so this was my fourth wedding this month and was the second time as an assistant photographer...it was a lot of fun and i feel as though i learn so much when just being able to stand back and watch a little more

old pics of me and the wife

this is the first time that jenica and i actually hung out on purpose (the first time was by accident and involved us having lunch together by ourselves because all of our friends ditched us)

this was a couple nights before i left for Germany for the summer
first valentine's
skiing on the spiritual life retreat in college
camping in the Smoky Mountains....i freaking love this pic!  

back from Germany...obviously i didn't get a hair cut the whole summer

for a triple braided cord is not easily broken

so i was looking at a friends blog the other day and realized that he is now in the exact room at Judson University that I once stayed in about 5 years ago...it was really weird looking at that picture and remembering back to college

it got me thinking to how much i really miss the three guys above:  Ben (crazy man above jumping on the mattress) Tim (sitting in the canoe in front of me and jenica) and Drew (sitting on the cliff with him)

these guys have been absolutely irreplaceable in my life and i miss them tremendously.  Ben and Tim are now married and Ben has an adorable little girl Emma.  Drew is not married yet (get on that buddy) and is continually getting smarter at VT.  

There are so many memories wrapped up in the friendships with these three guys that it's hard to even remember them all...here are a few though:

-Tim sticking by me through one of the hardest things I have ever had to deal with

-Drew and Ben holding me accountable in my life and being willing to confront me about the hard stuff

-CUBS GAMES!!!  (and there were many...and there will be many more)

-Seeing Drew a week before the VT shooting and then being able to support and pray for him as he served the students in a huge way as RA during the aftermath (to this day I still believe that God placed him there just for that season knowing that the campus would need someone like Drew)

-Having a phone conversation with Ben while I was in Germany just before his wedding that I should have been in 

-The South Dakota and Wyoming road trip with Tim and Drew (tim hit a turkey, climbing way too high on Devil's Tower, Tim thinking he had control of his car as we spun out of control and in to a ditch where I was staring a bull right in the face as we finally came to a stop, getting pulled over, Drew and I seeing a mountain lion in the middle of the Badlands)

-Ministering to high school students through a soccer camp that Tim, Ben, and I helped Ben's dad put on

-Drew swearing up a storm as he knocked over a his new lamp climbing in to bed late at night

-Drew needing a night light after watching The Ring 

-Feeding Fester (our pet squirrel)

and of course there is a ton more...

anyways, i just wanted to look through some old pics and post them as I thought back to what a significant role these guys have and will continue to play in my life

they have helped to form me in to the man of God that i am today and there is no way i would be the same without them

thank you guys!  i love you and miss you...please come to the ATL soon

here are a few more from the wedding this past Saturday night

faces of the photo day outing

pics from a photography outing i had with some high school kids from the youth group

my friend aubrey had this pretty sweet idea for a pic....

pretty awesome if i do say so myself

ray and jeni

i was asked to shoot this very casual wedding just a few days ago

it was such a great time because everything reflected the couple so well and you were able to see their fun loving spirits