Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | 30 days of being thankful: day 3 & 4 | personal

We thought we’d start off with sharing why we were unavailable yesterday for blogging.

Amber and Dustin’s Richmond, Virginia wedding was amazing. Filled with family members from across the country, it was a night filled with beautiful moments.

We can hardly wait to share more of their wedding with you.

So, day 3 (yesterday) would have been:

Our car.

That might seem materialistic…

But we are so thankful to have a car which is by no means flashy, and which doesn’t offer much in terms of horsepower (well, it just takes a little longer to get going after stopping at a stoplight), but which is reliable and fuel efficient. *knock on wood*

A lot of you still remember our old Dodge Neon.

We had it from the first week we spent in America (August 2012) until July 2013.

When we bought it, we paid cash for it.

And every few weeks, something went wrong with it.

And every time something went wrong with it, we poured money into it, thinking (and not knowing a lot about this particular brand of car) that this must be the last time…

And each time we were disappointed.

Not to mention a fender bender in April left us needing a new bumper – but each time we set aside the money for those repairs, we ended up having to use it for something else going wrong with the car.

It’s one thing when it’s your 5-10 minute ride to work that you need to be able to rely on… but doing the job we love requires us to have reliable transportation to travel all across Virginia.

It was something that weighed on our mind constantly.

It worried us so much that we would take it to be “checked” before each and every wedding.

Really it’s a miracle we were able to afford the Toyota Prius after the money we sunk into repairs on the Neon, but after a breakdown on the way to a meeting this summer (the first and only time it happened) we knew we had to make a decision to make a change.

It was an awesome feeling walking out of the dealership with a car that works… and we can actually sleep soundly now knowing we’ve got a reliable vehicle.

Not only that, it’s great fun going down the interstate on our way to a wedding and whispering to the car next to us: “You just got passed by a little blue lunchbox!”

But it just occured to us yesterday driving back from Richmond, having left a wedding filled with marvelous people and a beautiful bride and groom – we’re very thankful for our blue lunchbox.

–

Day 4

We’re thankful for being able to say honestly that we love what we do.

Not everyone is blessed with the opportunity to wake up in the morning and be excited about what their work for the day entails.

It is not something we take for granted.

Whether it’s meeting new couples, shooting a wedding, or visiting wedding venues in Hampton Roads or other locales in Virginia, we’re always eager to do what we do.

There’s excitement in getting to know people – clients and vendors.

Everyone has stories to tell about themselves, and why they do what they do, why they love what they do or love who they love.

We love listening to those stories.

And we almost always end up making new friends.

Also, it’s all such an adventure.

I (Michael) grew up in Virginia, but I can also say that this job has taken us to more places in Virginia than I ever experienced when I was growing up.

On a random Sunday in October, we found ourselves in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley celebrating and photographing a Virginia country wedding amid rolling hills, fields and a mild breeze blowing through the doorway of a converted old barn decorated with paper cranes…

… and we pinch ourselves, astonished that this is real life and we get to do what we do.

We love it. And we wouldn’t trade it for the world.

So, until next time, here’s a preview of what’s coming tomorrow to the blog – shots from the gorgeous couples who helped make our video as awesome as it is!

Virginia Wedding Photographers