2 wonderful years

2 years ago, on this day, i committed my life to a wonderful man.

2 years ago, on this day, i was surrounded by family and friends.

2 years ago, on this day, i fulfilled part of God's plan for my life.

and today, i am blessed.

ray, i love you. you know i can't be close enough, spend enough time with you, or stick my finger in your mouth while you yawn enough. you inspire me, support me, protect me, motivate me, balance me, and love me. i believe with all my heart that you are truly a fabulous man, and that i couldn't be luckier than to be called your wife. with 2 years already behind us, i'm thrilled to see where our future takes us. i love you forever :c)

to celebrate my anniversary this year, i decided to pick some of my favorite pics from my wedding. i have looked at these countless times, and they still put a smile on my face. i just pray that the pictures i deliver my clients can do the same.

photos from the fabulous kriea arie and abi martin

this is me reading a letter from my soon-to-be hubby

here's my emotion before walking the isle

i love how handsome my grandpa looks here

this is a beautiful shot of a couple of the flower girls

i love what a proud pop he is here

and here

i love the sneak peak at our unity ceremony

i like the kiss, but beyond that, i love my cousin mason peaking around, with his dad being the only one in the background that's visible... how ironic!

and i love this kiss pic

these pictures couldn't make me happier...

this is the maid of honor and grooms men breaking it down the isle

(kc, i'll do cartwheels down the isle if you want!)

and this is mark's expression after getting the approval from summer to not dance

here's eugene and anndrea thinking about the possibility of dancing

and then there's sydnie and eric, who don't have a clue about dancing

and here's my response, to them telling me about the above

my girls, showin' my man what's up

me, laughing at eugene's face in the below pic

our crew can totally work it!
i love being surrounded by the people we love

love the detail of my stepmom's contribution

perfect timing!

ray's eyes say it all...

so happy..

this is another nudge for darla.. hmm mmm

aww, i love my grandma and ray's grandpamy favorite reactions, my cousin landon closing his ears, guys whistling, alec's hands up.

but #1 is ruck being ruck.. love it :c)

this pic bumped it's way up once i found out my aunts were actually in the process of falling during this picture.. meaning, they hit the ground.

i love this picture, and it will always remind me of waking up at 4:00 in the morning on the day of my wedding and heading to walmart with my sister... she's so good. (that's when this guy was purchased)

okay, these are just a few of the hundreds of pictures that i love. and what i realized when going through these, is they may not be all the pictures i would have put on my blog (had i shot them), but they mean something to me. thank you for sharing in my day, and thanks again to kriea and abi.. i'm forever grateful for your fantastic work!

symptoms of seclusion

guess what.

this post makes my 200th post..wowza!

i was hoping to announce my surprise (again, not a baby!), but it's not complete yet.. so in due time.

but for now, i'd just like to talk. i've been stuck at home all week with a lovely sickness i picked up at the hospital on monday, and as my sickness symptoms are declining, the symptoms of my seclusion are increasing... you'll soon see what i mean.

to start with, i've been doing a lot of reading this week. i read a book called the no complaining rule, which is kind of cheesy, but has a good point. i would like my clinical students to read it (for some reason nursing student=complainer), but it's not in the libraries yet, so i haven't decided on that yet. another book i read was redeeming love by francine rivers. i can tell you what i thought of the book, or i can explain to you just how i read it. i started with a couple chapters on wednesday. then on thursday morning i woke up with a sore throat at 4 am. with nothing else to do, i picked up the book and didn't put it down until 10 am, when i friend called and reminded me of a meeting we had. i then went to clinicals, came home at 11 pm, picked up the book and finished this 464 page book at 3:30 am. about 10 hours of reading in one day is a record for me. but, that's what i do with story books (which i don't read a lot of anymore), i just can't put them down. this book actually paroles the book Hosea in the Bible. Hosea was a prophet who was told by God to marry a prostitute, which he faithfully does. she leaves him, but he is faithful to his promise to her and takes her back. if you need some help reaffirming your commitment with your signicant other, man is this a motivational story. what broke my heart the most in redeeming love was reading about this fictional woman's life (daughter of a adulteress, sold to be a 'sex toy' for a man by age 8, beat and broken and alone in her teens, and ends up hard and cold and working in a brothel just for a place to sleep and eat). like i said, she is fiction, but i know that there are people to whom this is not just a story. i am also reading captivating and some of the stories women tell are heartbreaking. all i know is love. from my parents, my family, my friends, and my wonderful and supportive husband. i am extremely blessed, and i'm coming to realize that more and more. now i don't know why i have been blessed with so much love, while others don't even know the true meaning of the word, but my prayer is that i get to bless others with my love. and i believe that God is working on me with that. i believe He wanted me to slow down this week (=sickness). i believe that He is continually giving ray and i the same message for a reason. i don't know what all this means for the future, but i believe He has a purpose, and it will take me responding to his every nudge, every whisper, every command (which i usually want to fight). and in the end, i pray that His work has been done. and that is all i need. i just paused to look up a couple things i've been going over, but in the process became motivated to read another book, crazy love, by francis chan, a truly inspiring man from conerstone church (you should check out his podcasts on itunes). so this is just a bit of what i've been going over. i hope that the effects of this won't wear off along with my illness, but that i will continue to change, to grow, and to love.

if your still reading this, thank you :c) i know i'm not eloquent or entertaining, tonight i'm just sharing my heart. let me know if there is anything i can pray for you about. here's a verse from the Word that ray and i have been praying..

"..give me neither poverty nor riches, but give my my daily bread. Otherwise, i may have too much and disown you and say, 'who is the Lord?' or i may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."- Proverbs 30:8-9

cheryl and josh wed

here it is! cheryl and josh's wedding!

this lovely couple committed their love to each other in front of God, friends, and family on Saturday September 12 at the express ranch in yukon (cheryl works at express ranch). cheryl is a friend from my photo life group who's had a pretty crazy year, but who's definatley learned what a difference God can make in a relationship. you can read about their amazing story on her blog. but now, we'll get to the celebration!
cheryl prepping upstairs in the barn

there was so much excitement the entire day!

i love this image

of course i had to get in on the action!

some details

cheryl glued pennies under her shoes, with one from the year of each of their births

when on the ranch...

this cake was scrumptious!

i love when a photo captures a moment that's easily missed in real life...

here's josh and cheryl's son puttin' the moves on the flower girl ;c)

one of the reason i love my stalker lens.. more moments captured

here's the guys praying before the ceremony

josh fighting back emotion, so sweet

cheryl-doing the same

the family participated in a sand ceremony..

your stunning cheryl!

a moment of prayer a giddy moment

and an ecstatic moment

and this was the look under tux for one of josh's groomsmen.. love it!

it was josh's birthday the day before their wedding, so cheryl made sure to celebrate!

and here's their son playing with grandpa

i love how cheryl is looking at her hubby here

don't mess with this couple!

i love you guys and want to thank you for letting me document such a special day for the both of you. i consider it a blessing to know you.

and an update on my sickness (its the reason i was able to blog this right now). i went to bed at 10, woke up at 12, 2, and 4, at which point i got up, took an airborne, and called work to see if they absolutely needed me. none of them wanting to get sick (i really think i got this from work yesterday), they told me to stay home. so now, i'm eating chicken noodle soup and finishing up my last couple weddings! at least my computer isn't scared of me..