Love and Lilies

Erin and I were in the same first grade class.
We played softball together, where of course, I cried.
Her mom was my third grade teacher.
We were penpals (from the far, far seven minute drive we lived from one another) where Erin decorated her envelopes with thumbprints to make a caterpillar.
We went to high school together and now are in college together, living life together.
I can't even express how much this woman means to me, how she is truly one of my best friends and how we can be weird around each other and we can desire simplicity together instead of being forced into it. I've had some of the most raw conversations with this friend and share my visions as a photographer with her and only her because she too, is an artist in so many different ways.
And now Erin is getting married.
I treat Adam like he's Erin because they're so similar. He wants to know about me, who I am as a person, not as the friend of his future wife. And his heart and perseverance for the Lord is something I truly have never experienced in a person at this young of an age. As his bride says, Adam makes Erin feel like she can be something other than the (her) color yellow. I've been thinking about marriage and relationships a lot lately and Mumford & Sons puts it right for this season.

"And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair."

We pulled over to a field on the side of the road and spent our time there. The bugs were absolutely awful. So awful that we're going to have a second shoot when its colder, but for the circumstances...we did well. REALLY well.





























I spent last night on Erin's porch eating pizza and ranch, wrapped up in a blanket. She told me how she believes God tells us to create because He first created.
As artists, we're doing something right. We're revealing the fact that it is okay to be a creator and invent something that wasn't here yesterday. I am so thankful for the impact their story has had on me.
This is why I do what I do.

As Erin would say-
love and lilies,

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