She was just too cute.

I remember smiling ear to ear while Leah Roberson & I chatted for the first time. Her friend Elizabeth (thank you Elizabeth!!!!!!) had referred her to me & Leah excitedly told me during our phone date that her & her husband Jonathan were celebrating ONE YEAR of marriage!!! And they wanted me to spend time with them & do an anniversary photo session!!!

The more I talked to Leah, the more excited I became! I remember when Eric & I reached the one year mark. It was SO exciting! And wonderful to look to see what the Lord had done & brought us through together, as a married couple. I couldn’t wait to get Leah & Jonathan behind my camera & remember, if even for a brief amount of time, this milestone in their marriage.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Leah & looked forward to meeting her & Jonathan face to face. Leah & I share many things in common including being pastor kids, we’re both nanny’s & have curly hair 🙂 Leah & Jonathan requested that their session be at a favorite park of mine & I was totally thrilled when they wanted to incorporate their dog Murphy!

It was a SUPER cold evening, but that made all the more reason to have them cuddle & snuggle close which they had no problem doing 😉

Probably some of my favorite moments with Leah & Jonathan was just being able to watch them laugh & be goofy together.

Leah brought the cutest little chalkboard with a saying written on it. I believe this perfectly describes the season of life that they are in!

You’re so beautiful Leah.

And every time you laugh, I know he falls more in love with you.

Two pastor kids that met & fell in love at Bible college & now together they’re following the Lord & loving each other as husband & wife. I totally agree with your chosen phrase Leah, “One Year Down, a Lifetime to Go!” And I pray the Lord will bless you two with many, many more years!

When I married my husband, I not only married into a new family, I married into a family where some of those family members have become very dear friends. My mother-in-law has three other siblings & I truly enjoy our family gatherings. Everyone lives in the area so family events are usually full & fun 🙂

I grew up not ever being very close in miles to extended family. I truly appreciate being so close to both of Eric’s sides so I can get to know them & make up for the 26 years before we got married that I didn’t know them 😉 Mary is one of Eric’s cousins on his mom’s side & she is one of three sisters that yes, I would not only call them family, but friends. Mary & her sisters Rachel & Sarah welcomed me into the family right away & I’ve always felt like I belonged.

About a year ago, Eric & I were making some big decisions when it came to officially launching Nomi Photography. I actually wasn’t planning on having a website. I liked the idea of having a blog, but figured it was too much work at the beginning. I figured facebook would be enough 😉 Mary convinced me otherwise & I’m SO glad she did!

I called her up one day & we started talking & brainstorming about what could possibly happen regarding a website AND blog for Nomi Photography. Mary is a genius. She knows all the terminology, how to work with WordPress, how to make my site look pretty, how to tell me what doesn’t look “me”, how to even tell me it doesn’t look “me”! She was & STILL is a HUGE Godsend for me!!!! We exchanged several, several emails & phone calls over the course of January 2014-May 2014. I’m so thankful for all she did. And is still doing. We’ve just recently finished a small facelift of my website including a way to signup for my e-newsletter right on my site (just look to the right of this post!)

I was able to spend some time with Mary & her husband, Richard at Funks Grove one fall afternoon this past year & have a little photo session.

Fun fact, Mary & Richard just announced they’re EXPECTING!!! Yes! SO excited for them!!!

I’m excited to watch them become parents & can’t wait to hold their little one!!!

Aunt Sheila & Uncle Lynn (Mary’s parents) came along as well & I snapped a few pictures of these two love birds 😉

They’re going to make wonderful grandparents aren’t they Mary & Richard? 😉

Mary, again, from the bottom & side & top of my heart, THANK YOU for everything you’ve done to help make Nomi Photography succeed. I couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you also for being my friend! I love you! And I can’t wait to watch your journey as you walk into motherhood <3

See that smile? That smile belongs to my friend Brooke. About 9ish years ago we meet in the loud kitchen of Cracker Barrel as fellow servers. Well, let me re-phrase that, she was a server, I was brand-new to CB, a newbie. She actually trained me one night. She taught me everything I knew right Brooke? 😉 We formed this work sort of friendship. You can actually get pretty close with someone when you’re serving a ton of people on a busy Friday night. We started to hangout, Kaldi Coffee dates & chats became more frequent over the year I lived in Columbia, Missouri. And then I moved. But because Brooke is a true friend, she is one of the few that I have stayed in close contact with since I left.

