The Girl Can Sing | Nashville Portrait Photography

Sometimes people come into your life because they have to. Because two eighteen year-old girls planning to attend the same school have to sleep somewhere, and so end up getting paired together as roommates. Sometimes, that situation can turn out plain awful. And other times, more wonderful than you could have ever expected.

When it comes to the luck of the draw, it was mine in the early summer of 2002 when I was mailed a piece of paper with a name. A name that, at the time, didn’t have the friendly face or the beautiful voice or the comfortable presence it would later have - nor the overwhelming and insatiable love for Notre Dame football, Bruce Springsteen, and the Philadelphia Eagles (as I would soon learn).



And as time would tell, that name - Bridget Joyce - was attached to a roommate I wouldn’t have traded for anything. There was an ease with which we co-existed for those nine months, being friends, sharing many of the same friends, and yet living our lives without the need to be - as is often said - “all up in each other’s business” that made my dorm room one of my favorite places to be - especially when Bridget sang.





Because let me tell you, if there was ever a voice that makes your heart want to jump out of your chest... that makes your skin prickle with goosebumps... and that makes any aspiring vocalist want to crawl in a hole and hide... it’s Bridget’s.



The girl can sing.




And she’s got personality like a firecracker.




And a laugh that sounds like your favorite song on the radio.



And a heart as big as any you could possibly imagine.



And I have believed, since the first day we met, to the first time I heard her sing, to mile 7 or so of the 2008 Country Music Half Marathon when running past her performing on stage was the only thing that kept me going...

...that she has everything she'll ever need to be something big. She already is.

Full Circle | Franklin Family Portrait Photography

I distinctly remember the day Evin and Luke shared they were having a baby with our Sunday School class. As was the custom, munchkin donuts - or rather, donut holes - were involved in the reveal. And let me tell you, we were all consuming our fair share of fried sweet dough on most Sundays throughout 2007.

At the time, many couples in our nearly/newlyweds class, the one in which we met people like the Krehbiels and the Grays, were showing up with donuts. It was an exciting season, and so when Luke and Evin, in early 2008 came in bearing delicious gifts - it was icing on the cake, or rather, donut. Not only would this little one on the way be one of the most beautiful children ever, but also a wonderful soul - as Cohen has proved to be.




We had found in Evin and Luke, even just sitting with them in class every Sunday, a true example in our lives for what a young, strong marriage should look like. They are the epitome of a team, sharing in the places where the other is weak and loving them so much in those places they don’t even know it is weakness. It just happens to be the place where the other person gets to give a little bit more.



And they give. And give and give, and always have. And I’m grateful that three years later we still call them friends. And that we can still learn from and be inspired by not just the two, but the three of them together.








Because now as parents, Luke and Evin encourage us even more, especially as I watch Evin juggle the life of a mother with that of a wife, photographer, and business owner. All of which she does an incredible job balancing, even if she can’t see it herself.





Taking the first offically official family portraits of the Krehbiel family was most certainly a joy, if not just for their company, the beautiful weather, and a stop at Sweet CeCe’s!










I never imagined that life would come so full circle, even in just three years, but I am thankful that it has.

Father and Son | Nashville Family Portrait Photography

I really love being a part of surprises. There’s a hidden joy in the ability to be a part of doing something unexpected for another person. So it was without hesitation that I gladly agreed to get some photos of Ryan and his dad, Dick, in honor of their wonderful mother and wife, Kathy, for Mother’s Day.

The hardest part, though, to surprises - is always the waiting, as it has now been almost three months since our session on a blustery February day. A day that seems so long ago and yet not.



Though I've known Ryan for years, I first met Dick and Kathy just a few months ago when they hosted Natalie and I at their beautiful home in western North Carolina. There is nothing like skiing with your best friend and then coming "home" to an incredible pair like the two of them. Dick was to me, at the time, an incredible source of wisdom and thoughtfulness in a season where there was a lot going on inside my head. A writer at heart and a man whose garden puts me to shame, you can't help but feel like you've known him your whole life even after just two days together.

Meet Dick and Bud...







As I said, I have known Ryan for years, and in that time was certain that it takes a unique and wonderful pair to raise such a great guy. A guy that has been such an incredible source of strength and support and love, himself, to my best friend and has become someone we can't image our lives without. Someone's whose humor brings life to every situation, and is seriously one of our favorite people to be around. Ever. And we've got a 52+ hours (driving time) road trip to prove it!

Meet Ryan and Bodhi...







I'm inspired by good men raising good men who will one day raise good men. There's a shortage in this world, but I'm grateful it's not in my own life.







Loving that we had the chance to incorporate Ryan's beloved Scout in the session!





The chance to take these photos, as simple as it was, of the two most important men (and their loyal companions) in Kathy's life is such an honor.



The three of them, together, are collectively some of the most fantastic people I know. Warm, inviting, caring, intelligent, and thoughtful.

The kind of people you just feel beyond grateful to know.

"Nashville Is Rising" | Personal Reflection

For anyone who has stumbled by here this week, thanks to links from ThirtySomethingBride and Nashvillest, I appreciate you taking the time to read our story. Our story which is, now in perspective, only really plagued by what was the small beginning to a pretty significant issue - and its after-effects - on our area.

It was hours and hours before the Cumberland River crested on Monday evening at more than twelve feet above flood level. The images taken during that day, when it seemed as though Downtown Nashville was about to be swallowed whole, were deeply saddening. After just a couple of days of news coverage of this city I love sitting in a pool of chocolatey-milk-like floodwaters, I had to see it with my own eyes.

My entire drive into Downtown on Wednesday, it felt as though my heart was stuck inside my throat. I was nervous.

Confused.

Awestruck.













And now? Hopeful.

Because as my neighbors and friends and complete strangers have proved, this place isn't the Volunteer State for nothing. You can't help but feel hope and pride when someone like Anderson Cooper comes to your town and tells the whole world "The thing that's different is that I've never seen so many people respond so quickly to help their neighbors.... It's incredible to see so many people helping. It's a great reflection on Nashville."

The mantras and sayings and rallying calls that have gone out over this area, not much unlike those that come out of other disaster areas, have been something to hang your hat on. That, my friends, is for sure.

And as Anderson so eloquently put it last night ...the water is falling, and Nashville is rising.