Tag Archives: marriage
365 Project Day 361: Love in Bloom
Posted on 30. Dec, 2011 by maryanne.
Happy
Canon 5D Mark ll, 50 1.2L 2.8 aperture, 1/320 shutter 100 ISO
It was such a joy spending the afternoon with these two lovebirds, Anna and Adam. I have known Anna since she was three. Chris and I were in her parents’ small group when Katie was born. We have kept in touch with her family over time and she has commented often on my 365 project this year, although she is living in Louisiana. She contacted me last month and informed me that she and Adam would be moving to Korea after Christmas and asked if I would be willing to photograph them before they left. She wanted to be photographed in her wedding dress since she will not be taking it with her. She said she didn’t mind getting it dirty and mentioned horses, and that was all I needed to know. I knew we would have some fun. They have been married two years, but they still act like they just got married yesterday. They were so sweet together.
My girls both assisted me on this shoot and it was fun for all of us. We even got out the the rain-maker in 50 degree weather! They were brave souls. We had horses, old books, beautiful sun flare, feathers flying in the air, and rain falling from a tree. Oh, and an amazingly sweet couple. Sounds like perfection to me.
Blessings, Adam and Anna. We wish you well on your new adventure together. May the Lord bless you keep you. Thanks for spending the day with us and helping me log another day onto my 365 project with your sweetness.
Numbers 6:24-26 ~” The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Sharing Interests
All Day with You
Focused on Her
Embrace
Perfect
No Place to Go
Surprises on both Sides
Horsey Hug
Pure
Horse Girl
Beauty
Carefree
Spontaneous
Dance
Fire and Ice
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365 Project Day 340: Heart Seeds
Posted on 09. Dec, 2011 by maryanne.
Heart Seeds
Canon 5D Mark ll, 100 macro 2.8, 2.8 aperture, 1/60th shutter speed, 400 ISO
My mom and I share a love for Zinnias. We both agree they are one of the most cheerful flowers of summer. This year she had a lovely patch of them by her back porch. She promised me she would save the seeds for me to plant this coming spring. On my birthday this year she gave me a bag full of them. What a wonderful gift! They were so lovely, their colorful petals swirling into elegant patterns. Even in death, they hold beauty and promises of new life.
Hope for the Next Season
Every year, when Chris plants his vegetable garden in the spring, he leaves a row for the Zinnias. He knows how I love my Zinnias. The first year we planted them together, we planted them at night, with the moon and a flashlight our only light. It was so much fun. I held the flashlight, my toes sinking into the freshly-tilled earth, while he carefully sowed each seed. Each seed felt like it was taking root inside me, as I watched my farmer-husband cherish the desires of my heart. Now, we always plant this row by moonlight. I feel like a little girl barefoot, holding my flashlight, while he gently carries the seeds to the side yard. It is our tradition. Another strand to weave us together.
How I love Zinnias. They remind me of how much I am loved. Thank you mom for the sweet gift, and thank you my husband, for your willingness to sow love into my heart.
Thank you God for Zinnias.
Luke 12:27-28 ~ “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you~”
Spring
Swirling Petals
Treasures Yet to Be
Hope Tumbling Out
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365 Project Day 334: I Married a Cowboy and Didn’t Even Know It
Posted on 03. Dec, 2011 by maryanne.
Friendship
Canon 5D Mark ll, 50 1.2L, 4.5 aperture, 1/640 shutter, 200 ISO
I have loved horses all of my life. They are woven forever into the fabric of my heart. I have spoken of this passion many times on this blog. I had a horse when I was younger for a brief time, but had to give him up due to financial difficulties in my family. It was a shining bit of color in my growing up years. I will always be grateful to my mom for trying so hard to make it work.
As I grew older I began to mourn the loss of dreaming about horses. I didn’t believe I would ever really have one of my own. I was in college when I met Chris, and I remember sitting with him on the quad of my campus one day as I pondered the dreams of my little girl’s heart. I asked him if he thought God might give me a horse in heaven since I had come to believe I would probably never have one in this lifetime again. I had shifted my dreams into eternity. That seemed the safe thing to do. He didn’t really have an answer for me and I gave up dreaming about it.
