Aren’t we all a sucker for a good love story? If you answered “Of course!” , you’re in the right place! One of my favorite parts of being a wedding photographer is watching couples light up with glee and excitement from the newness from finding the person they will spend the rest of their lives with! It’s an emotion like no other! How they met. How he proposed. I love all of it! I’ll never forget that time in my life while I was dating the guy that I knew I would marry. My couples always end up asking me “What about you & Hunter?” So I decided to share with you the story of us!

Here’s our story of how we went from a church camp fling to wedding rings!

PART 1: HOW WE MET 

PART 2: BEST FRIENDS THAT HELD HANDS

PART 3: FRIDAY NIGHT VICTORY

PART 4: DANCIN’ THE NIGHT AWAY

PART 5: CLASS OF 2014

PART 6: I SAID YES

PART 7: 5,000 MILES APART

PART 8: MAY 15, 2016

The next part of our story is not a sweet and happy as the rest of it has been. I wish I could say it was easy and didn’t affect us whatsoever. However, that wouldn’t be doing justice to our real love story. The years that Hunter & I spent apart were by far the most difficult thing either of us had to do. I wouldn’t change them for anything though, because they not only taught us how to grow up individually, but together as well.

 

When I was in college, Hunter decided to go work offshore in the oil industry. We went weeks without the ability to talk on the phone, and we spent months apart from one another. At one point when I was in Spain studying abroad & he was in Alaska for work we were literally 5,000 miles apart. This period of time was devastating at times. I remember the second time Hunter left for Alaska, I cried harder than I ever had in my life. I could physically feel my heart breaking having no idea when I would actually see him again. I was (& still am!) thankful that I had such sweet friends around me that tried their very best to make sure I knew I wasn’t completely alone. Unfortunately, Hunter had it much worse.

 

While I was able to run into the arms of my girl friends, he was all alone. If you don’t know very much about the oil industry, it’s not exactly easy work or filled with the most respectable kind of people at times to say the least. As a Christian & decent human being, he did not fit in. I’m still forever grateful that he was able to endure that year so he could provide for our future.

 

After Hunter came home the second time from Alaska, we decided that we were not cut out to live our lives that way any longer so he found a job in telecommunications. While this was still a major improvement from the life we were previously living, it also meant Hunter would spend the majority of his time on the road. Up until I moved to Tennessee, we rarely saw each other more than 5-7 days a month.

 

I’ve debated how much I want to share on how this affected me but once again, I believe by telling you the real story with transparency, you can better understand The Story of Us. To put it simply, the long distance was the best and worst thing to ever happen to me. I was able to channel my inner sadness into a thriving business and I was also able to excel in school. At the same time, I battled crippling anxiety and depression. It was at times equally difficult for Hunter as well.

 

Luckily now, Hunter has a job that allows him to actually come home every night. We don’t have to wonder when we’ll see each other again anymore. I don’t have to sleep with the lights on anymore. He has a place to come home to after working all day rather than sleeping in hotels most nights. Long distance was terrible, and exhausting but there is no way we would be as strong as we are now without that period of our lives!

This was the very first picture we took together after Hunter came home from Alaska the second time.