Most all of us had a best friend while growing up. For me, that was Katie. I met Katie when I was 12 years old when she transferred to my school. We hit it off pretty quick and became the best of friends. Thank God there weren’t cell phones and readily accessible cameras back then! We had so much fun just being kids, playing outside, being goofy, and growing into young adults together. Kids today will likely never know the adventure and fun that can be had with a friend while tromping in the woods, or taking a simple walk down the road.
Katie and I went to middle school together, we went to college together, and even lived together as young adults for a while. We made up songs (about spiders in the bathtub), wrote movie scripts (“Death day in Buchanan, GA”), and of course I always oogled over her family’s foreign exchange students that they frequently housed. It seemed no matter where life took us, we eventually always came back together for more adventures. Here’s a few oldies of us from way back along with one more recent:
(yes, I had some questionable hair choices.)
Anyway, as much as I love Katie, this isn’t ALL about her haha. Over the years Katie moved a lot, so there would be long long periods of time when I didn’t see her. Then, as adults, even though I peroidically saw Katie, I didn’t get to see her family as much. Katie’s mom, Jennifer, (AKA my 2nd mom) went on to have 2 more children. Shelby, who was 3 the last time I saw her, and then Anne-Marie…whom I had never met. That is, until a few weeks ago. You see, Anne-Marie is a SENIOR. OMG. I can’t explain how old that makes me feel. Anne-Marie was born when Katie and I were in our early 20’s, WOW. I have to admit, it really felt like a gut punch to realize that it had been so long since my 20-something adventures in life.
Anne Marie needed senior portraits done, and I was honored to be asked to do them.
You probably think that doing work for lifelong friends is less stressful don’t you? It’s the exact opposite! When you do work for friends and family, you want to give them the absolute best work you’ve ever produced in your life. I mean, you want to do that daily, but you know what I mean. Seeing that I’d never laid eyes on Anne Marie, it was a total load off my mind when we showed up and I saw what a beautiful girl she was. I mean, seriously, this could be the cover of a romance novel:
Anne Marie seemed to be a girl after my own heart. She was calm, laid back, was up for “whatever”, and didn’t mind putting her ball cap and converse on. (well, they were actually Katie’s converse, because Anne Marie forgot hers in her car).
And speaking of shoes…I couldn’t resist taking a shot of these socks she sported in between shots! hahahah!
Anne-Marie is a Senior this year at Villa Rica High School, and she has enlisted in the Army Reserve. She plans to go into the medical field. (smart coookie!) It still boggles my mind that this little sister of Katie’s is now an adult. Geez.
We got a really good variety of images with Anne-Marie. I feel like Anne-Marie is the perfect girl recipe:
2 cups of beauty
1 1/4 cups of hip/eclectic/cool
a dash of mystery
a teaspoon of ducklips
and a pinch of weird (the good kind of weird, there’s nothing wrong with weird, weird is good!)
Anyway, this was one heck of a session. The images were coming out ah-mazing, Anne Marie was SUCH an easy model, and I got to hang out with my BFF and my 2nd mom! It’s funny though, no matter how “grown” you may be, you still make sure you are on your best behavior when 2nd mom is around, haha! This session brought back so many great memories. I really am getting old, and today I don’t really care. I had a wonderful childhood with Katie. We did some crazy things, some really adventurous things, really stupid things, awkward things, and a few really cool things. I wouldn’t trade any of it!
Anne-Marie, it was a pleasure to meet you finally, and I know that at least some of that 1 1/4 cups of hip/eclectic/cool must have come from Katie. We were, after all, the coolest kids in Buchanan, Ga. (hahahahaah the sarcasm)
Thank you for letting my husband and I capture your senior portraits, and for being SO COOL!! We can’t wait to see what the future holds for you.
Here’s a few more of my favorite images we captured. All images were captured in Carrollton, Ga. Enjoy!
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