I have two favorite phone call memories with Brooke since we became long distance friends. The first was around Easter one year & she told me about her decision to put Jesus Christ first in life & follow Him wholeheartedly. There was much joy & tears in the conversation.

The second fav phone conversation was when we talked about her & her husband’s anniversary session that she had asked me to do. I had gotten a request to do a session in St. Charles, MO with another close family from Columbia & so it just all worked out perfectly to meet with Brooke & Nic!

I tell you St. Charles was cray cray that weekend! (I’d love to go back & visit sometime when it was a little quieter though 😉 ) But we did manage to find some quiet spots & have a few moments with just the three of us.

Brooke & Nic have a unique, wonderful love story like every couple who puts Christ first in their relationship. I hadn’t been around Nic too many times so our time in St. Charles was fun getting to know him & seeing how he loves Brooke.

One of the ways I see Nic love Brooke is through his eyes. He looks at her with such love, admiration & a sense of “knowing”. He knows Brooke. He knows her little quirks, her passions, desires, hopes & dreams. And he loves her. Very much. And can I just add that Nic had NO problem kissing Brooke during their session 😉

Brooke & Nic use a candle each year & take a picture with it to symbolize how many years they’ve been married. This past December 1 was the big “2”. And I know without a doubt there will be many more anniversaries to come.

Sweetness.

When Brooke & I talked on the phone before their session, she communicated to me how important having pictures taken of her & Nic is so important to her. She wants to remember who they were at that time & to look back as the years go on & be thankful for what the Lord has done & how they’ve grown as a couple. If I could have recorded that part of our phone conversation & typed out her words for a blog post I would have!!! My heart is just so full when others see the significance of taking photo’s, not just at your wedding but onnnnn through the years.

You two have a strong foundation in Christ. Never forget that. Or that there are tons of people cheering you on. Me included. You two are a dynamo duo. Let the love story the Lord is writing for you continue, with many blessings, surprises & adventures along the way. Love you both.

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I posted the below photo on facebook December 3, 2009. Five years ago, Heidi & I were both attending Heartland Community College. We were taking Literature of the Bible together & I know I can say for the both of us, that our instructor was blowing us away. Every time we walked out of class, we literally had “headaches” from all the amazing information we’d received & talked over.

That wasn’t the only thing giving us headaches back then. There was another thing that was on our minds a lot……..boys 😉 And not just any boys. We each had a specific boy that we had our eyes on. For me it was Eric Wilcox (who is now my husband) & for her, it was Jordan. Jordan Doddek. Over hot chai’s at Fusionbrew (when it was located next to Gumby’s Pizza- which is also no longer there hah!) we discussed our dreams of someday catching these boys eyes & “could it be, could it possibly be that either of these guys could be the one for us”?

I married Eric in 2012 & this coming year of 2015, Heidi & Jordan will be becoming man & wife. WHOO-HOOO!!!!!!!!!! (Imagine me shouting that 🙂 )

Heidi & Jordan’s engagement session was SOOO them. We had met up a few weeks before to go over details & decide locations that fit them as a couple. When the afternoon of their session arrived, I had soooo much fun watching them interact together. It is TOTALLY clear that they are smitten with each other. TOTALLY SMITTEN. And to be honest, I was completely in awe. In awe of how the Lord works out the desires of our hearts & orchestrates our lives if we let Him. While photographing them together, my mind went to Heidi & I’s talks at Heartland & the questions of “could it ever happen” & I realized that right in front of my eyes was the answer. It HAD happened. And I couldn’t be any more happier for these two.

We met first at a historic neighborhood in Bloomington. Heidi said that one of their favorite things to do is look at houses & dream together.

Dream away my friends.

Jordan kept both of us pretty entertained through the entire session. He likes keeping Heidi’s eyes on him & her laughing 😉 And I know for a fact that she totally doesn’t mind watching him 😉

Then we headed to Comlara Park, a special place to the engaged couple.

I told them that the Lord had that evening’s particular sunset set aside just for them. And I was dead serious.

And there were numerous times that we just got plain silly 😉

Heidi, I’m so happy for you. I know you have waited for the Lord’s best & He’s given it to you. I can’t wait to see you become Mrs. Jordan Doddek & to watch what the Lord does between you two & your future family. It was my greatest pleasure to spend time capturing you two. Congratulations Heidi & Jordan!!!

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