This is Us
Our love story began in 1995, in a little hometown just south of Seattle. I was only 13, Josh was 18, and somehow fate had already set our hearts on the same path. We dated on and off, two kids figuring out life, until love grew into something even bigger—our daughter, Michayla. At just 17, I held her in my arms, and Josh moved into my parents’ home to help raise our tiny miracle.
Life wasn’t always simple, though. In 2000, we moved with my family to Georgia, and a few months later, our story took a heartbreaking pause. Josh returned to Seattle, and I stayed in Georgia with Michayla. From there, we lived whole lifetimes apart—we both married other people, had more children, and built different worlds. And yet, somewhere deep down, a part of my heart always belonged to him.
Fast forward to 2015. My mom and I planned a trip back to Seattle. Josh and I hadn’t seen each other in years, but we decided to meet for dinner. I’ll never forget standing across the street, seeing him again for the first time. My heart knew instantly, I was still just as in love with him as I had been all those years before. But life wasn’t ready for us yet, and we went our separate ways again.
Then 2017 came. Michayla was graduating high school, and I asked Josh to come to Tennessee to celebrate with us. The moment he arrived, it felt like coming home after being lost for so long. Every doubt fell away, I knew I couldn’t live one more day without him. When he went back to Washington, I followed him. For ten months, we built a life together again, saving and dreaming until we were able to move to Tennessee with his son, Morgan, and begin our forever.
On June 3rd, 2017, we found our way back to each other for good. In February of 2020, we finally said “I do,” surrounded by the love that had carried us through so many years apart.
And then, in 2021, another chapter unfolded, we picked up cameras and discovered that telling love stories was what we were meant to do together. With our Canon R6s in hand, we found joy in capturing the kind of moments that make hearts beat a little faster, the stories of soulmates, of families, of love that deserves to be remembered for generations.
Ours is not a simple love story, it’s one of detours and second chances of waiting and finding, of coming home after years away. And that’s why we treasure every couple, every wedding, every fleeting glance we get to photograph. Because we know how powerful love is. We know it survives time, distance, and life’s unexpected turns.
And one day, when our children’s children hold our photos in their hands, we want them to smile and say, “Wow… they were so in love.”
Josh and I at Sugarloaf Overlook-overlooking the Ocoee in Benton, TN
