Fate, perseverance, and a whole lot of love when sometimes it wasn’t the easiest to love… This how MJ and I are where we are today, and why I will becoming an Andrews in June.

I’m not sure if I believed in it before, but after I met MJ, fate is real. Fate is what brought the two of us together, perseverance and love is what kept us together.

We both went home for the Seafood Festival weekend. I planned on hanging out with my friend Michael as soon as I got into town, and when he picked me up he asked if I wanted to go over to his friend’s house. His friend was having people over, and so I said yes, why not. Michael’s friend was MJ.

As the night went on, we left MJ’s house and went over to Robert’s house. Robert and his girlfriend, now wife, Danielle, were having a bonfire, and me not knowing anyone too well, I stayed quiet and to myself. MJ, being MJ, came over to me and began talking to the lonely girl at the bonfire. We talked about the most random things, but the only thing I truly remember talking about were the creepy Facebook emojis… And the morning after the bonfire, guess who had a creepy Facebook emoji message? Me. MJ made his first move, and we have been talking ever since.

If one of us hadn’t gone home that weekend, if our mutual friend didn’t go home that weekend, if MJ didn’t have people over, if Danielle and Robert didn’t have a bonfire that night, if Facebook didn’t have creepy emojis… So many ifs, so many opportunities for us not to be placed together at the same time, at the same place, but fate brought us together.

Once we started dating, it was definitely an uphill battle called a long distance relationship. That’s how we started and what we did for a year and a half. It was hard. We saw each other twice a month, if that; I was in my senior year of college and he was in his second year of teaching. It wasn’t easy and we talked about maybe ending it many times, but every time it was even mentioned, we would tear up and hold each other and say no that we were going to make it, we were going to love harder, stay strong, and persevere.

People say long distance relationships don’t last for a reason. They are close to impossible to do because you have to put in so much effort and time, and that doesn’t cut it for some people. We made it work though; we are a couple that survived long distance. Now almost three years later since he asked me to be his girlfriend, I have a ring on my finger and a wedding in June to plan.

Our love story definitely isn’t the prettiest or cutest, but it’s ours and it’s beautiful. I am marrying my person, the love of my life, and I couldn’t be more thankful. I AM SO EXCITED to show you these photos. Natalie has become such an amazing friend, and she did an incredible job with our session!

Crazy to think that our wedding will be right where we took these images!! GAH SO PRETTY! I can’t wait!

xoxo