These sweet friends of ours got engaged back in winter of last year, but decided they wanted a summer engagement shoot so they could fit some beach time in. And that is exactly what we did!

Unfortunately it felt like the odds were against us—the sky was overcast (when it was supposed to be golden hour), the beach was rather crowded, and the wind decided it wanted us to be whipped by sand. Despite all that, Chris and Jess’s love for each other and for adventure shined through!

They have their wedding date set for April of next year, and everything is already set…despite the fact that they live 3,000 miles away from where they are getting married and her being in graduate school. So basically that means Jess is Superwoman. To top it all off, Chris departs for a six-month deployment in two weeks, and is slated to return a mere two weeks before the wedding. I am thankful to be able to snap some sweet, serene photos of these two before he heads out.

To Chris and Jess, YOU GOT THIS. To all of the service members out there, thank you for what you do. To all of the families of service members out there—you are often overlooked, but you’ll always be in my prayers.