Here is a preview from Chris & Stephani’s Miami University wedding in Oxford, Ohio. They are both officers in the Air Force & currently stationed across the globe from each other. It was an honor to photograph the story of two extraordinary people & the celebration of being reunited with their families & each other…

 Congratulations Chris & Stephani! ♥

My little Damian turned one today. At 12:55 PM.
You can read his birth story here & see some newborn pictures here.

Although this year has passed much too quickly, I feel so grateful for the sweetness we’ve shared & the blessing of having his Daddy being home to meet him.
Rocky was in a painful collision that tore his Achilles tendon.  Because of surgery & recovery, he did not deploy to Iraq but was able to meet Damian.
We instantly agreed that Damian’s middle name would be Achilles.

My two little kiddos mean the world to me, and I’ve taken a little break from the rest of the world to celebrate with them today.
(Ok, I did some e-mailng & editing before they woke up this morning).

I’ll be back soon.

Here is a peek of an engagement session featured on Green Wedding Shoes today.

I adore this blog & am so honored to have this engagement session featured on there! ♥

Thank you all so much for your support! I was truly amazed by how many retweets, Facebook “shares,” and e-mails you all used to share this giveaway with the ones you know! There were several submissions that came in, but unfortunately, I was already booked for many of them. However, I am so excited that there are four final contestants who have the chance of an all-inclusive wedding photography package!

You will just love them for their huge hearts & sweet stories, I know I do!

Names: Ellen & Benjamin

Location: Fremont/Clyde, Ohio

Ellen & Benjamin have been together since they were fourteen & met at church. They’ve been best friends for the past five years & plan to get married this summer. He will be leaving for his basic training with the Marines very soon after that.

In her own words: “I’m with the man of my dreams and I don’t think God could have picked a better person for me. The Marines will have its up and down’s I’m sure, but this will be one adventure I wouldn’t spend with anyone else.”

Names: Anna & Chris

Location: Bar Harbor Maine

Anna met Chris her senior year of high school when he came home from the Air Force. They dated long distance while they attended college. He asked her to marry him in Bar Harbor during leave from Afghanistan this past July, a special place for them, so it is only fitting they will be getting married there! He just returned home from Afghanistan this December!

In her own words: “While Chris was deployed he befriended stray dogs in Afghanistan, two of which had saved over 50 soldiers lives by alerting the troops of a suicide bomber entering the barracks causing the bomber to detonate too early never making it into the living quarters.  One of the dogs named Target was pregnant and had puppies a few days later after surviving the attack.  Chris fell in love with one of the puppies named Bear, and contacted me seeing if there was any way I could help him get Bear, Target and Rufus home.  It was then that I started a group called Puppy Rescue Mission on Facebook.  To make a long story short, since April I have raised over $110,000 to help soldiers bring their animals home from Afghanistan.  The bond between a soldier and his dog is just incredible, and there is no better therapy out there for these men than a battle buddy.  Puppy Rescue Mission just recently became a non-profit and Chris and I continue our work helping soldiers in Afghanistan bring their animals home.  We get requests almost daily and have brought over 32 dogs home for soldiers nationwide.”

Names: Liz & Chris

Location: Bethalto, Illinois

Liz & Chris met only two weeks before he started his basic training for the Army. She really believed he would be “just a friend,” because long distance relationships did not seem real to her.

In her own words: “Every day passed throughout those two weeks and our feelings grew more and more for one another. He is the most respectful and loyal person I have ever met in my life. Two days before he left home we made it official that we were going to see where this relationship will take us. February on until May that year we learned about each others lives and fell crazy in love through hand written letters. We wrote to each other everyday it seemed. Finally that summer came and I made multiple ten hour car rides to see him. To this day it is still the hardest thing in the world to say goodbye and I am sure every girl in my position knows that pain. Our entire relationship has been long distance. We just hit our two year anniversary on January 19! The last day I saw him in April 2010 before he left for his first tour in Afghanistan he said this to me; “I’m not asking you, I am telling you that we are getting married when I get home next Spring!” and we are! I could not be more thrilled to finally start my life with my best friend. He has decided to make the Army a career and I am prepared to handle anything after these last two years! This is the life I have always pictured having!”

