Quintin + Jaimee Engagement

 I know this blog is generally used for photography purposes, but today I'm going to give a brief update on my own life (outside of photography). I had never anticipated this summer to begin the way it did. I spent this entire academic year studying my you-know-what off so that I could get good grades and possibly a nursing externship (a paid internship) at a local hospital over the summer. In nursing school, they drill it into your brain that you NEED to get an externship if you want a good chance of landing a job upon graduation.

Because I naturally really would like to have a job post-graduation, I began "job searching" last fall and had several options for this nurse externship. I was confident that this summer would be spent enhancing my nursing skills in a hospital environment as it would be my last one being a "student". I applied and started receiving a few phone calls and e-mails about interviewing. But then, the interview dates wouldn't work out. I went to New Zealand, which meant that I wasn't able to interview for the one I wanted the most. That one was out and I quickly found another one, hoping that I could manage to find my way into that one. I interviewed (finally) and was confident I had a chance. I prayed and prayed and prayed that I would get the job, and had tons of others praying for me as well. I waited almost 2 months to hear back. And I did not get the job.

This was a whole two weeks before school was about to end. I felt completely defeated, yet had peace that God was in control (Because uh... He is...) I had to surrender my own (big) plans for once and just trust that I would have some sort of a job this summer and that maybe it wouldn't be something nursing-related. And it isn't. No, I don't have a full-time job. BUT, I have had a whole lot more time to focus on photography. (I'm doing a total of five weddings between now and September... one all the way up in Thousand Islands, NY... did I ever mention my dream is to photography destination weddings? Yeah...) So God is giving me a fantastic summer, filled with relaxation and work that I enjoy! I'm finding some sort of contentment amidst the frustration of things not going my way.

One of the first engagement shoots of the summer (that I probably wouldn't have been able to do if I had a full-time job!)...

Quintin & Jaimee met in high school. I was friends with both of them and we went to the same school (Quintin was in my class and Jaimee in the class above). Since we went to a pretty small school (30 or so in a class) news spread fast that Q had his eye on Jaimee. After high school, we all went our separate ways (even Q & Jaimee, though they started dating went to school miles apart... one in Texas, the other in New York). But when they asked me to do their engagement AND wedding pictures I was ecstatic. I feel so blessed to be able to capture the love and joy of couples like this who I know have a relationship that is centered around something so much more than just "themselves".

It was Jaimee's idea to go to this awesome and unique location. I've been there before and forgot how much I love it. It totally wasn't 95 degrees out that day. 

This is just a preview of the beautiful couple...