get out of bed many days!), so I was able to spend lots of quality time with my husband – something we had been missing in our first few months of marriage. I was also forced to rely on other people – something I have never been able to do. I had to rely on my husband, my family, and my friends to help me physically and to encourage me spiritually. I had to pause my hustle. And even though it was hard at the time (and still is!), I’m so grateful for those sweet moments where I learned not only to trust the people around me, but the God who has my life in his hands and works all things together for His good.

Today, I’m happy to say that I’m on the road to healing in more ways than one. Physically, I can photograph a wedding without being bed ridden the next few days, and psychologically, I can take at least one day off a week as a Sabbath to spend time with friends and family without completely losing my mind. I’m slowly realizing that I don’t need to work 12 hour days or 60 to 80 hour weeks to feel fulfilled, and that hustle, while wonderful in moderation, doesn’t have to become an enemy of my rest. By choosing to be intentional with my periods of rest and relaxation, I’m better able to do what God has called me to do. I’m a better business owner, a better friend, a better wife, daughter, sister, and Jesus-follower when I choose to rest and deny hustle reign over my life. I still have SO far to go, but I couldn’t be more thankful for the lessons I’ve learned and for the direction I’m headed.

What’s denying you of the rest you need? Where and what might you be saying yes to that’s stealing the rest that your body, mind, and spirit so desperately crave?

What Disney's Boardwalk Taught Me About Grace

Shortly after our honeymoon in Disney, Nick and I started waking up and asking each other “do you want to go to Disney today?” It’s a little inside joke we have – every day feels like a good day to go to Disney, but one day in February of 2018, the answer was finally a “yes” – we were actually going to Disney!

Nick had surprised me with my first stay ever on Disney property for our honeymoon at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn. We stayed in a corner room and could see fireworks from both Hollywood Studios AND Epcot from our balcony. It was stinking EPIC.

Honestly, I thought we would never stay at the Boardwalk again. A friend of ours who worked for Disney had been incredibly kind to help Nick get an amazing discount on our room for our honeymoon. But, low and behold, since our honeymoon we’ve stayed there twice more, but our third visit is what brings these words to you today.

After spending some time with family and friends at a house in Orlando, Nick and I decided we wanted to stay at the Boardwalk for a couple of nights, just the two of us, as a birthday/Christmas/Valentine’s/anniversary gift (gotta do what you gotta do to get back to Disney!). We decided a few years into our relationship that we’d rather gift each other experiences with one another than objects, so this was one of those experiences we couldn’t wait to share (again)! I think, out of the two, experiences tend to build a stronger relational foundation than any sort of gift might.

We chose the smallest, most inexpensive room – we just love the experience of being on Disney property (and being within walking distance to the parks was a bonus, too!!), and checked in on Nick’s birthday, which, for Nick, was probably one of the best birthday gifts he’s ever received.

We checked in a couple of hours before our “official” 3PM check in (well – actually 5 hours before!), so we had a LOT of time to kill. We hadn’t really planned anything special for Nick’s birthday (besides checking into the Boardwalk!), so while Nick went to grab a drink, I slyly made my way to concierge service desk to ask if they could help. I explained that it was my husband’s birthday, that his favorite place ever is the Boardwalk, and asked if she might be able to give me some ideas for things around the Boardwalk we could do for his birthday while we wait.

The woman smiled, gave me a couple of suggestions, and said that she would have someone send a birthday card to his room – which I knew he would absolutely love! She also took our name and reservation number - so she knew where to send the card, I assumed.

About an hour later, we received a message that our room was ready. We were both confused – we had stayed at the Boardwalk before, and never had we ever been able to check into our room so early. Regardless, we went, picked up our luggage, and headed off to our room. At first – we couldn’t find it. We went through one hall of rooms, down a set of stairs, and outdoors, wondering if they had made a mistake.

