“Hey Jaime, it’s Joe … you’re doing pictures for my girlfriend Meredith and I, and Oscar this Saturday …. I’d like to discuss something with you, if you could give me a call back … this is a secret, so don’t call Meredith back if you can’t get ahold of me … it’s something specific I’d like to do and discuss with you …”
Or something like that, Google Voice transcribes terribly. 😉 I might add, he called me twice … TWO voicemails. Uhhhh … (SORRY JOE!) 🙈
The Bug heard the message –“Mum, is he going to propose?!” Yep, my littles are invested in my photo-family’s lives too …
You know … after photographing them quite a few times over the last year, my brain had it that they WERE married! Or engaged … haha! These two … so, so much love and they act as though they’ve been married for years!
I call him back. He’s proposing. Cue my silent screams. And … he wants me to document it! Eeeek! Cue more silent screams & and a happy dance (soooo glad he didn’t see that … bwahahaha!). 😂
Here I am, texting back & forth with Meredith AND Joe…about possibly postponing, thanks to the gloomy weather. Well, telling HER we may postpone … telling Joe it’s happening. Haha. Gawsh, that was a trip. You simply can’t postpone a proposal. Snowstorm in the forecast, but we pushed on … moved the time … he’d picked up the ring … it was happening. A few more texts back & forth over the last few days and we had an idea of how it was going to go down — he’d sneak out to get the ring while Meredith’s attention was on Oscar, and that’d be my cue. When he stepped back in, I immediately felt his presence … and excitement … and gawsh, I about exploded with feelings! Ha! 😍😍😍
Thankfully, Iowa’s weather cooperated (for the most part). I pulled into their driveway, trying to hide the ridiculous smile that was swallowing my face, thinking to myself, “shake it off dude!!! don’t spill the beans!” Luckily, I got myself under control & into photographer mode.
I took a breath … walked inside … and started shooting.
I’ll hand it over to Meredith now …
“Yesterday, during Oscar’s 6 month photo shoot, a very special event happened … and our photographer was there to capture it. Joe and I are so excited to call each other Fiancé’ and celebrate the next best part of our life together.
When Jaime said it was time for some more photos with Oscar and Mom, I was laying down with him. She said, “This isn’t working, let’s have you stand up.” and had me face towards the other wall so Oscar was in the light.
Then, she asked me to turn towards her … and I’m thinking she was just posing us differently. Joe was down on one knee, asking me to be more than just a Mom to Oscar and girlfriend to him … but to be his wife.
After tears and lots of kisses for Oscar and Joe, I, of course, said YES!”
Meredith is hilarious, btw … not long after the proposal, she said … “Jaime, you’re going to have to come with us to Hawaii …”
Me: “You’re getting married in Hawaii?!”
Joe: “Apparently we’re getting married in Hawaii and you’re coming with.”
Me: Well, that is the only west coast state I haven’t seen.” 😉
Meredith: “See? There yuh go!”
I about died laughing … 😂 😂 😂 We all had a good giggle, actually … gawsh, I love them.
This was the 3rd proposal I’ve witnessed in my life … the 2nd I’ve photo’d … but the ONLY one that meant something to me. Have I mentioned that I freaking LOVE these people?!
And, as I’m walking out the door, I asked Joe, “When’s the wedding??”
“Tomorrow!” he said with a grin.
“Isn’t that a bit soon?”
“Nah.”
“I guess not, I mean … it has been a long, long time coming, eh?”
“26 years in the making!”
Congratulations, guys! I am SO happy for you … and here’s to the NEXT 26 … and many, many more!
Cheers!
Jaime
Hi, friends!
I sat down the other day, chatting with my girls about Christmas, and I asked them which they liked more … giving or receiving. They both responded without hesitation … giving, and my heart swelled. When I asked why, they told me it makes them feel good to see others happy … the look on another person’s face when they open whatever they were given just gives them all the feels. They love to bring joy to others … and the look on my little’s faces when they give something to someone completely melts me … into a huge puddle of emotion. I don’t know about all of you, but when I give … it sure does make me FEEL … good … alive … purposeful … happy …
One of my absolute favourite things about my job is that I get to document families simply being … living … loving … enjoying life … making memories with one another. It brings me such joy, knowing that I’ve given them a tangible moment in time, that they can now revisit over and over again. As I’ve said before, I wish I had more of that in my own albums … more of me … living life … in the frame … with my littles. So many of us, mums and dads alike, are behind the lens … look in your albums … are you there (and I’m not talking “self portraits” taken with your phones)? And so I thought, wouldn’t that be an amazing gift? To give a family the gift of memories made with their children?
The Big Tuesday Give was born that day, and I racked my brains trying to think of how to do it … Do I have nominations or have them fill out an entry form? Do I pick randomly or do I read stories and choose what touches my soul? Do I pick just one? And then … I realized, I can do a combination of it all … and better yet, I can do it annually! I decided to make this giveaway an annual tradition that begins the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, running through December 20th. There are 4 days in-between … so we girls decided there should be 4 winners. 1 simply wasn’t enough. 😉 <3
There were 18 entries this year … so many people I’ve never even met, from across the United States, poured their hearts out to me and some of my past clients shared things I never knew about them … they all touched my soul. Some of the stories must have been very difficult to share, and to be honest, were some of my worst fears in life … I’m sure tears were shed as they wrote them down. There were far too many stories of struggle and loss, but along with that I felt an incredible strength and perseverance in them. You guys gave me chills … and, I was basically sobbing as I read through them all. I am SO glad that I did the giveaway this way, as it gave me a chance to truly connect on some level with those who entered. To all of you brave souls who shared your stories and words and hearts with me, thank you. My heart is so full of gratitude and love for each and every one of you. 😘
Without further adieu, the FOUR winners are listed out below — I’ll be contacting each of you shortly, with additional information. Congratulations to each and every one of you! I am sooooooo crazy excited to meet you, and document your beautiful families! <3
ALSO — for those of you who didn’t win a session this time around, please don’t let that stop you from booking one! I would LOVE to document your family, be it for a couple hours, a half day, or a full day! I’m offering ALL of you a discount (noted below) on one of my docustyle sessions for 2017, so long as your session is booked & a $159 deposit is made by January 31st — dates can be decided now or later on down the road. FYI — payment plans are typically arranged for the bigger sessions. 😘
FULL docustyle | $250 off
HALF docustyle | $150 off
SIMPLE docustyle | $50 off
I cannot wait to do this again next year — till then …
Cheers!
Jaime
😘😘😘😘