One. That’s what this past year’s wedding season turned into. One. One wedding. And honestly, there’s something about it that is more poetic and more beautifully than I ever thought imaginable. Because I am reminded that when we are given the gift of documenting someone’s wedding, it is always just one. Even when our season’s […]

My husband and I have talked about it before; the idea of moving into a more rural area. I am a city girl, through and through.  Even when I lived in a smaller town, I almost always lived in the heart of it.  But my husband is a country boy and every time we head […]

It’s never something you plan. You don’t mark it on a calendar and write it out as one of your goals. You don’t rally your friends to celebrate it and you don’t feel ready when and if it happens. No one ever plans to wage war on themselves.  No one ever plans to walk through […]

Dear Darren, The first time I ever walked in on a gathering of my husband’s family was over Thanksgiving of 2003.  I could hear the noise all the way from the street and when we entered the front door to the split level home that was hosting dinner that year, I remember thinking to myself…”I […]

I am an only child. My husband is not. So, when I married him and became a Smyth, I also became the youngest of eight “siblings”.  It was an adjustment, to say the least. Becoming a part of a new family is always a big step for any couple.  Those first few family gatherings can […]

As an only child, time alone was something that was always at my disposal.  I grew up learning how to savor time on my own…I grew up learning how to enjoy being on my own.  I had my own room…my own space…my own routine that was refined from years spent getting to know myself. Once […]