She’s from South Dakota. He’s from Georgia. They met at a country bar in Japan.

She was transferred to New Mexico while he stayed in Japan. Longest long-distance relationship EVER.

Now they’re both stationed in the Black Hills which makes me one happy girl!!

And doesn’t Tawni look just like Angelina Jolie in this photo?? This is probably my favorite image from the session – I was SO excited when the light decided to be perfect for this location! :-)

No wonder they’re in love – who couldn’t resist looking into THOSE eyes every day?!

Showin’ off their dancing skills – Tawni told me they are going to teach their wedding party a line dance. I can’t wait to see it in October!

The BLING!!

Just chillin’ in the Black Hills National Forest…

…being all beautiful and such. :-)

Mitch + Tawni – I can not wait for your wedding!! I am so excited for you to get married… and to have some of this famous sweet tea you’ve been telling me about. :-)

My nephew Isaac is officially nine months old!! Obviously this called for a trip to see him and take a few photos of his cuteness. :-)

I LOVE his big, blue eyes!!!

And his perfectly cute little lips!!

And of course I got to play with Jonas while I was there.

He’s so good at playing cards – I held all the cards in my hand and I picked one, then he picked one (or two or three) until all the cards were on the table. :-)

And yes, he’s wearing his train outfit I got him for Christmas. Over his Thomas the Train pajamas. :-)

Just chillin’ with my nephews!!

Y’all ready for this?

1. Bertolli Frozen Meals – I try to be domestic. Honestly. I do try. Sometimes. It was even one of my goals to ‘try a new recipe once a week for a month.’ But recently I picked up this bad boy and let me tell you – one pan and ten minutes is my kind of cooking!!

2. Ice packs – I smacked my forehead on the edge of my apartment door the other day. I look like a unicorn (no, not the cute, oh-so-FLUFFY one from Despicable Me) and now I’m just praying my entire forehead doesn’t turn black and blue. Because that’d be soooo attractive. :-)

3. Walking trails – I’m training myself (kindof) in preparation to hike Harney Peak in a couple of weeks. There’s not much elevation change on this particular trail, but at least I’m trying. Right?

4. Scentsy – I got this from the Easter Bunny this year. My favorite scent so far is ‘Welcome Home.’ It reminds me of candied almonds. Yum.

5. Coffea – Probably the best coffee house I’ve ever been to. All of their lattes are rosetta lattes. I stop every time I’m in Sioux Falls.

They were friends before they started dating.

Over the past three years they’ve become best friends.

And in two short month they’ll vow to be best friends FOREVER!! (and husband + wife, ’til death do they part… :-))

Laura, you make me so proud to share my first name with you. You’re so gorgeous!!

I LOVE the seriousness that Laura pulled off for this image…

…but this is totally way more ‘them!’

Brent + Laura – thanks so much for being so lovable!! I am so proud to know you and I’m SUPER excited for your wedding in July!!!

I am SO excited to finally share this newlywed session with you! I can’t call it a ‘day after’ session because Chris + Amy have been married for almost a year. And I can’t call it a ‘trash the dress’ session because the dress was not harmed in the making of these images. :-)

What I can tell you about the newlywed session is that we had fun!! It is always my goal as a wedding photographer to allow couples to relax and have fun during the portraits on their wedding day, but sometimes there is so much going on that relaxing and having fun is easier said than done.