After a few more steps, we spotted a little mailbox that had our number on it. Behind the mailbox was an archway with a fence and a little courtyard with some of the most beautifully manicured flower gardens I’d ever seen. We exchanged a glance of confusion and excitement, muttering that “there must be some mistake!” but when we got to the French doors, past the garden, and tried our keys – the most insane thing happened. They worked. The door opened.

We swung open the door to find a beautiful, two story room – Disney music softly playing in the background, natural light pouring in through the large windows hanging above our heads. My first thought was that they had gotten something wrong. We had stayed in the cheapest room at the Boardwalk before and it in NO WAY resembled this masterpiece, with a living room, kitchenette, staircase, master bedroom, and master bathroom with a Jacuzzi. Concerned that there had a been a mistake and that we would somehow have to pay full price for this immaculate suite, Nick called the front desk to confirm that we had the correct room number.

The kind voice on the other line assured us that while we had payed for the smallest, cheapest room – but somehow we had been given this suite and were meant to enjoy it. While Nick was on the phone, I started looking up how much this type of suite usually costs. The answer: about four to five times (per night) what we actually paid for it. We were both FLOORED. We had heard of “Disney magic” before and of cast members doing incredibly kind things for random guests, but we had never ever expected to experience this sort of kindness. My mind immediately went back to the woman in concierge who had taken our names and reservation number, and I knew it must’ve been her – it couldn’t have been anyone else! I tried multiple times during our trip to go back and find her to thank her, but I couldn’t find her. She just seemed to have disappeared.

To make things even crazier, we found out that with this room came something called “club level service,” which basically means that we were able to visit and utilize a particular room in the hotel that served complimentary breakfast, lunch, dinner, wine, beer, espresso, and dessert – all for free. Like, are you kidding me?!

As we filled up our plates that first night, it dawned on me: we don’t deserve this. We don’t deserve any of this. We haven’t paid for it, we hadn’t planned for it, and we were able to tell pretty quickly that we were certainly of a much different crowd than those who normally frequented “the club.” Someone had gifted a youth pastor and a photographer from Pittsburgh one of the best, most undeserved vacations that we had ever had – for nothing. There’s nothing we could’ve done to earn it, and there’s no price we could’ve paid for it. And then it dawned on me – this is exactly what God’s grace is like.

It’s undeserved. There’s nothing we can do to earn it, and the price has already been paid for it. And it doesn’t have anything with who we are. It has everything to do with who God is. Truthfully, there’s no way we could’ve upgraded ourselves with money or with position, because in the eyes of Disney, we didn’t have either (haha!). But because of grace – because someone gave us something we in no way deserved – we were able to experience an amazing gift that cost us nothing.

That’s what Jesus calls us to every day. All he wants is for us to accept the gift he’s already laid before us. That’s why we celebrate Easter, for Pete’s sake – because Jesus died a death he didn’t deserve, so we could live a life we don’t deserve. But only because Jesus makes us worthy, because of the grace he’s given to us.

As I started to eat my free dinner, tears started streaming down my face. I felt so humbled in and by the face of grace of the woman who had been so kind, but so much moreso by the God who has given me this life – this gift – no strings attached.

Swimming In Muddy Waters

Meet my friend Kim (pictured above). She loves the beach more than any person I've ever met!

Also, I wanted to share a little piece of my heart today.

I used to love the beach. I had a beach themed bedroom, beach themed folders for school - basically everything I owned was covered in seashells and sand... Until I realized that I didn't like the ocean. There are few things worse to me than stepping into a giant sea and being unable to see my feet on the ocean floor, or what's swimming around my feet. When something unexpected brushes my big toe, I usually run out, arms flailing, heart racing.

But then, I went on a cruise, and not just any cruise - a DISNEY cruise. And as part of the cruise, we went to "Castaway Cay," Disney's private island in the Bahamas. And to my great surprise, upon arriving at the beach with a stack of books in hand to act as a diversion from the creature filled sea, I found clear, crystal blue waters. I could see everything in the water - everything swimming around me, all the way out into the deeper parts of the ocean! My courage returned as I put on my goggles and swam in the shallows. All was controlled and all was safe. I could see everything coming from nearly a mile away and could dart back to the shore if danger came near.

