Thank you for letting me be the one to create these memories for you. I am so honored that this is my contribution to one of the most special days in your lives to come. You two are shining examples of beautiful people and a beautiful marriage. Your ceremony was marking as one of the sweetest and mostly Godly I’ve ever gotten to be apart of and if I have half of that loving spirit you two have with me next week as I take my turn I’ll be on my way.

I love you guys dearly and I cannot wait to watch your future unfold…with lots and lots of exclamation points!

Love always.

karlin

 Four of my past, present, and future brides all in one picture.

It was the morning of March 5, an exact month before our wedding, and we had to get up fairly early to drive out to Barnsley Gardens (the site of our wedding) to go through one last walk through with our coordinator. So she said…

She promised me this would be the last time we would have to drive up there before our actual wedding week. So I went with her. The entire ride up there she kept asking me, “Are you excited to get married? Are you excited for our wedding? It’s only one month away you know. Are you ready to be married to me, etc…” I just wrote this off as her being excited.

Of course I was excited to be only one month out from being a husband, but this particular morning I was just in a strange mood. Neither sad, nor elated, nor mad…it was just one of those monday mornings…you know what I’m talking about.

So we pulled up to Barnsley, and I had to run to the restroom. She told me to hurry back. As I came back to the car she says, “We’re not actually here for a walk through…”

“wait. what?” I thought.

“We’re here so I can give you your first wedding present.”

She handed me a tear out from a Martha Stewart magazine that explained a ritual known as “Burying the Bourbon.”

As I read I found out that this was actually a very old southern tradition. The groom, one month exactly before the wedding, is to bury his favorite bottle of bourbon upside down, in the ground, at the actual wedding site, and this ensures that you have good weather on your wedding day. It also is the bottle of whiskey that you get to enjoy with your groomsman and guy friends on the day of the wedding, as you dig back up to enjoy.

ok, now I was elated.

Not only did I have my favorite bottle of bourbon to enjoy on the wedding day (Basil Hayden), but I also had a cool gift and a great story to tell.

Karlin, thank you for being so amazing, and always thinking outside of the box. You are my love and my joy.

Coincidentally, the place where I buried it was right by a plant called Bourbon.

I made a little alter of sorts, with a pile of rocks that will remind me of the place where I buried it.

Overall, one of the coolest gifts I’ve ever gotten. Not only was it my favorite drink, but now we have a story to tell and a new memory.

Thank you sweetheart.

Sincerely,

Venue: The Hay Adams Hotel

Dress: Monique Lhuillier

Hair and Makeup: The fantastic Jenny Hall of Jouvence Aveda

Lauren and David were amazing troopers in the pouring snow and freezing cold! This was my first wedding back post “injury” and I was so happy to be back shooting and with a photojournalist as his father…I was completely honored when David chose me to begin with!! This was such a great way to start back! Guys…we enjoyed working with you and your family so, so much. They were so much fun and it was such a great time! Matthew and I are so glad we got the opportunity to know you guys that weekend, help create these memories for you, and are grateful for the friends we have made in the two of you!

A HUGE thank you to my wonderful friend Jenn Cody who came out, in the snow (she walked two miles both ways…okay that’s a lie..she owns a car.) But she did come out and shoot with us being that this was my first day back on the “job”! Thank you Jenn! You are awesome!

The one below is fantastic Jenn Cody’s…I loved it so much I had to add it!

It’s an article written by Joanna Goddard, who runs A Cup of Jo Blog (If you have never read it you should. It’s lovely.) all about how to pack brilliantly for your honeymoon. Or any other trip I might add. Her advice? Pick a color scheme and run with it. Then everything coordinates well together and enhances your ability to mix and match pieces easily. Genius. (For example: a trip I constantly find myself actually practicing this…New York…black..always.)

Her bonus tip…Always pack a red dress. It’s timeless. Who doesn’t love a good red dress?

I think I’ll take one of these.

