Life Lately | Anniversary Celebration

The best thing to hold onto in life is each other. - Audrey Hepburn

Oh how this time of the year always makes me feel nostalgic for the early days of September. It was when my husband, Justin and I met. It literally feels like just yesterday, that Justin and I fell for each other and had started our whirlwind romance. I love hearing how couple's meet and seeing the sparks fly in their eyes, recalling back on that special day and time.

Like all things, time heals. Even through relationships that fail and you feel like you may never find someone who truly completes you. Time brings with it change and I am so thankful I found someone that makes my heart smile. Most of all, who appreciates me. I have so many dear memories with Justin and I sitting in a parked car in a movie theatre parking lot in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania, just laughing and talking. Roaming around New York City hopping from one subway car to another, adventuring! Eating new foods and discovering new sweet treats, holding hands together entering into art museums, and city favorite places. We still laugh about our first date and cannot get over how we barely touched the food on our plates! You know all of those first date impression sort of things...

We dated for a mere 6 months and before I knew it, we were out on a private boat on the Hudson River. I was saying yes to a man, down on one knee in front of Lady Liberty. That moment, the boat slightly rocking back and forth in the choppy water, still as fresh and new in my mind as it was 4 years ago....

I am still as besotted with Justin as I was when we first met. Marriage and adding in parenthood, has been filled with some memorable and touching moments. Yes, it has become more of a challenge and trying at times but one thing I have found is you continue to grow and learn from each broken or happy moment. Communication is key and is a constant reminder to us, in our relationship. We have days that are long and with Justin's work schedule, it can tend to feel like we hardly see eachother through the week. We are still learning how to keep the spark alive as it was in the beginning moments. One thing I love most and cannot express enough is complimenting eachother. Oh how good it makes me feel, after a long night with Blake not sleeping, or just having one of those days, to hear Justin tell me how pretty I look. Something I have learned with Justin is, just a simple kiss before bed, means the world to him. It just put's the whole "actions speak louder than words' into a whole new perspective.

I am so anxious to see where the future takes us. Standing, hand in hand, saying our vow's and enjoying our happy and blessed union on a beautiful sunny and breezy August afternoon, will forever be stamped in my heart. Happy Anniversary to us and here's to many more....

So many special moments captured from our special day, courtesy of Antiquity Photography

Photography | The VanDuyne's Newborn Session

What a sweet newborn session this was. I swear Jenna made just having a baby look so easy and effortless. The love these two have for dear baby Emersyn Jane, is simply touching.

It was such a lovely and simple newborn shoot and I cannot thank Jenna and Dan enough for allowing me to partake in their incredible joy and capturing it for them. Xx

52:34

16 Months | 52:34

Little hands and a big imagination.

As featured on IG: Childhoodunplugged 

Life Lately | Sesame Place

Back when I was pregnant with Blake, Justin and I would always talk about the parents we wanted to become. We joked about watching kid's shows and being that family that drives around listening to kid's music blaring out the window. Along with being a parent, is still showing a piece of who you are as well and eventually, your child carries some of those traits along with them. It is truly a mini version of yourself, walking around. I once heard the saying, that having a child is like having your heart walking around, outside of your body. It is so true...

Blake isn't a true child that light's up every single time the television shows a cartoon of sorts, but you can bet, when we are up early that Sesame Street is a regular. The high pitched sound of the Elmo Slide with a side of banana and peanut butter waffles are a morning favorite.

When Justin had some time off of work, we wanted to do some family getaway's around the area and Justin found Sesame Place as a fun stop for Blake. It was a great day for our little family and we can gladly tuck this memory away as part of our summer adventuring!

Life Lately | Peach Picking

We wanted to do a family activity that didn't involve a ton of traveling and allowed us to explore the area too. With a yearning to bake a pie and peaches being in season, peach picking it was and we knew we wanted to add a local farm to our list of things to do.

We took off for Alstede Farms, which is a great local farm packed full of fun for parent's and children, alike. Once entering the farm, we saw goats to chickens, fresh produce to beautiful plants and shared fresh peach slushies, all led for a great afternoon.

We hopped on the wagon ride that took us around the farm and to different parts of the farm property. Once we arrived to the peach trees, we had a ball watching Blake run around picking up peaches and taking little nibbles and laughing with us.

Justin and I enjoyed roaming around with our little sidekick and getting a sense of home at the same time. What is really most important, is creating our own family memories for ourselves here and allowing Blake to sense his own happiness. That feeling that we are in the right place at the right time, here in New Jersey, is something that we needed. I don't think having the house smell like a freshly baked pie and enjoying a slice (or two) was all that bad either.

Although we are still hanging on to what is left of August and the summer sun, we look forward to going back to the farm for apple season and fall fun real soon!