We Heart Photography Blog | Fine Art Wedding Photography of Jacob Willis + Christin Willis

Friday, August 28th, 2009 was a completely normal day.

I woke up, got ready for school, and headed to PLNU for my morning classes. After chapel I headed back to my apartment to take a much needed nap (my usual Friday routine). Jacob and I had a birthday party to go to that evening and I was already too tired to even think about making the trip to San Clemente in a few hours. So, I allowed myself to drift to sleep.

I woke up to the sound of my roommate Diana coming into our shared room. I groggily asked her how her day was and she smiled a big smile. “Ian,” (her boyfriend of 4 years) “said he wants to take me on a ‘special date’!” I was instantly excited. I wonder if they are getting engaged tonight! Probably not. She hasn’t really talked about that. But then again, they have been dating for 4 years. Maybe he’s just got a really good trick up his sleeve. But he would have told me! Maybe not. Maybe he thinks I can’t keep a secret. I can totally keep a secret! I was surprised that I wasn’t jealous and actually pretty proud of myself for truly being happy for her. After all, they had been dating 4 times longer than us. They certainly deserved to get engaged before us.

With my new “revelation” in mind, I asked her if she wanted me to do her hair. (Not to brag, but I have been known for my curling and volumizing techniques.) I spent the next hour curling her long blonde locks and chatting about their special date. When her hair officially looked like she stepped out of a Rapunzel-themed Pantene Pro-V commercial, I offered up my closet. We always shared clothes, but I had more fancy dresses so I wanted her to know she was free to wear any one she liked. She, of course, chose my favorite one, a strapless teal dress. She looked so beautiful. I couldn’t help but wish that Ian had told us he was going to propose so that we could be there to take pictures. She checked her phone and ran out the door saying, “He’s here! I’ll see you later tonight!” Just as the front door slammed shut, my phone dinged. A message from “Sweetheart” – “There’s traffic on the 5 and we are supposed to pick your sister up on the way so we need to leave ASAP.” I looked in the mirror. Wow. I definitely could have washed my hair this morning. Oh well. No one will remember what my hair looks like. I rummaged through my closet for a few minutes only to realize that I had just given away my last wearable dress to Diana. Actually, there’s this one, I thought, as I pulled out the red and blue patterned dress I rarely wore because of its loud pattern and the fact that it showed a little too much of my white legs. This will have to do. 

I quickly put the dress on, teased my hair to give it a little more volume, and then headed to Jacob’s car.

As we drove up the 5 towards San Clemente I realized we had not gotten my brother and his new wife anything for their combined birthday party. I opened the glove compartment and it was my lucky day! A stack of blank cards with 3 turtles on the front of each of them. I wrote a name on top of each turtle. Matt. Ashley. Christin. I drew a fourth turtle and wrote “Jacob” above. I opened it up and asked Jacob what I should write. We went through our usual “creative process”, deciding on the most hilarious yet thoughtful thing to write. We decided on:

Matt + Ashley,

Happy Birthday to the two people with the biggest lips and rears we have ever met. :)

But seriously, we love you guys and are so thankful that we get to live by you and be friends with you. Happy Birthday. 

Jacob + Christin

We were pleased with ourselves. Just as I signed our names, my phone rang. It was my sister. I answered, “We’re like 10 minutes from your place.”

“Oh, actually, Josh got home early so he is going to take me up. We will see you there!”

“Sounds great!” I said as I hung up. “Well, it looks like we will actually be a little early!” I said to Jacob. “Oh cool,” he seemed pleased. After a few minutes I told him about Diana and Ian and how I thought they might get engaged. “Oh really? That’s weird.”

“Why?” I snapped, “Were you planning on proposing?” I smiled, shocked by my joke. I took it as a sign that I really had let go of getting engaged any time soon. He smiled, “You never know.” I placed the turtle card inside and licked the envelope, ignoring his comment. We spent the rest of the drive holding hands, chatting about our days, and just enjoying one another.

At this point, it was still just a completely, totally normal day.

Come back next week to find out how our completely normal day ended.

[Oh, and I just found this photo of me doing my friend Diana's hair a year and a half later the night before her wedding. I am wearing the same dress I was talking about and she is wearing a teal dress. WHAAAAAAT?!?! So weird.]