Getting life back on track these past few weeks has proven more difficult that I would have ever thought it. Everything changed. My schedule. My sleeping patterns. My appetite. My HAIR!!! My hair and skin that normally always stay clean for days…are…well…gross. I hate it. (So much I’m complaining about it on my own blog..hate it) I can’t make anything stay clean or look decent. I’ve been showing up to doctors appointments and meetings looking like Lindsey Lohan’s (post Disney days people…) twin sister.

I’ve always pretty interested in keeping myself educated on what I put in my body. Why aren’t more of us interested in that? What we put in our bodies… Our kids bodies.. Food is an amazingly fascinating and disgusting all at the same time topic. I read…ALL THE TIME. I find it insanely intriguing. So, because I’ve been complaining lately about feeling disgusting “post hospital” and post “tons of nasty for your skin and hair medicine” being pumped into me, a dear friend recommended a book I devoured in a day and I’m now working on the cleanse in the back of the book to…well…rid my body of the rest of this nasty stuff. Is it working? Heck yeah! I can already tell a difference!

So today…I thought I would share this book and my little story with you guys and ask you what YOU are reading (food related of course!) and if it’s marked you at all. I love a new book more than anyone and I’m sure one of you out there is sitting on a gem! I encourage you guys if you are interested in food, clean eating, educating yourselves on what we put in our bodies to pick this book up. It’s crazy good.

Happy Wednesday! Happy Eating!

(I’ll keep you guys updated on the cleanse and maybe even post a few recipes from the book!)

I’m back…finally. I’ve used that word a lot this past week. To others in talk about how I’m doing, in my own conversations with myself. Finally. It’s only been a week but it’s felt like an eternity. Finally. Normalcy is falling back into place. My life is starting to come together. Things that were pestering me, bothering me, things that felt dull for longer than just this past week suddenly are sharpening back up again. Finally. Those little task I do everyday that I haven’t been able to complete in a week are starting to come back to me. Finally…finally…finally.

And without getting into a complete soliloquy that would require a novel of me of why I haven’t blogged in a while I will just tell you honestly and openly that while I love my job, my clients and work so so much…the push to write…to open myself up on a page hasn’t been there. I don’t know exactly why. I have prayed about it. (I’m still praying about it:) And I’m coming to a new place with that. It almost took a smack on the head and well…I definitely got a literal one of those. I know more now of why and I want to start writing again and I’m thankful for that. Maybe I’ll sit down and tell you why one day in a post. Maybe I’ll tell you over coffee:) (I’m a little more open that way sometimes when I get asked about feelings.) In the meantime I will just tell you it’s been a long break for me that ended with a long week that required a lot of heart and a lot more of my faith. I stepped up. I did what was asked of me and more importantly….there were a lot more people in my life that stepped up for me in ways that I cannot begin to express my gratitude and unconditional love for.

Thank you to my parents for of course loving my in that way only parents love their children. For caring for me, being patient with me and thank you Lord for both being product of years and years of working in the medical field…for that I am a lucky girl.

To my Matthew…we have reached a new level of trust, patience and unconditional love in our relationship. I’m sorry for the sleep you lost, the really bad hospital food, and the amount of worry I have caused you. Thank you for never leaving that chair….thank you for loving me like you do. No one will ever love me like that. One day I’ll give that back to you. I promise. We get married 60 days from now and I have never been more proud than this moment that I get to be your wife and continue to grow in the way that we do. You are a gift to me…and for that I will always be forever grateful.

To my family..my sisters…aunts…nieces…and beyond, Matthew’s family…my new set of parents in law and my new sister, our friends, and all the clients who have sent love, wishes, flowers and prayers…I have felt every single one of them. I have. Thank you. They are strong. Prayer is powerful. It means the world to me, you have no idea.