What a picture of how we live our lives sometimes. We wade into the safety of crystal blue waters where everything is certain, where everything is known. We can see obstacles coming from a mile away and can save ourselves from the pain of adversity and obstacle. But we forget that sometimes, the best lessons are learned in the muddy water. In the uncertainty. In the unknown.

The truth is, when I decided to NOT swim in the muddy water, I might've been safe, but I missed out on so many good things. Time with family and friends. The opportunity to build relationships. The joy of shared experience.

Where are you swimming today? Are you playing it safe, or willing to step out into the unknown?

The Story of How We Met

I started attending Grace Community Church with my family when I was in eighth grade. I remember in particular visiting the Sunday after our school musical had ended – I always LOVED being a part of them, but for those of you who might’ve been involved in school musicals growing up, you know how exhausting they can be.

That Sunday after our musical ended, in particular, my parents decided to visit a church that we had visited a number of years ago – Grace Community Church. To be honest, I wasn’t excited. I was mad that I had to wake up so early after such a long week of late nights, but nevertheless, I pulled myself out of bed and we made it to the service… which ended up being pretty dang amazing.

Directly following the service, I met the youth pastor there, who introduced me to a girl a couple of years younger than me. Her name was Alisha, and it seemed like she knew everyone. I followed her around the lobby as she introduced me to tons of different people, finally stopping near the restroom where I met her mom and the rest of the members of her small group.

I remember thinking how kind she was. After that initial meeting, we talked a few more times, but didn’t hang out with each other too much.

Fast forward a year, and someone had convinced this shy introvert to go down to Panama City Beach, Florida to a camp called “Bigstuf” with the rest of the youth group. I had one close friend who went to the same youth group at the time, so when she decided to go, I decided to go, too. So we hopped on a bus with everyone else and drove down.

I kid you not, that camp changed my life. It changed the way I saw God. It opened my eyes to the things I needed so desperately to change in my life and opened up a new community of friendships to me (which, let’s be honest, for an introvert is like, one new person). But nonetheless – I was making connections and I was excited!

The very last day of camp, we were all waiting while the guys were loading our bus to had back up to PA. Our youth pastor at the time must’ve seen me standing shyly on the edge of the group, so he came over and introduced me to one of the most extroverted people on the entire trip. He had long, red, Justin Bieber hair, tons of freckles, and was very sun burnt. “Nick,” he said to the boy with the red hair, “doesn’t Jenna look like Pam from ‘The Office?’” which I later learned was Nick’s favorite show.

Immediately, I felt put off. I didn’t like ‘The Office,’ and, at the time, meeting new people made me incredibly nervous. I smiled, chatted politely about how cool The Office was (I’ve never actually liked it!) and walked onto the bus. Nick and I ended up sitting near each other – we exchanged a few words to each other throughout the trip home, and even though he was kind of loud, I decided I liked this guy named Nick.

When I got home, I saw I had a message waiting from Nick on Facebook. It’s like he had read my mind – being the shy introvert that I was, I always loved getting to know people via messengers. That night, we talked until, like, two in the morning (and trust me, I’m not a girl who stays up late!). We talked about the camp and how God I worked in both of our lives. I remember, at the end of that conversation, thinking this is a guy I could actually see myself dating.

It’s amazing to see how all of the dots were connected from my very first day at Grace. Alisha, the very first person I had met at Grace, I later found out was Nick’s sister. Thinking back to that small fact alone is such a testament to my heart – God was involved right from the very beginning. God does that – he whispers into the details of our lives to point us towards our future, even when we don’t know it. It reminds me of a story of Elijah:

“Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:11-13)

I think it’s powerful when we can hear God whispering to us, but it’s just as powerful – and encouraging - when we can look back and see where God was whispering to us.

*Banner photo by Gabrielle Halle Photography.

