Ayana and Penee got married in Richmond, Virginia in a small park close to their house. This wedding was a long time coming! They had been together a very long time but had to delay the wedding several times due to Ayana’s cancer and medical bills. Finally, they decided there is no perfect time and contacted me. The small, intimate ceremony was a total tear jerker. I literally was trying not to sob as they exchanged vows they had written each other. I only somewhat succeeded(“must. keep. shooting.and.not.choke.on.tears.”) and was so happy to be there to shoot their ceremony.

So if you follow my blog, you know Natalie and I moved to New Haven, CT in July for her to start her PhD program here at Yale. We bought our first house here. We made big grown-up decisions. Ha!
The first semester here, I’m not going to lie, was horrible. I missed all my DC friends terribly, Natalie was so overwhelmed with work I hardly saw her, I felt alien in a town that is made up of a population that either goes to Yale or you grew up here. We fought. A ton. I cried a lot. I totally dived into my work and had weddings to shoot, to edit, etc so I tried to work as much as Natalie so I wouldn’t have to think about things.

But slowly, surely, I’m taking root here. I started going over to grad students houses and talking about things other that mid 18th century poetry on some obscure topic. I was meeting other photographers up here. I started getting hugs from kids in the neighborhood when they saw me(or rather, hugging my knee) and requests to see the bunnies since they hadn’t been outside in the cold. Our house started taking shape because the contractor finally *finally* was starting to finnish up(only 7 months late!). I started hiking regularly at park near us. One that it seems no one goes to because when it snows, my show prints are the only human prints for weeks.

I had a brief interruption of panic and confusion in December where I was sick with an infection that no one could figure out. Tests were showing nothing. Drugs were doing nothing. And then my body had an allergic reaction to one of the antibiotics and then I had a serious reaction to one of the steroids they put me on for the allergic reaction. In the middle of all this, we lost 4 pets in December. Three of them were old/sick and we weren’t shocked. Sad, but happy that they lived such amazing lives. But we also lost our youngest rabbit. She died in my arms on the way to the ER vet. I felt like December just hated me.

But the second semester has started. Nat’s back in school with a schedule we both like much more. I’m taking an amazing yoga class twice a week. And, since the contractor is almost done, I felt like I could actually start hanging things and putting up decoration.

So last week, I finished designing and putting together my home studio. It’s where my local clients can come, drink some wine, eat some cheese, talk with me, get to know me. It felt amazing to have my first clients come in and gush about it. I inwardly cheered that it was a welcoming environment. I cheered that I had a base now in CT for my business. I cheered I could showcase my work somewhere that felt like me.

More pictures very soon!

Kacy and Tim got married at the Inn at Brookeville Farms. Everyone was so excited, there was even dancing in the room where Kacy was getting ready- before the ceremony.

Kacy and Tim had been secretly planning to lipsync to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” as soon as they crushed the glass. The guests were completely surprised and started clapping and laughing at the same time!

Tim’s little boys got to go in the chairs for the Hora. They were loving it. I was trying to take pictures and not get knocked in the head by their arms because they were dancing in their chairs.