Clayton and Kinsey :: Finally

I don't even know how I can possibly sum up the story of the people in this shoot. It feels like I've been waiting 5 years to take these photos... well, because I have. Let me explain...

Clayton and Kinsey both attended the University where my husband and I worked (Jon still works there, but not me). We knew Clayton and Kinsey in so many capacities... they both were undergrad students, then student workers, then part-time employees, then graduates, then full-time employees. In the middle of all that, though, they were Resident Assistants and worked really closely with my Jon. From the start, Clayton and Kinsey were really good friends and their banter was so familiar and easy and just so.... right.

Clayton would make a silly joke... Kinsey would call him Clay David... we would all watch, wondering when one of them would make the first move. "We're just friends," would be the response when they were asked about each other. I hated hearing that because it was so painfully obvious to me that were, without a doubt, made for each other. I wanted to hold a pillow over my face and scream into it every time I saw them. Ah, the suspense.

I think I was especially annoying to Clayton ... I was always trying to get information out of him and telling him to just ask her out, dang it. He was taking it slow, though... much to my watchful chagrin.

During the course of their time at the University, Clayton and Kinsey started dating. "Finally!" I thought to myself. But it was weird. Not to me, of course... I could see that they were destined to be together forever. What can I say, I have a gift. But it was weird, because it wasn't the right time. So their short stint as a couple ended. I was super bummed. My pillow screaming resumed.

In typical annoying fashion, though, I kept my finger on the pulse of their friendship (through my bff facebook, of course), and wondered if anything would happen between the two of them. And then, a few years after they graduate and when Clayton was on the brink of moving across the country, Clayton called and asked if he could stop by our place to talk.

I waited on pins and needles.

After what seemed like an eternity of small talk, he said it:
"I like Kinsey. I'm gonna talk to her."

Clayton seemed so mature in that moment... a far cry from the 17-year-old we had first met so many years ago... and I knew that he knew she was the one. It had always been her, and now the time was right.

And now they're getting married! It's been such a huge honor for me to witness their story unfold through the course of time. And now, I'll have the distinct privilege of documenting the culmination of something I've been looking forward to for years.

Just a few photos we took on a frigid winter's day. Actually, I think frigid may be putting it a bit lightly... I've NEVER been that cold before on a shoot. But it was worth it :). As always, more on facebook.









something about this photo looks kinda out of place....




Love this one of them. They're gonna be together forever.




I just can't believe they're getting married!!! So excited beyond belief!


Clayton is pretty excited too

Can't wait till July!