When Ed contacted me through Facebook about taking some engagement pictures of him and his fiancee Laura, I was beyond excited! First, because I get to take pictures and I’m always excited about that. But secondly, because it would give me an opportunity to meet Laura! I’ve known Ed (or Pastor Ed, as he is more widely known), for a few years now. He’s a funny, amazing guy who is a little obsessed with trains (more on that later) and is sincerely interested in and concerned about others.
(Scroll to the end of the post to see a bonus picture of Ed at work!)
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The day of the photo shoot, This is what my windshield looked like. I’ll admit I was a little worried. Snowy day photo shoots are awesome, and rainy day photo shoots are even MORE awesome…when you have fun umbrellas and an area with cover from the rain. Where we were going - the Menomonee River Parkway - is gorgeous, but there aren’t any covered areas.
With a bit of luck and lots of prayers, the rain had turned to snow by the time I met up with Ed&Laura. The lightly falling snow was GORGEOUS!! It ended up being a perfect day for a snowy photo shoot. :o)
Like I said, I knew Ed but this was my first time meeting Laura. Ed and Laura met at a camp this summer when they were set up by some friends of theirs. (I tell ya, getting set up must be the way to meet someone these days. Brandon&Leslie were set up too!) Anyways, they hit it off at the summer camp, and became Facebook friends. Laura headed back home to Minnesota and Ed came home to Milwaukee.
My favorite quote about this from Laura: “I didn’t want to give him my phone number, but I was okay with being friends with him on Facebook because I could always de-friend him if things didn’t work out.”(Total paraphrase, btw) And then Ed’s reaction: “I didn’t know that!” Haha! :o)
So once Ed&Laura became Facebook friends they began chatting pretty frequently, and talking online, and skyping and calling and just basically communicating and learning more about each other. :o)
Laura visited here a few times, and sometimes they would meet halfway…cutting the 8 hour drive in half to only 4 hours. You know it’s love when you drive 8 hours to see someone. :o)
On one of those trips to the halfway point (usually Eau Claire, WI), Ed decided it was time to ask the big question! During a particularly chilly day in January, they were walking around a frozen lake in Carson Park, one of the first places they had spent time together.
According to Ed, “There were some people driving their trucks out on the lake, and several little fishing shantys set up. It was sunny out, though we were shaded by trees—and did I mention it was cold? We talked for a while there, going over how God had been leading in our relationship. Also about the special relationship that we had together. A couple times we had to trade places because the wind was blowing, making it even colder, and one of us had to be a wind block for the other. Eventually, of course, I asked her to marry me and I’m thankful to say that she said ‘yes’ twice!”
After the proposal, they were sad because they had to say goodbye to each other and drive their separate ways home again. Crazily, about an hour into her drive, Laura’s car broke down! Ed hurried to her rescue and in the midst of repairing her car, they were able to spend some extra time together.
These two work great as a team together. I love how they make each other laugh. They can be serious one minute and funny the next. The picture below shows that. :o)
Ach, THIS is why I love winter shoots! It was so beautiful out!
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Laura is such a naturally smiley person, it was a challenge for her to NOT smile in the pictures! But I think she totally rocked this pose. Go Laura!
And Ed wasn’t too bad at it either. :o)
Hehehe…I’m hilarious! :o) Ed, you have a GREAT smile!
Okay, so I mentioned earlier that Ed really likes trains. It’s true. In fact, we were about to head back to our cars when we heard a train coming. After we all watched it zoom past, I convinced them to let me get a few last pictures on the tracks. I think it was totally worth it!
Yay! Ed&Laura, thanks so much for letting me jump around and take your engagement pictures! Laura, it was so great to meet you and I’m sure I’ll get to see you a lot more after you’re married and living here in Milwaukee! I hope you both have a wonderful wedding in Minnesota! :o)
Bonus pic! Here’s Pastor Ed at Sammy’s dedication with proud parents Scott and Bonnie looking on. :o)
~Sarah :o)
by SarahBohl
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