Seattle Wedding and Portrait Photographer

Deployment is an incredibly difficult experience, for any couple, no matter how long or short the time away is from one another. Each couple has their own story, and their own way’s of getting through. For Chris and I, deployment came only 6 short months after we were married. We hadn’t lived together before marriage which meant our time together was spent on the weekends when he would drive the 5 hours from Fort Lewis to Eugene to see me. Marriage was incredible in so many ways and we were so grateful to do the every day, ordinary together. Even grocery shopping together was a treat! So, as we prepared for deployment, I knew that I wanted to do something extra special for him. To send him off with a little bit of home, even if only in a small leather bound album.

It was a normal for me to go hang out with Marissa for the day so this particular day, the day of my Beauty & Boudoir shoot, wasn’t out of the ordinary to Chris in the slightest. He had questioned earlier in the week why I had gotten a spray tan but I quickly dismissed it, saying I just wanted a little color. He knew no better;)

I arrived at Marissa’s with immense excitement for all that we were about to create. She welcomed me with a smile and background music, setting the mood and getting me warmed up. To be honest, I was a little bit shy about being so exposed in front of her. To be honest, my body didn’t look how I thought it should look. To be honest, when I had Marissa take my photo’s that day, I was 10 pounds heavier than I am today. To be honest, none of that mattered. Marissa made me feel absolutely gorgeous and had I not taken photo’s that day, had I let my insecurities about my body keep me from this incredible experience, I would have not only lost out on a day of glam and girly fun, I would have taken away the one gift my husband cherished more than any other while away in Afghanistan. So, while fear and insecurities tried to hold me back, I kicked them to the curb and embraced who I was in that moment, and I’m so grateful I did.

A Letter From Chris

As a husband, the experience of receiving these photos, and the manner it was done in, was probably the greatest blessing I’ve received before any deployment. As I got home from work, there was a little package waiting for me and I didn’t even know it. Sitting on the bed, undoing the bow of ribbon wrapped round the leather bound album, my excitement stirred as I began to realize what in fact it was! The only issue was, how on earth did she manage to sneak this past me?! I was giddy. I knew with certainty what it was as I looked up at the unrestrained smile Justine had on her face as she awaited the revealing of what she knew would be pictures that left a lasting effect on an aspect of my life. Yes, pictures changed my life. As I flipped through the pages, I remember asking myself over and over in my mind, the same question I had asked myself on our wedding day; “How did I manage to score this woman again?”As I flipped through the pages on deployment, it gave me a sense of closeness during a time when I couldn’t possibly have been further from Justine (8,000 miles away).  It gave me the ability to visually enjoy the wife that God had blessed me with, and I was ecstatic. Best pre-deployment gift. Period.