For awhile.
Ready to Ride
At least until after we were married. Some dreams just won’t die. After Annie was born, my passion for horses returned in spades when someone we knew was selling theirs for a reasonable price. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I am pretty sure Chris was questioning his choice of wives at this point. He thought horses were nice, but did not understand this obsession. He did love me though, and he gave in to my desires and we bought that first horse. She was the beginning of a long string of equine purchases we would make over the years. Many of them were not good decisions. But, the three we have now are wonderful.
I am grateful for the tenacity of God-given dreams.
Just in Town for Supplies
Here is the amazing thing. God has once again surpassed my expectations and kissed me straight on my forehead with this husband of mine. I never thought I would marry a man who loved to ride too. I married the man I fell in love with, fully believing that there were some things I just would not get to have. I secretly wanted a man who loved horses too. One who would saddle up and mosey down the road with me into the sunset,with the sounds of hooves clip-clopping melodies onto pavement. This is the stuff from which my dreams were spun.
Mine
This is what I am living in now. A dream beyond all I had hoped for. God went the extra mile. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. I have my cowboy. Sometimes God takes the long way in giving us the desires of our hearts. I now believe I should never give up on the dreams He has sown deeply within me. He gives us desires so that He can meet them. It is His joy. He just wants to know that we love Him more than we love anything He can give us.
From my Perspective
I am grateful for my Cowboy tonight, and for my God who sees me and blows me kisses daily.
Never stop dreaming or believing in the God who put those dreams into your heart. He is the Kind King.
Sunset Ride
Back in the Saddle
Let's Go Down the Road
At the End of the Day
Psalm 16:11 ~”You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
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365 Project Day 314: The Green Boots
Posted on 11. Nov, 2011 by maryanne.
Birthday Surprise
Canon 5D Mark ll, 50 1.2 L, 2.0 aperture, 1/400 shutter, 100 ISO
I found these waiting for me at the end of a wonderful birthday this week. The green boots. I had been eyeing them in the window of our local Charming Charlie store that we pass when we go to dinner or a movie. I remember passing by them once or twice while Chris and I were on one of our dates and thinking how I loved their cheerfulness. They were just sitting there in the window, beaming sunshine, a not-so-easy task for a rain boot. I may have remarked that I liked them. It is typical of me to ooh and ahh out loud. At any rate, my sweet husband walked himself right into that store and bought them for me for my birthday. He remembered. He said in that one gesture, ” I see you, I hear you, and I value you.” That does a lot for a birthday girl’s heart.
Best of all, he left a note about something else he remembered. Something from the season when we were falling in love, when we walked and shared hearts in the rain.
Sunshine for my Feet
He wrote the line. You know, the line that nearly stopped my heart all those years ago when I was wearing those red skippies of mine? ( You can read our love story here.)
Rain still looks good on you.
I love my Carolina boy. Gonna keep him. How will I do without him when I splash in the puddles of England next week?
I do not know.
Wrapped in Red Ribbons
Sigh
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365 Project Day 306: Eighth Anniversary
Posted on 03. Nov, 2011 by maryanne.
Back to the Beginning
Canon 5D Mark ll, 50 1.2L, 2.8 aperture, 1/80 shutter, 250 ISO
Dear Brandon and Kimmie,
For you anniversary this year, I want to give you something special. I have collected some treasures, some joy, some sunshine for you. Just here in my pocket, I gathered them and I have them for you. They are images of you, happy, in the moment, in love and remembering why you began this journey together. You have been through some tough seasons. Some not far behind you, and some still ahead, but look at what I have for you. God is with you. His light shines between you and His love covers you.
Here you are. See? Happy, alive, laughing. There is a good road ahead and you are walking it together. The path of righteousness. Strong and loving parents, husband and wife, family of four. God is indeed with you.