***For more of our Little Love Stories, click here.***

The morning after Jacob told me that he loved me I woke up on cloud 9. I could not believe that he had said it and I just wanted him to say it over and over again. I vividly remember sitting in my first class of the day, Spanish, and hearing my phone buzz in my purse. I probably-not-so-subtly reached into my purse and set my phone in my lap. I snuck a peek at it hoping my teacher wouldn’t see and kick me out of class if she caught me. “I love you. I love you. I love you.” My heart was pounding. I so badly wanted to say it back, but he wouldn’t let me the night before, placing his index finger to my lips saying, “Don’t respond,” and I definitely wasn’t going to do it via text message! So I responded with the all-encompassing smiley face. “:)”

I snuck my phone back into my purse and tried to pay attention for the rest of the class, but my mind was racing. My heart still pounding, I felt such excitement. He loves me. I already knew he did, but hearing him say it was incredible, even via text message. Looking back it seems so silly that I was so excited by those 3 simple words, but I had known people who had said them after 3 weeks and here I was, 14 months into a relationship, hearing them for the first time.

My excitement and joy quickly turned to confusion as I realized that he had waited 14 months to say “I love you,” thinking that I wanted to wait until we got engaged to say it. So then why had he said it the night before? If our engagement was only a few weeks or maybe 1 month away, why wouldn’t have he just waited a few more weeks to say it. And then it hit me. The engagement was not only 1 month away. It was probably 3 or 6 or more. It’s the only explanation for why he would have said it to me. He is trying to pacify me! My confusion turned to anger and hot tears filled my eyes. The class ended just in time. I hurried out, hoping no one would ask me what was wrong and walked straight to the library to be alone. I found a corner and sunk to the ground.

How did I go from waking up with such excitement and joy to sitting in the library alone with tears running down my cheeks? Why does this feel impossible? Why am I in such a rush to be engaged? Why can’t I just enjoy each moment as it comes?

My phone buzzed again. “How are you….. my love? :)”

My love. He loves me. That should be enough right now. That IS enough. 

Although I had convinced myself before that I would let go of getting engaged and trying to figure out and control when and how it would happen, this time I truly let it go. I accepted the fact that his declaration of love indicated that the engagement wouldn’t be happening until Christmas at the earliest, and I actually accepted it and decided to just enjoy being his girlfriend and being in love. The only thing I didn’t know is if I would be able to wait until our engagement to tell him those sweet words. Instead of treating it like a waiting game, I decided I would enjoy each moment as it came.

I responded, “So good. Can’t wait to see you tonight. I like you. :)”

***For more of our Little Love Stories, click here.***

I remember one Christmas Eve many years ago, sitting in my chair at church, listening to my dad give the brief message. I was probably thinking about my Christmas gifts or how I couldn’t wait for our Christmas Eve meal, but as he told this story, I was captivated. It was perfect for that Christmas Eve, but it is really an Easter story.

After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church’s aging pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit and gave a very brief introduction of his childhood friend.

With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak, “A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific Coast when fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright, and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized.”

The old man telling the story hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in what was being said. He continued, “Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life … to which boy would he throw the other end of the life line. He had only seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son belonged to Christ and having trusted in Jesus since he was a child, was a Christian. He also knew that his son’s friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of the waves.”

“As the father yelled out, ‘I love you, son!’ he threw out the life line to his son’s friend. By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of the night.”

By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old man’s mouth. “The father,” he continued, “knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus. And, he could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. He made the choice to sacrifice his son to save his son’s friend.” And then he added, “How great is the love of God that He should do the same for us.” With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair.

Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man’s side. “That was a nice story,” said one of the boys, “but I don’t think it was very realistic for a father to give up his only son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian.”

“Well, you’ve got a point there,” the old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face, and he once again looked up at the boys and said, “It sure isn’t very realistic, is it?”

“But I’m standing here today to tell you that THAT story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His Son for me.”

“You see…” he said, “I was the son’s friend.”

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

And because every Little Love Story is better with adorable pictures of our nieces, here are a few of Bella Cate and Avonlea Joy from last Easter.

***For more of our Little Love Stories, click here.***