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Our last and final Love story is from one of the sweetest couples we have met this year.  Liz and Dean had contacted us recently to contract us for their wedding, and having not yet met them in person, just the little we know about them makes us so excited for their wedding.  This love story was submitted by Dean, and upon reading it we grew all the more eager to meet this special couple.  We loved the idea of the notebook Dean and Liz pass back and forth…what a truly special idea and one that will likely be just as fun and special to read when they are much older.  Dean was kind enough to share a shot of this special notebook that is such a big part of expressing and documenting their love story!  ’

Enjoy this love story from Dean’s perspective:

I’m writing about this love story on the page of a book that is very important to Liz and I, which is strange, because this book has only been in our lives for about ten months and we’ve been in each other’s lives for almost sixteen years.

If we’d had this book in the fifth grade classroom we’d shared together, we might have used it to pass notes.  If we’d had it in high school, we might have used to it cheer each other up after an embarrassing social scene or tough loss in one of the sports we’d played.  Instead, I bought it and gave it to Liz in April of last year, one month after we’d started dating, on the first day of her first job.  In it I wrote, as neatly as I could on the top of the first page, “Enjoy the first of many.”  Next to the book I’d left the first flower I would ever give her, a sunflower, and at the bottom of the page I’d written “Jeremiah 29:11.”  I was trying to be clever in a way that wouldn’t seem corny (which was always going to be a challenge as, all of a sudden, I had just started dating my best friend).

There isn’t a way to describe in words how you get to know someone after you already know them so well.  Liz and I had already experienced life together: we knew each other’s families, we’d visited each other when we were away, we’d shared each other’s pains and hardships.  We were living separate lives that the other one was already a part of.

About a year and a half ago, after living these lives and going away to schools and traveling and getting by and doing our best to understand, we both eventually found ourselves back in Virginia Beach, our home.  And just like every other time we’d found ourselves in the same place, we picked up right where we’d left off – a quiet night catching up.

Liz and I still argue halfheartedly over when it happened.  The best evidence we have is on the second page of this book, where Liz began her first entry with “Happy one month!”  Since then, we’ve passed this book back and forth, with one of us sometimes holding onto it for months at a time.

November 10 was the last time I wrote anything in this book – it was my fourth entry – and I ended it by asking Liz to be my wife.  As far as I’m concerned, there is only anniversary that matters to us, and we won’t be able to celebrate the first one until the 20th of July, 2014.  That day will mark one year of us living a single life, together.

Today we are pleased to share the next of our “Love Story” winners with you all!  We thought Casey’s telling of his and Brooke’s Love story was awesome, but we especially loved that he planned to propose to Brooke after submitting his love story…..she said “YES”.  We are so excited for both Casey and Brooke, and could not be more excited to have the opportunity to photograph the love they share for each other!  Here is their story in Casey’s words as well as few photos that Casey was kind enough to share:

It’s funny how the mind works sometimes. When I was in college at James Madison University one of the things I did, since there were so many students there, was to take the annual yearbooks and underline the names of people I knew so that when I looked back as an older man I would hopefully be able to recall things about that person. Well, in all honesty, twenty plus years later there are people I underlined about whom I can’t remember any details, but part of me is still glad I took the time to do so back then.

One person whose name I underlined was in the marching band with me for a year. Brooke Brosious was her name and I always remember her smile, and her laugh, and that she was a cool person, but both of us were always dating other people during the time we knew each other so there never appeared to be any way to break the romantic ice, so to speak. Then I graduated and moved on with life. But whenever I would break out that yearbook I would always see her face and wonder how her life had turned out. This was all before social media took the world by storm, you see.

About seventeen years after the last time I saw her in person, when my life had gone through some dramatic changes – I was newly single, had been in a new job less than six months, etc. – she popped up as a recommended friend on facebook. We reconnected in that manner and not too long after went out on a date at that year’s JMU Band Alumni football game.

Well you know how I said it’s funny how the mind works? Since Brooke and I started dating, like every other relationship we have experienced peaks and valleys, good times and challenges. And I even got to the point where I think I took her for granted and came very close to losing her. Then I literally had one of those moments where every thing suddenly clears up. I went and chased her down like the proverbial guy in the movies who runs to catch his girlfriend at the airport before she gets on the plane. And I told Brooke at that moment that I would spend the rest of my life showing her how much I love her on a daily basis. Today is February 13, and tomorrow Brooke and I will be attending a Mumford and Sons concert in Fairfax, VA. I plan on proposing to her after they play their song “I Will Wait.” She’s definitely worth it, WE’RE definitely worth it, and I’m anxiously looking forward to being with her every day for the rest of my life. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I think we take a good picture together, but we haven’t been blessed yet to have anyone of your caliber photograph us – I think we’ll be magazine-ready with your help!

Sincerely,

Casey I. Blankenship

Sasha and I always love when we get to know our clients, and absolutely love hearing their love stories!  Each couple is so unique, and consequently the love they share is unique and beautiful!  We are so pleased to share this beautiful and extremely creative love Story from Christine and Mike who were one of three winners for our annual “Love Story Competition”.  Congratulations to you both, and again thank you for all the love and attention you clearly put into your love story!

Many things certainly come to my mind when thinking on the word inspiration, but there is definitely one that stands out above the rest.  My beautiful wife is an immeasurable source of inspiration in my life and is constantly challenging me to grow personally and professionally.  No matter the situation, and no matter how difficult life can sometimes become she is always smiling and remains joyful in whatever circumstance we face.  Sasha can always find something good in everyone she meets, can make anyone smile, has the most fun loving and laid back approach to life, and short of my Lord and savior she is an ever constant immovable rock and source of strength in my life!  I always love the goofy pictures she wants to take even though at the time I can often be heard to say, “not again”.  Its the simple things about my amazing wife that makes life so memorable and fun, and I count myself blessed beyond measure to count her my wife, business partner, friend, and life long companion!

All that said I wanted to share a few shots of this amazing woman from our most recent engagement shoot, and yes we even get enjoyment out of taking pictures of our feet next to each other!  Like I said it is the simple things in life that are often the most memorable and fun!  Thank you sweetie for making each day a wonderful one!