Sam and Lindsay met at Cedarville University through mutual friends, but got to know each other better through playing sand volleyball together.  These two are great for each other because they both love traveling and adventure!  And when I say adventure, I mean ADVENTURE!  For example… exploring Abu Dhabi and Dubai, enjoying the beautiful view in the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world), riding camels on a desert safari, parasailing in Florida, and tandem-biking around Mackinac Island, just to name a few!!  I have a feeling the adventures will continue after they tie the knot in September!

When Lindsay was asked to describe Sam she shared, “Sam is the decisive one in the relationship. He is passionate and loves to learn. He is the type of person that doesn’t settle with mediocre and strives for the best, and encourages others to do the same. He is always so thoughtful, caring, and encouraging towards me.”

Sam sweetly shared about Lindsay, “Lindsay is one of the most sweet, kind, and compassionate woman you will ever meet. She has a beautiful heartwarming smile and adorable laugh. She has a huge heart and loves to share her joy and enthusiasm with others.”

Sam and Lindsay, it was so much fun to spend the evening with you!  Looking forward to your big day!

Rich and Bethany’s engagement session took place on a foggy morning, which added a unique and romantic aspect to their pictures…kind of like their love story, which is also unique and God-designed!

Here’s a glimpse into their love story…

Rich and Bethany will be the first to admit that while at times in their lives they desired being married, after years of waiting and God not leading in that direction they were content and happy living life as singles.  Rich is from Pennsylvania and Bethany has called Ohio home for over 10 years.  They first met the summer of 2005, when Bethany was reporting to her new job in Ohio at Rosedale Bible College.  Rich was visiting for a week donating his time to help with various website and database projects at the college.  She recalls the first time they met he was sitting at her new desk, working on her computer. Little did they know God would bring them together in a very special way 11 years after they met for the first time! During the next decade, they became casual friends but never anything more.  If completely honest, Bethany will tell you she wasn’t sure how to take Rich during this decade. Perhaps it was his quirky sense of humor, or his geeky nature, or maybe he just needed to grow up…he simply wasn’t somebody she would have considered dating. If completely honest, Rich will tell you he never seriously considered dating Bethany during that time either but mostly because of the distance between them. Secretly, he did use her as a standard by which he measured the handful of women his friends tried setting him up with over the years! Through a collection of seemingly unrelated events in 2015, God prompted Rich to begin freeing up a lot of his time outside of work which opened up the door for him to consider a long distance relationship should one come his way.  Also in 2015, Bethany included Rich on the list of people to whom she sent her Christmas letter, just as she had done in the past. Rich reached out on Facebook to thank her for sending the letter and to catch up a bit, as he had done in the past, but unlike the past, they kept talking on Facebook over the holidays and haven’t stopped since! They grew together pretty quickly, even though the distance made it difficult to spend much time together.  In hindsight, both were pretty confident their relationship would eventually lead to marriage. In faith, Rich had written Bethany a love letter on the back of a jigsaw puzzle. He slowly delivered pieces of that puzzle each passing week throughout the summer, with the plan of using the final piece as part of the proposal. Bethany quickly realized the puzzle had significance and looked forward to checking her mailbox each week for more pieces. She enjoyed special weeks when Rich gave friends and family extra pieces to hand-deliver to her. Since Rich wanted the ring and the final puzzle piece to be in the ring box, he had to think of a good way to hide the box during a morning hike and brunch he’d planned the morning after Thanksgiving to pop the question! As they were wrapping up brunch, it was impossible for her not to notice Rich reaching into his backpack to locate the ring box. After some prepared thoughts he got down on his knee, told Bethany he wanted his world to be with her, and asked her to marry him.

She didn’t say “yes” though; she said “of course I will!”  And as they say, “The rest is history!”  They are now anxiously awaiting and hurriedly planning for their wedding in April, 2017! Congratulations, Rich and Bethany!  Many blessings to you as you prepare for your wedding and new life together!

Class of 2017

Some people take years to figure out what they want to do in life (me for one!) and others somehow just know what they want to do.  Payton is one of those people I watch in wonder!  When she was in sixth grade she did a report for school, and at that point decided she wants to be airplane pilot.  Soon after that she started taking lessons, and now she has her pilot’s license!  She’s not exactly sure how everything will play out in her future, but at this point her desire is to continue pursuing flight.

For now, Payton is working on finishing up her senior year at Jonathan Alder High School.  For her session she was most concerned about having her plane in the pictures, too!  The gusts of wind were pretty strong and nearly non-stop during her session, so we moved to an airplane hangar for some of the pictures.  I loved having a new and unique location to shoot, and you could tell Payton was in her happy place with her airplane!

And off she goes…!!!

My favorite part of my job is interacting with so many great people.  I love getting to know them and seeing little glimpses into their lives.  Now that I’ve done weddings for several years, I’m beginning to watch my brides/grooms start their families!  It’s so much fun to see their new little ones!  I was privileged to photograph Stephen and Amber’s wedding a few years ago, and now their precious new daughter, Finley!  Welcome to the world, sweet little one!

Darby House – Galloway, Ohio

Ivan and Nikki are looking forward to their June wedding and we all hope it will be much warmer than their engagement session! 🙂 They braved the elements with frequent indoor breaks to warm up, but by the end of their session the gusts of wind and bitter cold were about all we could take!  Ivan and Nikki chose to have their engagement session on the beautiful acreage of the Darby House, also known as Darby Dan Farms, where their wedding will also be held.  They have already begun making memories at this location and will have many more special memories at this farm in 2017!

Congratulation, Ivan and Nikki!  I’m excited for your upcoming wedding!