the journal

Oh my goodness. This couple was such a JOY to work with. I am pretty much a home body and not super outgoing, so sessions take a lot out of me. I usually like to stick close to home and I had to drive 30 minutes there and back for this session. So, I have to admit I wasn’t super excited for it. (I know, driving an hour round trip is not that much) I’d never shot at the sand dunes, even though I’ve lived in Rigby for like 13 years and I was a little apprehensive about the whole thing. BUT, when Karina and Tapa showed up, I knew it was gonna be a session for the books!!! They were SO cute and within the first 15 minutes, I was so giddy because of how sweet their interactions were with each other.

From the second I started photographing, Karina was laughing! Tapa just had to look at her and she lite up!!! Every time he whispered something he loved about her in her ear, a huge grin came across her face. And Tapa was just soaking in every second of getting to be so close to his almost bride! When I asked Tapa to snuggle in to Karina or nuzzle her temple, he was all for it and was so quick to oblige! Even when I asked them to start dancing together, they took off in a waltz and kept going until I told them to stop.

Karina is from Washington and Tapa is from Utah. They met at BYU-I and dated for a while before getting engaged. They love to workout, dance and rock climb together. But when they’re too tired to do those things, they snuggle up to a movie.When I asked them how they got engaged, I seriously started welling up when I read the story! Karina said, ‘He took me to our spot on a hill where you can see the whole valley and all of the city lights. He played me a video of all of our memories together since we have been dating. Then he said that one of my friends was coming to take more pictures of us to add to our video. She came and started to take pictures of us in the snow. Then he took out his speaker and started to play one of our songs, my friend then started to take a video of us and he started to give the cutest and sweetest speech ever about how much he loved me, then he got down on one knee in the freezing snow and asked me by my full name if I would marry him and I, of course, said yes!’

How sweet is that!? This couple is so perfect for each other. I could tell by their interactions that their love is meant to last. They laugh with each other and even at the beginning of the session when Tapa was carrying Karina shoes so they wouldn’t get dirty, I knew that they have what it takes to make their marriage last forever. Congrats you two! =) <3