seem more enjoyable. :)

Jon and I had kind of a fun, crazy, unexpected, rushed, but perfect-for-us beginning. I was an intern in Washington, DC. He was a full-time graphic designer in northern Virginia. We briefly met at church in May. We had our first conversation mid-July, sharing a blanket on the grass at the ward luau. He flirted. I liked it. He emailed me photos from that night. I emailed back. We emailed daily. We called and talked a lot. Time was not on our side and by the time we went on our first "official date", I had only 3 weeks left before I headed back to Utah State for my last year of school.
3 weeks.
We had no clue what would happen, but it was all very exciting, very refreshing, and somehow, so very very right. When Jon drove me to Dulles airport the day I was going back to Utah, I gave him the card pictured above. The post title may sound familiar if you've ever read our blog header, because they both came from this very card, which encapsulates one of the things I love most about Jon. On the inside, the card says,
Some people sit on the dock of the bay.
You're more of a jumper off the dock of the bay.
I'm so glad he is. If he weren't, I don't think we ever would have met, or even both been in DC at the same time. Nor would he have asked out an intern who would soon be leaving across the country.
I love that about him. Sometimes I like to jump off the dock of the bay too. Sometimes it scares me to death. Sometimes I'm excited and feel like I'm losing my stomach at the same time when I think about jumping. This is one of those times.
Trying to sum up how I feel right now is almost impossible. People ask how we're doing, but I find that the answer would be much longer than they're expecting, and I don't know if I could cover it even if they had the time, so my response is always "good! busy!". But more fitting would be to say I feel like I'm sticking my head out of a car window on the freeway while going 85 mph and hoping to get enough air. Or like I'm about to go bungee jumping (which I would NEVER dare do, such a sissy) and I'm not even guaranteed if the cord will be secure. Or like we're about to take the raddest trip ever and I'm so excited I can't even stand it. I feel like life has taken a complete 360 so many times in the last few months, and the way I see things and think and our life as we know it is totally foreign—and yet totally, completely, and absolutely enthralling. Exciting in a new way we never thought it could be. So exciting that we don't ever get to bed before 1 am and when we do we can hardly sleep without dreaming about all the exciting things happening. So much to learn. So much to do. So much improve. So much work that goes into this kind of thing that I NEVER thought of.
No, we're not moving. No, it's not because I'm pregnant.
And in a way, (especially now that I write it down), I often feel like I could totally be overreacting, like the stress and excitement is beyond overboard for what our reality actually is right now. Like we're acting like it's the biggest deal ever, and it could end up just being nothing.
But then again, it could end up being something.
One of the first reasons I loved Jon was because he was a jumper off the dock of the bay. So I should pretty much be crazy madly in love with him now. Because we're about to do (what feels to us like) some serious jumping. It may sound little to you, and it probably is, but little as it may be now, it feels crazy, big, and completely exciting to us.
So we wanted to share it with you.
After tons of encouragement, excitement, support, and motivation received from our friends and family (and blog readers!), we're doing it. We're starting our own little, new, fledgling photography business.
It's finally real.
YOU CAN CHECK IT OUT HERE.
Please do. We'd love to hear what you think.
16 comments:
This is so perfect! Your pictures are so beautiful - I always love the colors and the poses. Come to think of it, maybe you should also start a modeling business too - the people IN your pictures are just as beautiful as the pictures themselves!
Everything I hoped for you guys and more! Love you miss you
It's about time! I'm surprised you guys didn't start this sooner. I have always loved the photography on your blog. Way to go! I wish you the best.
Good for you!! You guys are so talented! I just wish you lived in our neck of the woods, you can make anybody look good! Congrats!
I've always LOVED the pictures on your blog so now it is super cool that other people get to be the subjects of your wonderful work!!
Oh my goodness!! You guys are so talented!!
Let me know the next time you're out west, we'll for SURE want you to do our family!!
I think this is a great idea! You and your husband are very talented and I know you will do well! Good luck!
You guys are special. Wishing all the best for you two. This is life - and you're living it!
You're pictures are B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.
I hope our family can be on the other side of your camera real real soon :)
love you! julie
Oh my gosh, you guys amaze me. Love your style and the fresh look to your photos. I love everything about every one of them. I know that is hyperbole to the max, but oh well, it's true. I am so glad you took the plunge...I kept wondering when you would. You can't keep all that raw talent to yourselves forever :) I so wish we lived closer so you could make our family look so good. And how awesome that you both love it and are doing it together. Jon, can you convince Shane? Or at least convince him to carry my stuff around and do some baby wrangling? Or even better, learn photoshop and be my editing guy? Anyway, so happy for this and I can't wait to bask in your photo goodness.
P.S. Thinking about photography keeps me awake at night sometimes too...I'm glad I'm not the only one :)
I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!! i saw the link on facebook, just looked at every single picture on your website, and then came to the blog. what a great idea. my favorite thing about your blog has been your pictures - how you capture moments and make me feel like i experienced it too {not in a creepy way}. you are very talented and i can't wait to see where this little business venture takes you! add us to the list of people wanting to be photographed!! maybe we'll have to take a trip out to DC. how many hours are you from Missouri? :)
Yay! You guys are totally going to make it! The Web site is AMAZING! I'm so happy for you!
Thanks SO MUCH everyone for your excitement and support! We totally appreciate the ego boost right now when it's brand new, so it's awesome to hear from you all. We owe a lot to our family/friends/blog readers for giving us the drive to move forward, THANK YOU!!!
Stay tuned...next week we plan on sponsoring our own first givewaway!!
You two are perfect for this!!! If we weren't across the country, I'd sign up in a heartbeat to be a client!!!!! Promise me next time you guys come this way, you'll take some pics. ;) Good luck! I know you'll do great.
And your St. Patty's day family pics are awesome. So cute!!
Best idea ever. I am glad you are jumping off! My happiest moments come from risks I have taken :-).
Yay! How exciting! I love the pictures you've taken. You're so talented! Every time I've looked at your blog I've noticed the great photography.
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