29 Years of Love

This is my mom and dad.

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Yesterday was Father’s Day. It was also my parents’ anniversary. Their 29th, to be exact. 29 years of marriage. 29 years of living life in all it’s glory and craziness, together. 29 years of being an example of love to anyone who knows them, especially to my brothers and I.

We always joke that my dad can’t function without my mom. Which is true, to an extent. She is the glue that cooks the incredible meals, matches the pants with the shirt, keeps the house clean and inviting to anyone, finds the keys that are lost, and holds the crazy schedule in place. For my dad’s sake I won’t talk about what happens when my mom goes out of town… Haha. But my mom needs my dad, too. He is the rock she can turn to, the stronghold she needs when times are rough. Together they are a team that just, works. I might laugh and roll my eyes at some of the things they do, but on the inside I’m ever so grateful for the love they share.

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So, Mom and Dad, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for making a promise 29 years ago, and keeping it faithfully through thick and thin. I love you guys. Happy Anniversary!

 

 

The Thirty-Something Bride - June 20, 2011 - 8:21 am

SO cute! My parents just celebrated number 46!

Rooms - June 20, 2011 - 8:30 am

i love your parents so much… tell them congrats for me. :)

Carissa - June 21, 2011 - 7:18 am

@Louise Love it!!! Congrats to your parents : )

@Rooms Will do : ) xoxo

Julia Jones - July 27, 2011 - 2:29 pm

The photos are wonderful, Carissa! The love that shines in your mom’s and dad’s eyes can’t be “faked,” but you did a great job of capturing their joy!

Julia

Park City Anytime: Tori

Meet my beautiful friend Tori! This amazing lady just graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois, and her mom wanted some pictures for the occasion. I was more than happy to oblige : ) I’m just going to go ahead and say this right now… yes, Tori is absolutely as gorgeous on the inside as she is on the outside. She has such an amazing heart for serving people, and a gentle spirit that’s impossible not to love. I’m blessed to call her my friend! Enjoy some of my favorites from her session : )

Tori, congratulations on graduating!!! I’m so excited to see what God has in store for this next stage of your life. And I’m glad that you’re going to be here to hang out and go on photo adventures all summer ; ) P.S. Watch out for that herd of bears… Hahaha. Love you!

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I’m not usually a fan of direct, harsh light. But these ones just work for me. I love the attitude. Work it Tori!

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Mmm. Lens flair.

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I can be funny, sometimes : )

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I was funny again. Or maybe she was just being kind and humoring me. Either way.

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Lurrrve.

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Tori, this is where you need to stop being so gorgeous. Just stop it. Love.

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This one makes me happy. Maybe because it has summer written all over it….

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We found these random iron people off the path and I thought they were hilarious.

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Aaaaaaand I totally want a beach cruiser now.

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GORGEOUS.

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Tori mentioned that her skirt is really flowy, so of course we had to do a few spinning pictures : )

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As big Twilight fans, there was no way we could pass up this field. Haha.

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I’ll end with this, because I think she looks lovely : )

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Happy Weekend!

 

Wrinkles

You’d think that after dating for almost 7 years, there wouldn’t be many surprises during the first year of marriage. And really, it’s not that there were surprises, per say. After all, I know you like the back of my hand. And you? Well, you almost have me down to a science. Which is a pretty impressive feat. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love you for it. Still, we had our moments. I’d be lying if I said it was perfect year, that there weren’t any wrinkles to be smoothed out. But then again, maybe they don’t all need to be smoothed out. It’s like the sheets on a bed.

As nice as it is to get into a clean, unused bed,  I like seeing the wrinkles from where you were sleeping. I like seeing your pillow all scrunched up and the indent from where your head rested. I like seeing the covers tossed back from where you groggily made your way to the shower. Because it’s the smooth parts and the wrinkles, those things that make us, well, us, that I love the most.

