Daniel + Erin | Engagement Photography

"there's no music, no confetti crowds don't cheer, and bells don't ring. but you'll know it, i can guarantee, when the right one comes along." claire bowen with sam palladio As a human behavior phycologist at heart, I find great satisfaction in learning about people.  My husband at the top of the list.  The fascination cherry on top of getting to know my husband has been the fact that he has a twin.  Of course I didn't think they had the same personality and souls, but I've always been extremely curious as to how they are different.  In basic conversation before I knew either of them well, I heard word-for-word same answers to questions.  They played matching instruments, worked matching construction jobs, were building ICF houses side-by-side.  Same hair-cuts, same North Face jackets, same computer passwords, same exclamations when they were embarrassed or disgusted. 
But four years later not only do I know them better, they know them better.  Caleb and Daniel shared extreme twin-telepathy and connection.  They play music with very little verbal communication, and it's been described to me that sometimes they each forget which instrument or part they are playing, because they know exactly what the other is going to do -- in their brains two different pieces are one in the same.  They were both eager to get married and have kids, but Caleb went off without Daniel for the first time.  While we were annoyingly busy falling in love and laying the rebar for our impending life.  We got engaged, were married, announced pregnancy, had our firstborn, and became pregnant again a second time while Daniel was quite single.  
Those years were an intense transition for their relationship.  Through them were severe depression, mania, overseas trips, moves to new states, career changes, out-of-the-blue large bills, soul-searching and wandering.  It broke our hearts, but it was a needed process.  Last fall he really seemed to be finding a place of clarity and peace.  He was the most "himself" we had ever seen, with focus on his dreams.  He declared himself "wild and free!" (which he was, er, is.) but he was growing up, and becoming so confident in the man God made him to be.
We were seeing the eccentric, busy, man made of music, whose heart beats on chords and harmonies, express himself.  He was actually pretty weird and far less "tame" than he perhaps once tried to be.  He's a feeler and a go-er and thinks in sounds and experiences and lights.  He's a zebra in a field of horses, and a brilliant colorful mind full of possibilities.  
So when someone tagged Erin on instagram, suggesting that she might be a good match for Daniel, it took us all a grand total of two minutes to know he was going to marry her.  His mom had that "mama hunch" immediately, and when she showed Caleb and I on her iPhone we agreed completely.  She is his matching mitten, his reflection in the water, his tail on a kite.  They are one of the most "Made For Each Other" couples I've ever known.  It's a little scary, actually.  His weirdness is only beat by hers, their sense of humor is cheesy and 'only them,' they wear their hearts on their sleeves, want an untraditional family lifestyle (not tied down by usual constraints), their skin and hair is the same color, they are full of spirit and energy, ready for adventure and change and discovery.  We couldn't be more thrilled that they have fallen so deeply in love, and that they are promising their love forever.  Welcome to the family, Erin!  You're an answer to many prayers, and have a way with our brother that no one else in the world does.   We did this shoot at a local shopping-center tourist-area (called "The Rio").  It was so fitting because Daniel has spent the last two years playing his violin on the street corners to make a living.  He spent night after night after night after night, week after week after week, month after month after month, out there alone.  At the end of the night he'd collect his cash, deposit it in the bank, chip away at his debts, and go back at it again.  It was a slow, exhausting process.  But he did it.  He not only paid off every penny he owed, he supported himself independently through those years.  Seeing him walk around in a suit, with a beautiful woman in a gown, snapping engagement pictures, gave me a catch in my throat.  The lessons of life have only just begun, but what a sweet thing it is to watch you both learn together.  Go knock 'em dead, you two.  We'll be cheering in the crowd while you're on stage someday.   "Bad times make the good times better,  Look in her eyes and you're gone forever." Frankie Ballard

Enjoy Engagements | Chet + Devon | Lakeside

hold on, to me as we go
because i'm going to make this place
your home
philip phillips

It's not an exaggeration to say that I was a bizarre mid-school-er.  At the risk of worrying you, I awkwardly admit that I had an imaginary world I played in (yes. In middle school. I know. I knooow. Yes! I know!).  I played sports year-round, but when a friend would come over I'd either force them to do a dance with my for my neighborhood or trap them in my bedroom with all my wedding books (probably while listening to Adventures in Odyssey).  

This was the, um, era?, Devon met me.  I was 11 years old and kooky.  She was 12 (almost 13!) and really, really cool.  She's was and is the kind of (unfair) cool where you don't try.  You just are.  Devon is just cool.  She isn't awkward, she isn't stuffy, she isn't blatant, she isn't showy.  She's just Devon.  We had the "I dye my hair blonde and wear eye-liner" cool in our class, and we had, well, kids like me.  But Devon stood out.  Even as a sixth grader she was sharp, witty, intelligent, sneaky, fun, happy and adorable.  And for some reason she liked me.

I'll never, ever forget one Friday during art class when she gave up a seat at the cool blonde table (which was next to the cool boys table!) to seat with me.  She wanted to play a game.  She made a list of five questions I had to answer about myself and then she would answer about herself.  As our art teacher, Connie, taught we quietly wrote our responses and traded with each other.  That was a fun game! Devon is so fun!