Names: Kim & Josh

Location: Hamburg, NY

Kim & Josh met at Rite Aid, where she was a pharmacy technician & he was the store security guard. They had plans to marry, but the birth of their daughter & the course of military duty pushed back their dream wedding. They eloped before he left, but since he has been deployed for a year, the wedding they are planning will be extra special!

In her own words: “What made him intriguing to me was that he was in the Army National Guard , I always loved the idea of being with someone in uniform. We eloped at town hall so I would have insurance coverage to have the baby. So after our daughter was born we had started to make plans for a 2010 wedding when he was activated for deployment to Afghanistan for a year. So now I have my dress sitting in my closet… He returns in Winter 2011 and we plan on have a “real” wedding in 2011 at the Avanti Mansion in Hamburg,NY. The opportunity you are giving a lucky couple of your services is more than gracious but just to have my husband home is more than I would ever want over a wedding anytime.“

Thank you for reading these lovely stories!

Here’s how the voting works:

• I will post all the submissions on my Facebook Page in an album titled “ 2011 Military Wedding Submissions.”

• In order to be eligible to vote, please visit my Facebook Page & “Like” it. Then you may vote for your favorite couples by “Liking” your favorite contestants’ photograph. Photo comments are awesome, but will not count as part of the official vote tally. You may vote for more than one couple, but each one only once.
  

Voting will begin Tuesday February 1st
Voting will close Sunday February 13th

The winning couple will be announced on February 14th!

I’m glad that I don’t have to pick one, because all of these couples are so sweet & deserving… thank you for sharing your stories & embracing military life so openly!
The men you love are better because of the strong women who stand behind them ♥

2011 Military Wedding Photography Contest

courtesy of Andrea Dozier | Boutique Photography

The winning couple will receive a wedding package valued at over $3,000!

A peek at what is included:

Andrea Dozier will serve as your personal photographer for 8 hours

Optional Second Photographer

An Engagement or Day After Session

A Disc of your High Resolution Images

20 x 30 Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Entries accepted for weddings in any location!

*All destination weddings will be charged a travel fee, at cost (100+ miles away from 45415)

• Contestants should kindly submit 1-3 photographs of themselves along with a brief description of their history & love story to andrea.dozier@yahoo.com. Any details about the wedding are also encouraged. Please do not compromise any security concerns by disclosing specific deployment locations/missions.

• Wedding Photography Giveaway Contest is open to any military couple (only one of you needs to be a member of the military), of any branch of service. Eligibility is based on my availability. Weddings need to take place sometime in 2011.

• Please submit all entries for consideration by Sunday January 30th.

• I will post all the submissions that are eligible {dates I have not already booked} on my Facebook Page in an album titled “ 2011 Military Wedding Submissions.” I thought it would only be appropriate to put it to a vote, right?

• In order to be eligible to vote, please visit my Facebook Page & “Like” it. Then you may vote for your favorite couples by “Liking” your favorite contestants’ photographs. Photo comments are awesome, but will not count as part of the official vote tally. You may vote for more than one couple, but each one only once.
  

Voting will begin Monday January 31st
Voting will close Sunday February 13th

The winning couple will be announced on February 14th!

What now? Are you a military couple that is engaged? Please send your story & photograph to contest@andreadozer.com

Do you know an engaged military couple, {even if they are not from this area}? Please share this link with them!

Are you just really excited to be part of this giveaway?
THANK YOU!
One special couple will be so glad you are sharing this giveaway through Facebook & Twitter with your friends & family & community…

Please VOTE starting Monday January 31st!