I love hearing you introduce me as your wife.
I love how much you appreciate me packing your lunch and making you coffee in the morning.
I love that you take the trash out without me asking.
I love how you laugh and shake your head when I leave the new toilet paper roll sitting on top of the empty one.
I love when we play Halo and yell at the TV together, even though I’m awful at it.
I love that you always keep the cars so clean and running perfectly.
I love that we fall back on breakfast burritos when we can’t think of anything else for dinner.
I love holding hands with you wherever we go. At the grocery store, walking the dogs, in the car.
I love that you put up with (and maybe even slightly enjoy) my random dancing outbursts in the kitchen.
I love how you fall asleep in the first 5 minutes whenever we watch a movie.
I love how you still think I was the one who initiated our first kiss, even though you sooo started it.
I love that you never cease to encourage and motivate me, always wanting what’s best for me.
I love you for the man you are, the man you want to be, and the man you will become.

I love us, wrinkles and all.

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Photo by David Terry …………………

Happy Anniversary, Roo. Forever and always.

Chris Manning - June 15, 2011 - 8:27 am

Happy Anniversary! What a beautiful post! It got me thinking more about the “wrinkles” I love about my wife, and what I can do to be more awesome. Thank you for these beautiful words. I think this is a case where words+picture worked synergistically to create way more than the number of words in this post+1000 for the picture. This post is worth 1,000,000 words!

Jamie Kubelka - June 15, 2011 - 9:35 am

I LOVE YOU GUYSS!!
xoxoxoxxxooo

Music Monday

I love Adele. Lurrrrrve her.

I know I know, a lot of people do.

But, as I was explaining to Jake the other day, I loved her first. I loved her before everyone else started thinking she was awesome, before Rolling in the Deep became way overplayed on the radio, before 21 ever came out. I loved her back in 2008 when I first heard her. She was like my secret little musical escape. Sure, other people knew about her then, too. But that didn’t matter. Those songs were totally written for me. Yep.

Ok… HOW WEIRD AM I?! Like, do I really think that I can claim ownership of certain songs? Apparently so. Does anyone else do that? Do you ever feel like you own a song and no one else should be allowed to listen to it? Actually, no. Don’t answer that. I’m just going to believe it’s totally normal.

Anyways, before I go creeping you all out any more, enjoy one of my favorites from her first album, 19. SO GOOD. (It’s the second most played song in my iTunes, to give you an idea of how much I adore it.) And it seems appropriate for this month, considering it’ll be one year for me and Jake in a few days : ) Enjoy Adele’s gorgeous voice… Crazy For You.

 

Happy Monday!

Allie - June 13, 2011 - 6:41 pm

I totally have songs like that. I refer to them as my theme songs. Maybe its a Fine thing…

Carissa - June 14, 2011 - 6:26 am

Hahaha : )

Park City Birth Story: Robert Weller

Last week I witnessed a miracle. What an honor and a privilege, to say the least. Proud parents Rob and Christa welcomed little Weller into the world and their lives at about 4:06pm on June 3, 2011.

Rob and Christa are special people to Jake and I. Well, they’re special to a lot of people. I can’t really claim them. To say they’ve touched many, many lives is an understatement. But Rob and Christa were our pre-marital counselors, and they will always have a special spot in our hearts. So to be able to share this incredible experience with them was truly a gift.

Rob and Christa- SO much love and congratulations!!! I can’t thank you enough for allowing me and trusting me to be a part of such an intimate part of your lives. And I hope these photos will be a treasure to you for years to come : ) Xoxo

Enjoy Weller’s birth story…

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Welcome to the world, Weller. You are loved.

Alicia - June 10, 2011 - 9:26 am

Oh my goodness! These are just..wow… I’ll admit I definitely teared up a bit and multiple “awe’s” came out of my mouth. What beautiful pictures they will have of their new son’s birth. Great job, Carissa, great job!

Joe - June 10, 2011 - 9:28 am

Awesome!!!

Lindsay - June 10, 2011 - 9:48 am

Wow. what a beautiful shoot. you did a great job!

Amy - June 10, 2011 - 10:14 am

Wow Ris, those are amazing….want to come to Minnesota in August to do another birth story :)

Christa - June 11, 2011 - 7:48 am

Carissa! You are AMAZING! Thank you, thank you, thank you! These are beautiful and we will treasure them always. Thank you for sharing this experience with us! We love you!

PCJenny - June 11, 2011 - 10:46 am

These are amazing…it helps to have amazing people to photograph!! =)

Shelly - June 12, 2011 - 8:19 pm

What a great idea! And so fun for Weller to have when he’s older. I’m totally doing this when I have kids :)