Lastly….friends are gifts in life that we are given and it is a priceless gift having those people you know…no matter where you are in life…you can call and say…I need help. I need you. They won’t ask… They just come. I could name those people for me on the fingers of my one hand and I am a very lucky girl to have these people in my life and to be these people for someone else. Thank you to all of them for being my hands this week and loving me like they have always loved me.

To one of the most important fingers on my hand….Mary Beth. Thank you. For being my sister…not because we act more like sisters than friends:).. but because we are more closely bonded like sisters. Thank you for loving me, laughing at me and motivating me to be a better friend, photographer and one day…an amazing mom. Thank you for always knowing my tone in my phone calls before I open my mouth to speak and both, in our moments of “I need help” we just came. No questions…we just came. Thank you for coming.

Mary Beth took my place at a beautiful little wedding I unfortunately had to miss because of my head injury. (I told you guys..I am always prepared!) And she did an exceptionally, exquisite job. I love the images and I cannot wait for her to shoot my own in less than 60 days both because she is incredibly talented and also because I will look back and know the care and love those images were crafted with. Here is a sneak peek on my blog…(I’ll blog Matthew’s take on the wedding tomorrow!)

For the rest of the images from Mary Beth Tyson….check them out at her blog here. For now…here is my favorite.

It’s not often that I write, or that I write for the public to see. But this is an exception. I wanted to let you you know what keeps running through my head. I’ve been thinking it for a year and a half now, and it was even more solidified over this past weekend.

Karlin, simply put, you are my favorite.

I use the word favorite, for so many reasons, but let me explain to you how my heart and eyes see you.

I was about 13 years old when I really, truly, saw the love between my own parents. It wasn’t that I never noticed their love, but I never really understood it until that age. My dad is a passionate man, always doing everything to the very best of his ability. He’s a hard worker, spiritual head and powerful lover. My mom is calm, analytical and the backbone of our family. I was watching them in the kitchen one summer’s day. I can remember it like it was yesterday. My dad came into the kitchen, and my mom simply asked if he would do the dishes. Without skipping a beat, my dad did exactly as she asked, no questions. He then looked over at me and asked me, “Son, don’t I have a beautiful wife?” This changed me. At that moment I knew that I would resolve within myself, that when the time came, I would love someone like that. It was such a fleeting moment, but one that stuck with me even until this day. Since that day, I haven’t shared that story with anyone. I think partly because I had to know first for myself that I could love like that. My father has unconditionally loved my mother, and my mother, him, for 30 years this year.

So for 12 years I waited. And I found you. I finally found you.

Karlin, you are the most brilliant and driven woman I have ever met. Words cannot express the amount of admiration I have for you. You are a beautiful treasure. One that I cherish with all my heart. I promise to you, that in 30 years, our children will look at us and say, “Daddy and mommy love each other.” They will never see a day that goes by that I don’t love you with everything that is in my being. I will fight for you, I will go to bat for you, I will be your biggest fan, I will lead you, and I most certainly will love and adore you. I am becoming and will be the Godly husband you want and need. Our children will know what a loving father is, as I lead by example in loving them and you. You make me the best person I can possibly be. I can never thank you enough for that. You are my best friend, my love, my life-partner, and my spiritual counter part. I cannot wait to see what life has in store for us. We’ll take it head on, and I’ll always be there to catch you if you fall. You can count on me for the rest of your life. You are my favorite.

And I say this now for the first time, but certainly not the last, “Don’t I have a beautiful bride?”

yours forever,

until then…here is kate and seth’s lovely nuptials! enjoy!

We spent the afternoon with them at up at Barnsley Gardens, a very special place to us as Jared will be marrying Matt and I there in April of next year. Considering that amazing gift I had to give them one in return. I hope they enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed making them. (Rosanna…in her own way is giving me another very special gift in what we both hope…I’m sure her more than me…will only be a few short weeks. But more on that in DUE time) Until then…Ro and J…thank you for all the pizza, the late nights, and for being the best friends anyone could ask for!

k