Much love and appreciation to my military family! ♥

Here’s a little of the “back story” for those of you who don’t know…

A little over five years ago, my quiet, predictable life changed. Eight months into our marriage, my husband took an oath and joined the Air Force. I had no idea what would meet us on the other end of his training {besides a a move 1,000 miles across the country}. We jumped into the military life eagerly, blindly… together.

Although my heart swells with pride & respect for him & the ones who serve next to him, there are certainly challenges to this path we’ve chosen. Rocky & I have been married for six years, but have spent over a year of that apart. That number is actually low, since he was supposed to deploy this past summer until an injury compromised his ability to go. He would have missed the birth of our son & met him for the first time just a few days ago.

This Christmas season, I took a lot of personal time to appreciate the luxury of having him with us. However, our thankfulness comes with the knowledge that many families had someone missing in their photographs. Thousands of couples weren’t able to kiss at New Years. I’ve been trying to think of a way I can give back to my military family that I am so honored to be part of!

If there’s anything I’ve learned, in this journey I am on.
Simply truths will keep you going, simple love will keep you strong.
Cause there are questions without answers, and flames that never die.
Heartaches we go through are often blessings in disguise…

I never expected that such an ordinary day could change everything. Yesterday Rock was playing basketball at the base gym and someone {he had never met before} fell on him during a game, hurting his foot. After an initial ER visit we held our breath to see what they would decide to do about his condition.

Many tears later & my brain is still having a hard time computing the last phone conversation I had with my husband. He’s in surgery at the moment because of a ruptured achilles tendon and this means he will no longer be deploying next month. He will be able to meet our son when he is born.

Ever since we received the orders that he would deploy, I’ve been dealing with it and trying to get ready for life without him again. The last time Kevin was two and I had just graduated, so I devoted all my time to raising him alone. I knew that this time I would need to balance my photography business with a newborn and a four year old, so we began making a lot of changes that would help ease the process. Two of the biggest changes we made were finding homes for {our dogs} Delilah & Snowy and moving closer to family. We were both committed to making sure we did everything possible to prepare for the challenges of our situation. But in all honesty, getting ready for a deployment is difficult. You cope the best you can, knowing there are going to be so many things you must do alone when they are gone. We were in the stages where he would begin teaching me how to take care of things that he normally does. He gave instructions as they crossed his mind, “Don’t forget the car needs new tags this September…”

I visualized the next seven months a million times, it’s my way of adjusting to unpleasant circumstances. First there would a painful goodbye. Then, a short time later, I’d be checking into the hospital without him. I hoped we would be able to get word to him when it was time. He helped me labor through the night in Texas, but I promised myself I could do it on my own this time. I already felt the guilt of having the privilege to hold our newborn son, knowing he would not have that opportunity. He would miss the aroma of newborn lotion & the curiosity in his eyes as he would become acquainted with our world. I thought of Kevin, and worried that the separation would affect him much more significantly this time. As I received my weekly e-mails about the baby’s progress, I started to cringe as I saw how close I was to the end. I couldn’t make time stand still.

The most, and I mean, the most I even dreamed of asking for was that the baby would be born slightly early so that Rocky could hold him one time. Even if he had to miss the delivery, I just wanted him to be able to see him in person. I knew that it was almost impossible, so I didn’t count on it.
Now, through an odd, unexpected injury, he is going to be here for everything.

I see him slowly appearing in future mental photographs that he wasn’t supposed to be in… it’s surreal.

Kevin {three months} & Rocky ♥

We’ve been making a lot of changes to prepare for my husband’s upcoming deployment. The biggest one is that we’ve been boxing up our current house and moving {locally}. Well, we haven’t quite “moved in,” but that will come soon. There is some work to do on the new place, but we’re just tackling it a day at a time. Being very close to family will be a huge blessing with a newborn and very active four year old!

