Oh, Dina, Dina, Dina... we're so happy we finally got to shoot you and all of your adorable-ness! Any of you who check out our blog regularly via the actual site and scroll down into the comments will recognize Dina. She totally gets a medal for blog commenting, and it means so ridiculously much to us when someone takes the time out of their busy life to swing by, check us out and let us know what they think. We love us some Dina! So, we were really, really happy to finally get to shoot her and Travis last week, bright and early. No kidding, they got up at like 3 or something obscene. And Travis says she's not really a morning person! But I'm so glad they did - the morning light is so pretty, and we ran around Buffalo and made some images that make my eyes happy!

When you find clients who are really into what you do and remind you of it on damned near every post, that's a hell of a thing. I want to say a big thank you to all you folks who do it for us. Dina has been commenting on the blog since long before her engagement and she'd post things like, "When it's my turn, I'm coming to you guys!" and then it happened. She emailed us, and from the first time we met her in person (true story - we saw her on our porch picking up some cdr's we didn't need once, but it was while we were driving away, hah), we have felt so lucky to have people like these two in our lives. And while it may be borderline insane to say things like you "have your clients in your life" as a wedding photographer, I really think it applies. This isn't just a job. It's up to us to do what we say we're going to do - go out and figure out what a couple is all about and make that work in photographs with them.

Aw, sweetie! If that's the most "borderline insane" thing you say today, I think it's a pretty mild day for us :) Also insane? I'm so used to drinking iced coffee through a straw. My amazing hubby made me one this morning, and I can't manage to drink around the ice. Seriously, I've poured iced coffee on myself three times over here writing this post. Ugh.

So, yeah - who else thinks Dina is an Alyssa Milano look-alike in this photo below?!

I have an admission to make - I couldn't pick Alyssa Milano out of a police lineup if she assaulted me with a golf club while screaming, "I'm Alyssa Milano, bitch!". But I do think the two of you look amazing.

That's so weird. Who doesn't know who she is? I mean, after all, for 20 years, she was the only other Alyssa on the planet until all the current knee-high set discovered our awesome, awesome name. But yeah - totally dig all the fence stuff you shot, babe. You killed it. And D + T? You two are really just too cute together. I mean, come on, the kissing on the nose? You guys melt my heart!

Collective aw stuff, right there :).

Things you may not know about Dina, while you're looking at her awesome smile. I think she had like 46 tickets to go see the final Harry Potter movie. We were jealous. Because we get the chance to go on a date night with just the two of us about twice a year, we'll be seeing that finally when it's released on blu-ray. Snape kills Dumbledore in this one, right? /badinternetjoke

I'm glad at least one of us is still following internet culture. I truly have no idea what you're referencing. Ah well. At least I know what planking is now.

But yeah - Dina not only had a zillion tickets to go see the HP finale, she also has plans for the most epic tattoo. The kind of tattoo that made me want to get it because it's so awesome, even though, while I definitely dig the HP stuff, I probably wouldn't normally tattoo it on myself. But it's cool. And I'm not saying what it is, because then everyone reading this will also go get that tattoo, and I wouldn't want to ruin it's awesomeness for Dina. But if I told you what it was, you'd be like, dude, that's epic.

You do need new ink, though, hon. That last tattoo you got was while I was deployed in '05 wasn't it? That's crazy. It's like something happened that next year that turned our lives upside down and we haven't had time for stuff like that since :).

So, I read recently that the "perfect" time to post something online (in this case, it was referencing Facebook and Twitter) was at 10 am on a Thursday. I don't know if that's really 100% true all the time, but we're going to give it a go because, well, we want Dina and Travis' post to be perfect. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves every time we go out and shoot, and that's amplified when we have heard from Dina like clockwork every time we post for the past year :).

Guys, I hope you had as good a time going out and shooting as we did. Thank you, so much, for having us be a part of your lives in the form of photographs I hope you two love forever. You're big time to us.

Now, I expect Gretchen and Caitlin and Jen and Lucia and Jeff and Kate S all the rest of you guys who comment for us all the time (I don't mean to offend anyone by leaving them out there!) to hook a girl up. You guys have an awesome day and we'll see you below!

At one point, I really wanted for Rich and I to apply for the Amazing Race. Travel all over the world! Compete in ridiculous challenges! Be in an epic race! I thought it sounded like the greatest idea ever. So, when I brought it up to Rich, and he immediately said "no," I was kind of floored. He said with my epic direction skills, along with the stress of trying to win a race (we're both a little competitive), we'd end up divorced by the end of the first challenge.

That took me aback. I mean, my direction skills aren't THAT bad. Sure, most times when I'm the navigator and Rich is driving, he finds out about a turn as we're driving passed the road. I once navigated myself to my dad's new house in West Virginia, only after four hours of driving when I was supposed to be there, I found myself on the complete opposite end of the state. But really, divorce-worthy?

Well, after Jenn + Bob's e-shoot was supposed to start, and I'd directed them to completely the wrong spot, I must've talked to Bob four times on the phone, each time giving him completely wrong directions to where we were. So, when they arrived after dealing with my awful-ness, all I could think was, these two are going to divorce me! Luckily they didn't quit us on the spot and stuck around for their shoot, because I'm totally smitten with these shots.

Yeah, you trying to talk them in to the parking lot we wanted to start from was a hot mess. Luckily it's not like they weren't on a mid-deployment furlough FROM AFGHANISTAN and had a ton of time, right?

And it's honestly not on you that the Amazing Race featuring Rich and Alyssa would have been amazingly entertaining in a can't-look-away-from-the-horrific-29-car-pile-up-on-the-interstate kind of way. I'm one of the most stubborn and quick-tempered people on the planet and while I'm good with directions, I probably would have ended up with us as the couple starring in both Amazing Race and Locked Up Abroad simultaneously. One of my good friends in college once theorized I could get the Pope to fight me if we were locked in a room together for longer than five minutes. But that was then, I've mellowed a little with time :).

This shoot was a lot of fun. I'd been looking forward to this since Jenn first called me from Germany right before they deployed. Couple of kids both in the military? Check and please. We know exactly where you guys are coming from. It's a hell of a rewarding life, but it's also an unbelievable amount of stress and a lot of times the service comes before family - and it takes a special couple to make that work.

Rich just goes, "if what I wrote was hokey, go ahead and delete it." But it's true - it's hard to be deployed and still maintain your life as a couple. Even harder? Planning a wedding from Afghanistan. Yeah... I can't even begin to imagine!

We heard that there may be some Brides magazines in a hooch over in the stan. If anything, it gives you something awesome to look forward to when you get home. Having a positive goal is a must while you're deployed.

And you guys look great together. Just great.

Guys - thank you so much for taking some of your precious time at home to drive around wondering where the hell your photographers were and then hanging out with us for the evening. You guys were absolutely amazing to shoot, and we can't wait to do it again. It was awesome meeting you - we hope you had a fun break, enjoyed sailing and seeing your families, and we'll see you next year!