The Story of Our First Date

My first date with my now husband, Nick took place over NINE years ago when we were both only fifteen years old. We started dating in August of 2008 and never looked back! One of my favorite stories to tell about our relationship is our first date because it is absolutely ridiculous! But why, you may ask?

Our first date included all of the clichés that you might expect from a first time high school date – my dad, literally cleaning his guns on his kitchen island (I was so embarrassed!!), Nick’s mom, driving us around telling embarrassing stories from when he was a kid (which just made me like him more! ;) ), and us getting scolded by the waitress for trying to order an alcoholic beverage that we just thought was just a milkshake (it was a mudslide, in case you were wondering) are just a few of my favorite memories from that first date! 

Maybe that last one’s not much of a cliché, but it’s pretty hilarious if you would’ve known us in high school – probably the last underage kids in the world who would’ve tried to order alcohol! I have to say, I feel like some of our seemingly most embarrassing moments we’ve experience together have turned into some of my favorite memories.

Lessons from 2017: Margin & Bandwidth

“It’ll be an hour and a half wait,” the hostess at one of my favorite restaurants said as she shuffled through a stack of receipts. “Our computers are down right now.” In a huff, I walked past a room full of empty tables and out of that restaurant, unable to understand exactly what computers had to do with me being able to eat at said restaurant.

I decided to be overly intrusive and call the restaurant from the car on my way home, wondering if she just hadn’t wanted me to eat there (as if this hostess who I had never seen before had some unknown vendetta against me!). That same hostess picked up the phone, and I asked how long the wait would be: “About an hour and a half, our computers are down right now.” Out of genuine curiosity (okay, maybe a little out of frustration), I asked what computers had to do with the wait time, and the hostess said, “our servers just don’t have enough bandwidth without our computers to take part of the burden.”

Oh, I thought to myself. That, I understand.

I started feeling guilty for being upset, because I know how that feels. To be stretched beyond my capacity, to know my limits but to breeze past them onward in the name of “hustle,” and to have to turn people away, not because I don’t want to give them what I have to offer, but because I want to be able to serve the people I can serve with everything I have to offer.

Sure, that restaurant could’ve taken me and my friends in – but what would they have given me in return? Maybe the service would’ve been slow, the food cold, the waitress flustered, and I would’ve left with a bad taste in my mouth, ruining the restaurant for me for good. Or, the hostess could simply let me know that they just couldn’t handle any more guests to ensure that they could serve the guests they had already taken in to the best of their abilities.

That’s been one of my biggest lessons from this year: margin and bandwidth. Leaving room in my schedule instead of packing it full, and taking note of how much I can handle. Every season, I find myself coming to a crossroads. Do I take more work, or do I limit my work to ensure I can serve every person I commit to to the very best of my ability? This is the very first year that I’ve really tried to limit the amount of work I take per week, and I really believe it’s served me well. Why? Because when I don’t overbook myself, I can say yes to things that make me better as a person – not just things that make me look better in the eyes of other people. Things that make me a better wife, a better business owner, a better Jesus follower, a better daughter, and a better friend. I’ve found that I can’t serve ANYONE well if I’m overworked, exhausted, and overwhelmed. I lose my edge as a business owner, become an absent wife, a pitiful friend, and an unengaged Christ-follower. Did I still struggle to set boundaries this year? Heck YES. But really, I’m so proud of how far I’ve come and of the boundaries that I’ve been able to establish between my business and my life.

Really, I’ve started taking a limited amount of sessions and weddings because I find that it benefits my clients. I can give each more time, attention, and creativity when I bring a rested Jenna to the table – which is much better for everyone! ;) So I’d like to encourage you – if you’re in a season of busy, what boundaries can you make to make SURE you get the “recharge” you need to keep moving forward?