Happy anniversary, Brandon and Kimmie.
Psalm 16:11 ~”You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Joy
Dancing
Happy in this Moment
Surrounded in Light
Laughter
Play
Eighth Anniversary
Magic
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365 Project Day 273: Becoming an Instrument
Posted on 30. Sep, 2011 by maryanne.
Well Played
Canon 5D Mark ll, 100 2.8 macro, 2.8 aperture, 1/60 shutter, 400 ISO
They have been together longer than we have, he and his Takamine. I had no idea what it would mean to be married to a musician, although I fell headlong in love with one. I didn’t know she was coming on the honeymoon. I began to call her the other woman. He spent as much time with her as he did me, it seemed. I never dreamed I would be jealous of a guitar, but I was, just a little. We still joke about my steep learning curve those first few days of marriage. I never before understood the importance of playing a guitar riff , (or even what one was) over and over again to get it right. I still remember the one he was working on at the time. I have it memorized for life. Yes, that first week together was interesting.
Waiting
As time moved on, I began to love her too. That guitar was part of him, of who he was called to be. Therefore, it was part of me too, of us together.
Then I began to pray some prayers that only God can plant into a young bride’s spirit. I have never told him I prayed this way.
I prayed that God would make me an instrument tailor-made for my husband. I instinctively knew there were parts of me that could only be strummed to life by the one God gave to me. I didn’t know what these prayers really meant, but I prayed them. They were vulnerable prayers, and not the kinds of words that seem politically correct today. Nevertheless, I believed them as I whispered them at night under the stars. I wanted to serve him, to be held in his hands like that old guitar, given over to love and beauty. Surrendered. More easily said, and prayed, than done.
I prayed also that as God worked these things in me with Chris, He would work them in my relationship with Him. I knew I could not experience the intangible and escape the tangible. The spiritual must connect with the physical. My relationship with God would only be as authentic as the relationship with the one sleeping next to me.
Faithful
As the years have passed, I believe God is faithfully answering my prayers. We are always in process, but I know I would not be who I am today if not for my relationship with Chris. And, as I have surrendered places in me to him, God has taken over those same places in my heart.
We still have that faithful Takamine. She is waiting in the chair by his bedside. Thank God he no longer plays the famous “honeymoon riff”. He has written songs for me and all our children on that guitar, including For the Love of Katie. Thinking we will keep her around forever.
Ephesians 5:21 ~ “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
Instrument of Love
- Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
- Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
- Where there is injury, pardon,
- Where there is doubt, faith,
- Where there is despair, hope,
- Where there is sadness, joy.
- O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
- seek to be consoled, as to console,
- not so much to be understood as to understand,
- not so much to be loved, as to love;
- for it is in giving that we receive,
- it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
- it is in dying that we awake to eternal life. ~ St Francis of Assisi
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365 Project Day 271: Sweetly Beautiful
Posted on 29. Sep, 2011 by maryanne.
Miracle
Canon 5D Mark ll, 50 1.2L, 9.0 aperture, 1/800 shutter, 100 ISO
(In these images are Heather and Ben Scranton, and their daughter, Amaya, who is still resting in her mommy’s womb.)
And this is the miracle, that one could be made from the love of two. It is God’s beautiful design, His amazing gift to us.
A family is born.
Through the Window
“Not only me, not only you, but with the help of our Father, one made from two.” ~ an excerpt from a poem I wrote about my Katie when I knew she was to be ours.
Blessings to you, Scranton family.
Isaiah 40:11 ~ “ He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”
Sweetness
Happy
Beautiful Heather
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365 Project Day 267: Out on the Town
Posted on 25. Sep, 2011 by maryanne.
Two for the Show
Canon 5D Mark ll, 50 1.2 L, 2.2 aperture, 1/125 shutter, 100 ISO
I have two tickets to a show, let’s me and you go.
