Once upon a time…

I met the beautiful and majestic Chelsea. This is where our story began.

Chelsea added me on Facebook. I briefly stalked her and didn’t see any red flags. I didn’t know her at all, but she was a normal looking girl—no signs of creepiness. And we have several mutual friends, so I accepted her. She seemed to like photography and started following my business. I also knew her husband TJ from way back in the day; we were acquaintances.

One day Chelsea sent me a message. It was February 26^th,2012—I remember the day well. She said, “I just thought I would say hi, I don’t want to be some creep you are friends with haha! You have a super cute baby child, and I may or may not be able to restrain myself from commenting on that. aaaaand, I really really love your work, so go you! You are awesome! That is all, have a great night!”

“Who is this girl? Random but nice.” I thought to myself.

Flattered by her compliments, I responded, “Well hello to you! Sooooo not creepy. I am kind of a Facebook stalker myself. haha. How are you? Thanks you so much for you compliment. Do you do photography? (and yes, I do think my baby is the cutest.)”

We messaged back and forth a few times. Then somehow in our conversation, one of us threw in a “we should hang out sometime.” It was a casual invitation, out of politeness. I mean, I did just spend the last several minutes talking with this lady. Little did I know that this invitation would actually turn into reality.

The next thing I knew, I was making dinner plans with a complete stranger! Russ thought I was crazy to invite a couple over to our home I basically met on the internet (could be murderers right? haha). He was a bit vexed with me so we made a compromise. I had to invite at least one couple we were friends with over the same night as to distract from any awkwardness that I might have signed us up for.

Did I just plan a suuuppperr awkward night with strangers? Would we like them? Would we connect with them? Did we have anything in common? Ah crap.

The evening came. Chelsea and TJ came over along with a few other friends of ours for a game night. And the night went amazingly well. We connected SO well with them. I didn’t even see it coming, but we just made new friends and we love them. Our internet dating had blossomed into a real life relationship! Who would have thought. (I’m not saying the next time any random person messages you on Facebook you should plan a dinner party with them, but I am so glad I did!)

Chelsea and I are really good friends now! We play a lot of games and we are foodies together! We share the same passion for photography. She has even been my second shooter before. She teaches me how to be cool still and I ask her advice from outfits to makeup to recipes (and everything in between). And we send a lot of gifs, snapchats, and silly text messages, which is why I am SO happy she decided to move back to Arizona to be with me. I’m sure that is the only reason she moved (right Chelsea?). Actually, Chelsea and TJ are having a BABY! I am just going to shout that one more time. THEY ARE HAVING A BABY! I am SO completely excited for them. They knew us every since we had our first baby and now we can see them transition into parents and I CAN’T WAIT.

I obviously had to shoot her gender reveal and low and behold….THEY ARE HAVING A BABY BOY! EEK! This is the greatest news because my baby Jade (10 months) and him can be boyfriend and girlfriend. (I am trying to predict the future.) And get married! (Arranged marriage?)