Emily, David and Eli // Family

I took in a deep, nervous breath as I stepped out of my parents green mini-van packed with crates and suitcases stuffed with everything my 18 year old self owned. I grabbed a pillow and my orange folder with all of my information that I needed and stepped foot onto campus for the very first time. I was nervous and excited, but what brought me the most comfort, being so far from home, was that I was not totally alone. I was armed with a handful of people I knew and of those, two would be on my floor in my dorm. It was such a relief knowing that Emily was there. We were from each other’s home town in Illinois and although we didn’t know each other well, being far away from home makes an acquaintance a friend really fast. Having friends armed me with bravery as I took on my next four year adventure.

Fast forward a lot of years. We’ve been out of college for a long time and have only seen each other a couple of times in the in between. It was amazing seeing Emily for our shoot and meeting her kids for the first time! We chatted a bit and as we reminisced over chunks of life, I marveled at how quickly it’s gone and how easily our friendship picked right back up. How fun it was to see her as a Mama and hear about her world. And can I just say how amazing this girl looked??? Seriously. Gorgeous.

Here’s Emily and her boys.