The decorations and clothing and details of Vai and Mark’s wedding added a fun and meaningful flair, but it was people like Mark’s mom and Vai’s high school friends who (in this case) traveled thousands of miles to be there that made the week what it was.

We sat on the beach with a loaf of french bread guarding our fancy dinner from seagulls & waiting for the famous sunset that never really came 🙂 

Here are two fun, witty people who are comfortable in their own skin…not to mention creative, loving & generous. 

Most people who aren’t from Michigan don’t know about these dunes nestled on the western shore – I only knew of the secret Silver Lake sand because one summer my parents loaded up our minivan with coolers & lawn chairs & all four of us girls & made the trip north from Ohio. We stayed in a little motel run by the sweetest old couple, traversed the huge, hot dunes by day and swam in the motel’s pool drinking little styrofoam cups of hot chocolate from the lobby by night. 

Most of these photos were taken on my 24th birthday. It was such a sentimental one – we were almost packed to get on a plane and move back to the mainland. We completely forgot we’d taken them until a few months after we’d settled into Michigan, so opening these files from the lab was a sweet surprise. 

Every time I see these I’m reminded that people make a place. Of course we miss the ocean & fresh fruit & tropicaly-ness (just go with it) of Hawaii but more than anything, we miss our friends.

This broken film camera we thrifted for 15 bucks right before we got married is my best way of really seeing our life. Unexpected & spontaneous blessings, day after day. And I’m excited to share some of that here each month. 

Kristy spent tons of time back in this valley when she was a kid, racing over the boulders in the river with all of her cousins.

Lois spotted Etu in the college cafeteria & whispered to her friend, “He looks like an angel carved out of wood!”

These two spent their first year of dating separated by the ocean, communicating only through Brad’s written letters

These two are made for each other: the speeches they read to one another at their reception were humbling and refreshing for every married couple to hear. 

This is for the entire Haintz/Walker crew: what a classy, simple day rich in ways that matter – quality time spent with family & friends.