The following Monday I had a lunch bag waiting for me in my locker.  Question #4: What is your favorite lunch to have at school?  My answer?  Chicken Cup-O-Noodles, big pretzels, mandarin oranges, fruit-by-the-foot, Cooler Ranch Doritos and crackers with peanut butter.  I opened the lunch bag and every single item was there.  She concocted a whole plan to figure out my favorite lunch, took time to do it, and spent her Sunday afternoon at the grocery store buying me my favorite lunch so she could surprise me on Monday.  And every single thing I listed was in the bag.  I could have cried right there in class.  I think that was the kindest thing anyone outside of family had ever done for me.  

That's just who Devon is.  As highschool, life and work have taken us our different ways over the years, I've always thought of her like I did the moment I sorted through my surprise lunch in Miss Gallagher's homeroom in 2000.  

A number of years ago I saw a big-smiled dude popping up on Devon's Facebook.  Chet.  Very nice, Devon, very nice!  

I later heard the story of how they met.  Devon was a secretary for a year at a local hospital.  EMT's and other employees dropped by daily as part of their job.  One particular EMT, named Damien, was really cute.  When he'd stop by to fill out paperwork, Damien and Devon enjoyed playful flirting.  But all of Devon's co-workers were trying to set her up with another guy, Chet.

"Well, you can tell this 'Chet' that I'm not interested! And I don't even know who he is!"  Her co-workers pressed.  "But he definitely has a thing for you... give him a chance!"  Devon wasn't buying it. Especially since she had her eye on Damien.  Damien Chester Ripley, also known as "Chet."

Though his first name is Damien (and his work papers and uniform tag all use his official first name), he never corrected Devon and told her what he goes by.  Apparently Devon had a little spazz moment when all the pieces fell into place.  They quickly become friends - "talking" and getting to know each other, mostly at work.  By fall they were dating, and by winter they were inseparable.  

Being the Facebook lover that I am, I started noticing some difference in Devon.  She was running?! And fishing?! And she looked radiant... even in silly little camera phone pictures.  As much as you can read into a Facebook picture, I could tell she was really, really happy.

After finally meeting Chet last night, I can fully confirm her joy: they are crazy about each other.  Whipped? Smitten? On Cloud Nine?  They've been together almost four years and they shine.

In two hours I saw so much.  I saw that Chet is a man's man.  Dude to the core.  He teases Devon nearly constantly.  My favorite was when he'd call her a "dunce."  She would fake smack him and he'd shield himself with his shoulder and "run away."  He's affirming of her.  In just a small window of time,  he spoke easily and unprompted to me about Devon and to Devon about herself in a very kind manner. He's romantic.  He's playful.  He's well-spoken.  He's cool without trying.  He laughs at Devon and with Devon.  

Now that I'm in a relationship, I realize how "empty" words that go with an engagement shoot can be.  "He's so sweet to her!" "She lights up when she's with him!" "They're the cutest couple I've ever seen!"  Blah blah blah.  So that leaves me stuck when I really do want to communicate about a man who acts like his girl is his treasure, and does so in a happy-go-lucky way.  It is sweet.  He is sweet with her.  Dunce.  I'm also left in a debacle when I want to explain that Devon's cheeks and eyes didn't use to look like that.  She sparkles and flits - but that isn't to say that she's an airhead.  She's the same devoted friend, considerate giver and creative companion as she was a decade ago.  

I don't know.  It's just not coming out right.  They're real, guys.  They're successful, talkative, easy-going, real people.  And they love each other enormously.  

During the shoot I said a nearly-rude statement: "Devon, who would have thought that you'd be getting married before me?"  As soon as I said it I wanted to be carried away by ticks.  It didn't come out right. But I actually meant it in such a good way.  I was always the crazy-getting-married-at-17-having-20-kids-weird-homeschool-wedding-notebook-girl.  And Devon insisted she would never marry until she was at least 30.  At least. She was full of ideas and freedom.

And now her ideas, freedom and happiness are linked unswervingly to being with Damien Chester.

As much as she's "grown up" (and hallelujah, I think I have a little bit too!) she's still Devon.  Two other "cheesy/cliche' romance lines" that came to mind are: "He makes me the best version of myself" and "I can't imagine my life without him."

As much as I wish I could come up with something more unique or insightful, I cannot imagine Devon without Chet.  I almost feel like he's been a part of her for as long as I've known her.  And I can't picture what a happier Devon would look like.

They are very much a family, a love and a home.

“Are you learning me by heart, little Sara."

"No, I know you by heart."

Frances Hodgson Burnett - A Little Princess

Enjoy Project | Engaged

"Every atom of his flesh is as dear to me as my own: 
in pain and sickness it would still be dear. 
His mind is my treasure, and if it were broken, 
it would be my treasure still."
bronte

ps. lydia jane

"I love the ground under his feet, and the air over his head,

and everything he touches and every word he says.

I love all his looks and all his actions 

and him entirely and all together."

bronte

I'm going to be his wife!