A little while ago, we had our engagement photos taken by Ashley at Grey Sparrow Photography. I wanted to wait a while to share them, because they were used on our Save the Dates (and speaking of which, if you find yourself needing anything of that sort, I absolutely cannot recommend
Pear Tree Greetings highly enough) and we wanted them to arrive as a surprise in the mailboxes of our families. Ashley was awesome enough to let me play with the unedited proofs that weren't included in her edits when she gave us the discs with my own editing software, as long as it is noted when shared online who edited what, so that will be noted after each photo. Without further ado:
Editing is mine.
There's a little prologue to the next few photos. Our city has three or four major emergency veterinary clinics. When I was very first working in veterinary medicine, I worked in one of them for about two years and then moved across town. I relocated to a general practice for two years and then left (on very good terms) for a variety of reasons to my third and last clinic, another general practice that directed emergencies that were beyond its scope to the first clinic that I'd worked at, the major emergency clinic.
I had kind of a schoolgirl crush on a male tech over at that clinic. I'd never met the guy, but he had this extremely deep, rumbly voice. I had to call that clinic a lot to follow up on our regular clients that we'd sent over there as emergencies who may prefer to stick with us for follow up care (suture removals, bandage changes, that kind of thing). I didn't get that guy a lot, he wasn't a receptionist, but now and then he'd answer and I'd find myself rather sketchily trying to keep him on the phone longer than necessary. "Oh, could you tell me when that dog's drain removal is recommended?" when I had the faxed report right there in my hand, just to listen to him talk. He obviously considered himself inconvenienced and hassled, but veterinary medicine is a brutal field. Between intense hours, intense physical demands, intense burn-out rates, the notion of a lunch break is a joke, and far too many situations that are heartbreaking, infuriating, or both, and I'll just be real here: this guy had a hell of a sexy voice. A tech's pleasures are relatively few. That went on for months, just on and off, I'd catch him on the phone every month or so and make excuses to keep him there, never think about it again until the next time he answered the phone.
I left that clinic, ultimately, and veterinary medicine as a whole. I had compassion burn-out, I wanted to be able to pay my rent without barely scraping by, I was exhausted by the field that I loved and needed to re-evaluate. I was single, in a decent apartment, about two months out of veterinary medicine, assessing my career plans, just generally reconsidering my entire life, when I was set up on a blind date with some guy who'd also very recently left veterinary medicine. I'd never been on a blind date before, but we'd exchanged several e-mails and this guy was ridiculously intelligent, well-spoken, funny, and charming, so I agreed to meet at Starbucks. We figured out where we lived in relation to one another (three miles apart) by what clinic we lived nearest. "I'm up by Acme Emergency Clinic, where are you?" "Oh, I know right where that is. Are you close to McClinic on McClinic Road?" "No, not quite that far down." That kind of thing. I figured if we hit it off, we could linger at Starbucks for hours, if we didn't, I could finish off my cider in short order and call it a night.
Have you figured out the obvious punchline here yet? Mr. Blind Date was Mr. Sexy Voice. It took me a minute, but lo and behold. We didn't call it a night for five or six hours. We sat at Starbucks and talked well into the night. It was the 3rd of July, and there were fireworks behind him, over his shoulder, and I kept thinking "They say when you meet the one, there are fireworks." Of course, it was the day before Independence Day, there would've been fireworks regardless, but it's true that I knew that early. Love at first sight seems silly, unrealistic, but I'd say that I knew at first sight that I would love him. I kept thinking that the fireworks had to be a sign and not hearing what he was saying, but I was having trouble hearing him anyway. In person, his voice is so deep it's hard to hear sometimes, until you get used to it.
We had a date about every two or three days for the next two and a half weeks. All very proper, gentlemanly, but we would sit out under the trees in front of my apartment for hours after a date. We'd agree on dinner and a walk around the Canal, and it just wasn't long enough. He'd drop me off and the conversation would just continue for four more hours. In his car, in the grass, on the hood of his car. After two and a half weeks, we made it exclusive, though it had been already, really.
10 months later, I was still not willing to go back to veterinary medicine no matter how desperately I missed it, and was working retail while I got my ducks in a row to start college. We were living together. I was having a terrible day at work when Eric texted me and asked if I'd like to go see Bridesmaids at a drive-in that night. Of course I did. We had a great date night, and when the movie was over - very late, after midnight - he said that he wanted to go walk the Canal. Well, I'd been up since 5am for work, I really had to pee, it was so late...but he was determined. Determined enough to drive miles out of the way to find somewhere still open that I could use the restroom, and buy me some caffeine while we were there. Alright. So we went to the Canal, and it was full of delinquent, kind of scary teenagers. I said that they were making me nervous and I wanted to leave. He was way too distraught about this for something not to be up, so we got back in the car and he said "I have a new plan!" and made me close my eyes for the drive. By now it was probably 3am. When the car stopped, he led me with my eyes still shut somewhere and let me open my eyes. We were at Starbucks - not a 24 one, so it was closed - where we first met, at the same table outside where we first met, and after a minute of very nervous hemming and hawing, he got down on one knee, pulled a box with a beautiful diamond ring out of his pocket, and said "I want to ask you to marry me."
Obviously, I said yes.
When engagement photos turned out to be part of our wedding photographer's package, we decided to go ahead with them even though we'd been engaged for a year. We went to three locations, and one of them was that same Starbucks, where we met, and where we now joke that something fateful happens every single time we go there. "Uh oh, there's Starbucks. Wonder if we'll end up buying a house if we go there this time, maybe meet a real estate agent in line. Maybe when it's time I should take a pregnancy test there."
And that, friends, is the very long story behind the next four photos.
And funnily enough, Brad Paisley's song I Thought I Loved You Then just came on Pandora. If you're familiar with the lyrics, you know why that's funny.
Editing is Ashley's.
Editing is Ashley's.
Editing is mine.
Editing is mine.
Editing is Ashley's.
Editing is mine.
Editing is mine.
Editing is mine - technically an outtake, but I loved it anyway.
Editing is Ashley's.
Editing is mine.
Editing is mine.
Editing is mine.
Editing is Ashley's, slight crop and rotate is mine.
Editing is mine.
(Gorgeous) editing is Ashley's. The wedding is 11-10-12, but we had a little bit of a mishap with the letters, so we made the best of it. I mean, it's still November 2012, right?
Amazing editing is Ashley's.
And there you have it! :) The dogs did not cooperate. Violet was aware of a budding storm that we were not (she has massive storm anxiety). It was nearly impossible to get her to have her ears up or even look, and we couldn't for anything figure out why until it started pouring rain the second after the last sunset picture was taken. Java had budding reactivity that we had yet to really accept/identify/learn to manage, and was fixated on every person or animal walking by, which is why he looks like an aggressive maniac in almost every single picture. All in all the dog situation was a complete disaster, but our engagement pictures wouldn't have been complete without them.
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