Another day I will probably reflect a little bit about what it’s like to brace yourself for a deployment while pregnancy hormones try to sabotage your sanity…  but for now I’m finding that the best medicine is to stay active. Talk to people {even when there’s not a lot to say}. Grab drinks at Sonic. Clean until it shines. Let it go when it’s not important. Hold him every chance you get. Speak openly about your fears. Stay fanatical about Lost {only three more hours left}. Sleep when you can. Work when insomnia doesn’t let you sleep. Take lots of pictures. There will never be enough, but they will mean everything when he’s gone. ♥

We also learned that my husband {probably, for sure} won’t be here when this little man makes his appearance in the world. He’ll miss it by about half a month. We’ve known this could be a possibility, but it was still hard to digest the actual announcement. I took some time to ponder this news and not so eloquently fall apart.
I wish I had the emotional capabilities of other military wives I’ve met & read about. Women who don’t flinch at the prospect of much more difficult scenarios, women who build empires as busy single moms, women who keep it all together & even thrive during deployments. I am envious of their strength.

I am {slowly} accepting the changes & preparing myself for what is ahead. The most valuable picture in my studio is from an ultrasound that I framed. At twelve weeks, this lovely baby held up his hand and showed us the tiniest five fingers I’ve ever seen before. I’ve been looking at his “high five” and feeling revived that he’s already melting my heart & inspiring courage. New life always brings joy.

I’ve begun a running list of everything that is going for me & what I can be thankful for:

• I live close to family & close friends. I will have support during my labor & assistance after Kevin’s brother gets here. This is huge & I realize it’s clearly an exception in the military world. I’m thankful.
• I have six months to lose this baby weight… I’m {almost} guaranteed to be smaller when he gets back.
• We can talk on Skype often. I still like sending some handwritten letters, but nothing beats seeing him on the screen {besides seeing him for real…}.
• As much as I hate the idea of Rocky missing summer, it’s easier to stay busy when we can leave the house and enjoy the weather.
• After I take some maternity leave, I have some gorgeous weddings lined up. I can look forward to capturing them & doing what I love.
• When I’m not working, I will be busy taking thousands and thousands of pictures of the boys. Rock will be thoroughly updated on our daily adventures.
• Rock will be at a stable location.
• Kevin will be a great big brother. He’s competent at following directions & helping me. When he chooses not to, bribing with peanut M&M’s works wonders.
• Rocky should be home sometime before Christmas. It will be amazing.
• Unnamed baby boy {who is really starting to need a name!} will be ready to roll, crawl, & start teething when he meets his Daddy. Rock can watch & applaud all the biggest milestones in person.
• When he returns, Rock will be on desert time for a while until he adjusts to our time zone. He’ll be up all night & want to go to bed early. He’ll have no problem hanging out with a teething baby while I blissfully catch up on some sleep.
• I’ll have plenty of time to rent all the chick flicks he doesn’t care for. {I must give the man credit, he did endure New Moon in its entirety at the theater}.
• Just like last time, we will learn a temporary normal. I’m thankful for the adjective “temporary.”
• Every lonely minute will be forgotten when we see him walk through the terminal. It will be pure euphoria when he meets his son, reunites with Kevin, and kisses me like it’s the first time.  ♥

{The adorable brown envelope & its yummy contents is curtesy of Alli from Hooray Design…  can’t wait until she restocks her Etsy shop!}

My funniest Christmas memory: The Monopoly Crasher

I mentioned that we started dating in December. When I say, “we dated,” by “we,” I mean my “entire family” dated Rocky. I have a huge family  and I had to share Rocky with all of them. This meant that instead of just going on little romantic dates alone, we would find ourselves in Gestures & Monopoly battles with whichever one of my seven siblings was home at the time. Things could get out control pretty quickly. I won’t say we are all cheaters, but none of us like to lose. I don’t think you’ve ever understood the word “intense” until you see how we play board games.

It was on a night like this that my dad answered the door to a guy about our age, dressed in his sunday best. My dad, the friendly person he is, led him to the living room couch and engaged him in some small talk. I assumed he was my brother’s friend, and we played on. They assumed he was my friend, and played on. By “played,” I mean got back to our belligerent & loud Monopoly game in the same room as this guest.