My Funniest / Most Embarrassing Moments: Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer

Wedding photography (and photography in general) can sometimes be seen as a glamorous “picture perfect” profession (pun intended). Sure, there a lot of fun, glamorous parts of wedding photography - like the out-of-this-world venues, perfect light, cookie tables, and fantastic cakes (I’m hungry, can you tell?). But nothing is perfect, even if the photos might make things look that way. So today, I want to share my top embarrassing/funny moments from my photography career thus far – the not so picturesque side of what I do. But really, I just want to promote the fact that we’re all human. We all make mistakes, we all have embarrassing stories, and we all have moments we can look back on and (now) laugh at! So without further ado, here are my top 6 funniest/most embarrassing moments on the job:

1.  A Bird Pooped on my Head

Once, right before one of my engagement sessions was going to begin, a bird pooped on my head. And this wasn’t just a little bit of bird crap. This was a giant, heaping, hot pile of bird crap. That’s right, folks – this is real life.

2.  Laid in Goose Poop

During an engagement session last summer, while I was trying to lay down on the ground to get a different perspective, and laid right in a heap of goose poop. It was all over my pants.

3.  Got Caught Facebook Creeping

When I schedule a consultation with a couple to discuss the possibility of photographing their wedding, I usually look them up on social media so I know what they look like (and can flag them down) before the meeting. On this particular occasion at this particular meeting, I looked up the bride at our meeting location, then clicked the lock button and set my phone on the table. During our meeting, I went to open my phone to look up a photo to show, and BAM – there was the bride’s Facebook page, open on my phone… and they, without a doubt, saw that I had been creeping, because my phone was face up on the table between us!

4.  Stepped on the Dress

During a beautiful bubble ceremony exit from the church, I accidentally stepped on the tail edge of bride’s dress. In front of all of her guests.

5.  Walked into an Invisible Wall

The other day, right after a meeting with one of the sweetest couples at one of my favorite wedding venues (the Omni William Penn Hotel), I walked straight into a glass wall, face first… with my couple still sitting there watching it unfold!

6.  Fell Victim to a Groomsmen Prank

Every once in a while, I photograph weddings with other photographers as a “second shooter” – basically, to aid the main photographer on the wedding day. Typically, while the main photographer is photographing the bride and the bridal party, the second photographer photographs the groom and the groomsmen. Once, when I was working with another photographer and had arrived to photograph the groom and groomsmen in their hotel suite, the groomsmen introduced me to the “groom” and let me believe that he WAS the groom for 15 minutes… before the actual groom walked in. -_-

So there they are. My top 6 most embarrassing / funny moments that have happened to me on the job! Other photographers & wedding vendors – don’t leave me hanging, bearing my embarrassed soul alone. What is one of your most embarrassing / funniest moments from a wedding, event, or photo session?!

Newly Engaged? Here’s the Best Advice I Received as a Bride (From a Wedding Photographer)

The day Nick asked me to marry him (one of my favorite days, ever!), I started receiving a lot of advice about wedding planning. Don’t get me wrong, I had never actually been a bride before, so I was desperately in need of some guidance (and genuinely appreciate the wisdom of brides who had gone before me), but if you’re anything like me, too much of anything can be a little bit overwhelming! During the 15 months of wedding planning, there were two pieces of advice that stuck out to me and rose above the rest – two things I still tell brides I work with over a year after my wedding! So, if you’re newly engaged, here are my top two favorite pieces of advice:

1.     Take time to soak it in.

The first piece of advice I received as an engaged 22 year old came from my very own mom. The day after I said “I will,” me, my mom, and my fiancé (now husband, Nick) started talking about all of the details that would need to get done over the next couple of months. In true Jenna fashion, I started to feel REALLY overwhelmed, and because my mom knows me so well, she immediately noticed and said, “You know, you don’t have to start actually doing any of this right now. You don’t even need to think about it. Just take the next month to enjoy being engaged without worrying about the wedding that needs planned.” Wow. Talk about some serious mom-wisdom! Now… I didn’t make it a month – I think I made it two weeks before I jumped into serious planning, but you know what? Those two weeks of just being engaged, minus the wedding planning, made me even more excited to start planning my wedding to marry my absolute best friend! The initial stress I had felt only a day after getting engaged slowly melted away as I started enjoying (and soaking in) the season I was in. It was like magic.

