morgan lamare photography: love . . .

For some reason this evening, kind of out of nowhere, I decided, I am going to blog something deeply personal. And I don't know if it is something I need to do to just keep the ball rolling on the ol' blog, or if it is because I know sharing these little snippets of my life are so important, and I happily oblige, because I am an open book. I just haven't done it in so long . . . but I am going to share something with you . . .

I am so ridiculously happy, content and in love with my life and the people in it.

I absolutely love waking up every morning next to Joe. I actually watch him sleep before I get out of bed. And I start my day thinking about how much I love this man. This man who made the choice, after all of the contemplation that it deserved, to love a woman like me, who not only comes with two shorties trailing behind her, but who cries at Tim McGraw songs still, and leaves clothes in the washer for three days. And his response is a hand-written note that I keep on my desk that reads, "Hello love, Please empty the washer. Had to restart this A.M. Stunk real good. :) Love you."

We are by no means perfect, but we respect one another. We know what makes the other tick. We know when to walk away. We know that sometimes, it actually feels kind of good to be a cranky pants, and moan and whine about things that may or may not be important in the grand scheme of things. And the next morning, we wake up, declare it a new day, and make it amazing.

This afternoon I was getting the mail out of the mailbox, and Joe came walking down the driveway, bent over, and kissed me on the lips. Just because. He left to go hunting shortly afterwards, and his phone call right before he lost cell service told me that he loved me, and to tell the girls he loves them.

The girls. They are the apple of my eye, and yet I don't feel I've truly learned how to enjoy being a mother until this past year. It is so easy to live the day-to-day events and not think twice about them, but when we do, we change their lives. This morning I dropped miss Stella off at her day care, and one of her teachers, who is utterly in love with her as everyone should be, came to give her a giant welcome hug. I started to walk out of the room, and realized that if I did, when Stella was done hugging her, she would have looked for me and seen nothing. I walked back in, called her name across the room, blew her a kiss goodbye, and left knowing she was happy and content. Small potatoes, I know, but being so much more aware that every stinkin' thing I do affects who they will become makes it quite a serious feat.

And it turns out my girlfriends are pretty freaking amazing, too. We are 100% different from one another, and yet we adore each other for a million different reasons among the five of us. I am going to write a book about The Assets. Every woman should have a group of go-to girls who can bitch with you, cry with you, love the best things about you, call you out on the worst things about you, and plan, design and photograph a wedding like a mo fo. ;)

And because posts are so much more fun with photos (especially on a photography blog!), here is some eye candy for you . . . these are some of my recent favorite personal photos that remind me that happiness is a choice. Love is a choice. That we are exactly where we are meant to be. And when things fall apart, they always come back together, better than before.