There was laughter, accusitions of cheating, and probably some bragging.

Finally, the confused man on the couch stood up & began talking. We all took notice.

“I must be in the wrong house… is this _____?”

No.

“He said to go to the house with all the cars so I assumed it was this one. I’m supposed to be at a wake…” he trailed off quietly.

We knew the person he was referring to and the tragedy that had just happened in the family. It became silent as we said goodbye and the realization of what happened sunk through us.

“So… you didn’t know him?”

“I didn’t know him. I thought you did.”

“We didn’t know him, figured he was waiting on you.”

We looked to my dad, who innocently shrugged and said that he was just being nice to who he figured was one of our friends. So the man thought he was in the midst of a grieving family and found instead… us.

I’d like to say that we kept quiet & learned to behave, but I’m pretty sure that will never happen.
We just try to do a bit more of an interview before we let random people sit on the couch.

To read some other funny Christmas memories, click here!

In the spirit of Christmas, I will try to narrow this post down to more festive topics.  I’m so curious at what other spouses have written {click here to see} but I am going to be a good girl and not peek until I am done with this post!

You Might be a Military Spouse at Christmas: Top Ten List

10. You receive Christmas cards from more than five states.

9. You have trouble buying for the man who has been issued everything he could possibly need {and has the closet to prove it}.

8. Coming “home” for Christmas is your gift.

7. You are a sucker for collecting anything military themed. Santas, nutcrackers, ornaments… you name it. We dust it off and proudly display it.

6. You instantly burst into tears at any commercial that hints at soldiers being away for the holidays, {thanks Best Buy & Walmart}.

5.  You’ve ever decorated the tree alone & taken about four thousand pictures of it for your deployed husband.

4. You know the words to the traditional carols, but can just as easily belt out all the lonely tunes.

3. You’ve ever told your children that packages that appear aren’t from Santa, but from the Daddy they haven’t seen in months.

2. Really, you don’t need any presents. One round of great sex will suffice when he gets home.

1. December 25 becomes just another day… it ceases to be the definition of Christmas for you. We have the amazing ability to make Christmas happen whenever we are together, whether it’s before, after, during the traditional day… or just somewhere tucked securely in our hearts that no war or absence can take away.

Bonus: No matter how thankful you are to have them home to participate in every tradition,  you feel the nagging & persistent reminder that it’s not going to be the same next year. Then you go back to feeling grateful for right now.

The best Christmas present I ever received: Diamond Earrings

As fall 2003 churned out colder temperatures, I kissed my single life goodbye. It was the only life I’d ever known for twenty years. I was the most surprised when the most handsome man I’d ever met became my boyfriend. We had our first date on Decemeber 6, after my younger brother’s high school basketball game. I really couldn’t have dreamed a better beginning, {and believe me, I was the queen of daydreaming}.

We both knew that we were going to marry each other pretty early on. I won’t call it love at first sight, because I had known him for a few years before we ever dated. I figured he was too handsome & intelligent to ever look twice at me, so I just took a mental picture of him & asked God for someone exactly like him. As our first Christmas rolled around, I think I picked out some nice boring gifts like sweaters.

He chose earrings.

He pretty much could have gotten me anything & I would have been thankful. But he chose them because a few days before, my ears came up in conversation. I told him I didn’t show anyone my ears, unless I was wearing my hair up for softball. It had been years since I had played softball. I kept my hair securely covering them, because I have the smallest ears of anyone in the world.
At least I thought so…

He decided to give me diamond earrings so that I would get over my insecurity & show off my ears. It took me a minute to hear him out as he explained his ulterior motive. I kind of wanted to hate him, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was, “I love you.”

He has done a pretty good job at raising his sword to all my outrageous personal myths & insecurities… I only have a few left :]

Check out other Wives of Faith stories here.

*I will have to post a picture of them tomorrow, today went by too fast & I didn’t get a chance to photograph them!