2.     Three days before the wedding, if it hasn’t gotten done – don’t worry about it.

This SUPER solid piece of advice came from one of my husband’s volunteers (he’s a middle school youth director at our church). She might not even remember saying it to me, as she said it in passing during a quick conversation, but shout out to Sheryl Polite for one of the best pieces of advice I got! I was about two weeks out from the wedding trying to play it cool on the outside at church, but freaking out on the inside about everything that still needed to get done! Did we finish the seating chart? Did we forget anyone? Why doesn’t my baker remember the conversation we had about my wedding cake?! (True story – she totally lost the order! But the cake was delicious, so that made up for it ;) ).  While asking about how things were going with wedding planning, Sheryl said, “Listen. Whatever you haven’t gotten done three or four days before the wedding – just let it go! You deserve to enjoy your wedding day just as much as anyone else, even the days leading up to it.” I didn’t realize it at the time, but her words were the permission I needed to actually enjoy the days leading up to my wedding day! Were there still things that needed to be done in those last few days before the wedding? Of course! But there were so many little details I could’ve poured over and worried about and made myself crazy trying to pull together at the last second, but didn’t, because I finally realized that I deserved to enjoy my wedding day, too!

What’s the best advice you received while planning your own wedding? I’d love to hear - leave a comment below! 

One Thing More Important Than Your Wedding Day (And Why I Love Weddings)

Every girl dreams of her wedding day. Disney movies, romantic comedies, and Nicholas Sparks novels set expectations in our minds for what a path to marriage (and even what a wedding day) should look like. But you know what’s so much more important than a wedding day? A marriage.

I used to love weddings. Well, I still love weddings. But now, as someone who’s married, I love weddings for a different reason. I used to love weddings for superficial reasons – for the details, the flowers, the centerpieces, the wedding dress, the venue, and even for the photo locations (don’t get me wrong, I still love all of those things, too!).

But now, when I start talking with a bride about her wedding day, instead of immediately asking for the details – I ask about the couple. I want to know the story that led to that monumental moment where the two will make a commitment to trust, love, respect, and honor each other for all the days of their lives. I want to hear what they love to do together, how they met, what he loves most about her, and so on. I want to celebrate them, because, let’s face it – getting to that point can be difficult. Choosing to love someone can be challenging sometimes – because really, after you get married, you realize that loving your spouse is a choice.

I’ve only been married for close to a year now, and don’t get me wrong – I absolutely LOVE my crazy extroverted redheaded husband – he’s my best friend and the love of my life! But sometimes, loving him day-to-day isn’t easy, especially when I let my own selfish desires overshadow what’s best for us as a couple again and again. I would’ve never been able to realize this if we hadn’t had so many wonderful married people pouring into and investing in our relationship. “We all need someone who inspires us to do better than we know how.” (Anonymous). And how much more important is it to have people in your life who can lead you in the right direction in a relationship that (should, God-willing) span the entirety of your life!

So really, when it comes down to it, my love for weddings is a bi-product of my love (and passion) for marriage. There’s so much more to a wedding day than the wedding itself. Whatever I can do to uplift, encourage, and serve people on the journey towards marriage is EXACTLY what I want to be doing. Because marriage rocks.

Nick Proposes: Lip Dub Style

I can't believe I'm engaged. But even more than that, I can't believe I'm engaged to my best friend. Nick (who is often my second shooter/lighting guy for shoots) planned one of the biggest surprises of my life. On May 24, 2014, he gathered 70 friends and family members we both love dearly to be a part of a flash mob, and... I'll let the video speak for itself. I have the absolute best guy in the world (sorry ladies) and I can't thank God enough for putting him in my life. I also want to give a shout out to Laura Ward and Collin Culpepper for filming the entire thing! You guys rock. And thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came out to be a part of it. You all mean the world to Nick and I, and we couldn't be more blessed to have you in our lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E2_VpLPow4