About four years ago, I was driving to my office downtown on a day almost exactly like today.  I was five months pregnant with Hudson and had recently made the decision to take a four year leave of absence so that I could stay home with him.  As I waited in traffic to make my way through rush hour, I spotted a woman going for a run with her baby.  At 8am!

It made me wonder what my days would be like when I left this life of business attire…media previews…and press clippings.  It made me wonder what my 8am would start to look like a few short months later.  It wasn’t long before I had visions of future morning strolls…coffee in hand…little one in tow.

Four months later, there I was blurry eyed and overwhelmed.  It turned out that my only morning strolls were going to be as the sun began to rise in a desperate attempt to lure my son to sleep.  Yes…there was coffee…but it acted more as liquid sanity as opposed to an enjoyable morning ritual.  In a nutshell, it didn’t look the way I imagined it.

Now, there is two of them!  And our days consist of a lot of dishes…a lot of meltdowns…and a lot of things that aren’t nearly as pretty as I imagined them.

On the morning of Marianka and Damon’s engagement session, Avery and I dropped Hudson off at pre-school and headed out to find the perfect site for that evening’s shoot.  As the sun peaked through the trees…the dew glittered on everything in sight.  We held hands as Avery dragged her little boots along the path and stopped to pick up leaves.  Every now and then, I would lift my face to sun and think back to that moment so many years ago.  My coffee was perfect…my daughter was perfect…our morning was perfect.  Life – at that very moment – was perfect.

Then a few short hours later…I had the privilege of photographing these two in the very same place.  Just one more piece in a day that I thought couldn’t get any better!

The thing of it is – not all of our days are perfect.  In fact, most of them aren’t.  But in between all of those dishes…in between all of those meltdowns…and in between all of the things that aren’t as pretty as I imagined…there lies everything else.  All of the giggles…all of the bedtime cuddles…and all of the things that are way cuter than I ever imagined!

And right there…in the midst of it all…also lies Marianka and Damon; another love…another engagement…another moment better than I ever imagined…