I will put on that dress you bought for me. You know the one? You surprised me with it last year. The soft purple one you caught me looking at in the catalogue? I was so surprised. It made me blush to think you thought so much about me, that you remembered the one I liked. I feel that feeling all over again every time I slip it on. Did you know you could make my heart flutter like that?
Driving into the Sun
Let’s go into the city together, you and I, as the sun shimmers on metal and pavement, reflecting in mirrors and your eyes. I am taking it in, as the cars rush past and I hold your hand. We listen to old songs and sing and laugh. I made us late again, and you try not to care. I love you for that. You want to be there when the curtain goes up. I want to be with you.
City Drive
The sun warms the buildings into embers against bluish skies. I don’t want to be anywhere but here, with you. I caress your cheek as you drive, and you smile. Thank you for giving me your Saturday night.
City Show
We park and practically sprint to get there on time, and we do. We find our seats and I snuggle into the crook of your arm. The lights dim as the cast enters the stage. The music swells, and I feel myself inhaling with anticipation. The show has begun.
Another special night with you. Another memory to hold. Thank you, my love.
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365 Project Day 256: Time with You
Posted on 14. Sep, 2011 by maryanne.
Tell Me Again
Canon 5D Mark ll, 50 1.2L, 1.6 aperture, 1/80 shutter, 500 ISO
There is no other place I would rather be than with you. You are home to my soul.
Tell me again about the vision you have, the things you know and want to know about God. I love your passion and conviction. It makes me feel safe knowing I am second to Him in your heart. Do you know I want to be like you, that I admire you deeply? Do you know how proud I am to be your wife?
Love Your Laughter
How I love our nights that we set apart to be together! I know that when I am with you, I can be myself, and that I am loved. I can hardly wait to share stories of my day with you, and hear about yours. We laugh and find perspective. We walk, always touching. How I love your hands. My husband’s hands. Artist’s hands. Both strong and tender, like the hands of a shepherd.
Husband Hands
I am so glad I pledged to give you my heart so many years ago. I think you have most of it now. I didn’t know it would be a journey, giving you all the pieces, the broken and the beautiful shards that make up all that is me, but you have willingly walked it. Now, it seems there is little left for me to hide from you. I no longer feel afraid. You know me, and I am so grateful.
Sharing
Come Sit with Me
Date Night Sunset
Same time next week? I am so looking forward to it, my time with you.
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)
~ EE Cummings
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365 Project Day 248: Rainy Rendezvous
Posted on 06. Sep, 2011 by maryanne.
Holding Love
Canon 5D Mark ll, 50 1.2L, 1.4 aperture, 1/100 shutter, 400 ISO
I call him down to the muscadine trellis, just as the rain begins to fall. It is our haven, a place we both dreamed of. I brought the vines home ten years prior, and he and Johnny built the frame to hold the heavy tendrils. Now, the vines hang with fruit, ripe and ready for picking. They are just out of my reach, but he gathers them for me and we pop sweetness into our mouths and smile. We are not completely sheltered from the rain, as the drops run down his cheek and fog up my lens. I am trying to capture this, endeavoring to frame this moment. We are veterans of the rain. We fell in love as we walked in it, over 25 years ago. He told me it looked good on me back then and I swooned. I still do.
Frame This Moment
He is wearing my new favorite shirt. He is handsome and huggable all at the same time. I move in closer, breathing in his warmth. It is just us, under the muscadine vines. I cannot believe how blessed I am. This moment, this husband, this place.
Favorite Shirt
The rain gets heavier, louder. We are both getting soaked now. He gently smiles and I know he is graciously obliging me. He knows me now. He knows I am trying to capture the moment, to hold it awhile longer. The rain does not hinder me. It holds me, deepening my awareness, my skin coming alive with my heart. He has spent many years a willing student of all that is me, and he loves me, in spite of my many weaknesses. He has taught me much about love, this man.
Faithful
I wrap up my images and my thoughts and kiss him. I love this man. I am so grateful that after all these years, we still rendezvous in the rain.
Rainy Rendezvous
Me and You
Shelter
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ~ “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
