Tae and I have known each other since we were teenagers. 

Our (now) husbands had been friends since they were babes, but we remained acquaintances for many years.

I'll never forget when Bryan and I got married and decided to have dinner with Tae and her husband JJ. I don't know what prompted it, or who said it first, but these next words  would shape the course of our lives in so many ways. Ways we never would have imagined. 

"Let's be best friends."

Those four words have transformed our lives tremendously. For whatever reason, we followed through with those words. One day, one week and one year at a time. We got together every Thursday without fail (barring sickness or catastrophe) for 5 years. 

Then came Eden, my oldest daughter. Tae was at my house everyday for weeks. We would sit and just stare at her for hours on end. Bryan would just walk in and roll his eyes. But this was our friendship. Eden was my daughter, but she was Tae's daughter too. Tae waited faithfully for a year and a half for a baby. And when that didn't happen and Eden came she was nothing shy of amazing. She loved her as her own. She was there for me in a way that I can't even really put into words. That's just who she is. It's not uncommon for Eden to tell people she has two mommies, haha. Or refer to her as her vanilla mommy. 

Fast forward and we are now 4 kiddos in! God even allowed us to be pregnant at the same time with our youngest daughters. I will say, that was one of those things that seemed much better in theory. We were both tired and cranky and completely over being pregnant. 

Our friendship hasn't been without complications. We've been through multiple career changes, financial hardships, both of our husbands going back to school, one of our husbands failing out of school,  infertility, pregnancy loss, and testing of our faith in many ways. But through it all we've kept our promise made in an apartment living room 11 years ago. 

We had our annual Brand/Crenshaw Christmas extravaganza today and naturally I had to document it.

Documentary photography is something I love, but don't do nearly as often as I'd like. That will change in 2020. You see documenting the real stories-the ones that aren't manufactured or planned, the ones that didn't go through a wardrobe consult, or involve prompting to get the perfect smile: This is what feeds my soul. It gives me life and refuels my creative spirit. 

As long as I have this lens, I will continue to capture all the little moments of all my favorite people. 

Here's to a lifetime of moments with those that I love.