Amanda & James

It was a relationship that began as high school anatomy lab partners, but in the summer after their freshman year at college these two quickly fell in love. According to Amanda, the two "began talking at a mutual friend's home at a summer party. We talked all night and exchanged phone numbers. I had told him that we just moved to a home on the river and had a canoe. The next day Jay called me bright and early (even woke me up) and said, 'Hi Amanda, it's Jay. I'm coming over and we are going out on your canoe.' I was initially pleasantly shocked at how confident and bold he was, and said, "Great, come on over!" Needless to say, that day he came over, we had our first official date on the canoe, he met my family, and the rest was history. We have been inseparable since that day." 

She also went on to mention, "A year later, we tried to recreate our first date on the canoe and ended up tipping in the Charles River, sneakers and phones in tow. We also lost the canoe on a different outing and Jay had to save the canoe in the middle of the river. We have since given up on our canoe rides..." Luckily it was the first ride that brought us to the below photos. The day absolutely oozed with so much love from all of the family and friends, including all four grandparents and Amanda's gorgeous blonde supermom who kicked cancer's ass twice! Scroll below to feel the love yourself...

Tour de Europe

Last October my father and I boarded a plane to Germany for the 7th Eggentaler Herbst Classic Rally. I packed a few outfits, a passport, and my camera and headed off to Europe on October 1st for ten days. We arrived in Würzburg the first day, took a quick nap, and then went to check out my father’s car. Now, let me tell you a little about this car. First of all, it's no ordinary car. It's a 1939 BMW. My father purchased it in 1966 when he was a junior in high school for a very small fee. He drove the car for about 4 years before putting it into storage. In the early 90's he took it back out and attempted to find someone who could work on fixing the engine. Finally, after not being able to find anyone, he sent it over to Germany in 1998. Fast forward 15 years and here we are, his first ride in the car since before he put it in storage 43 years ago. 

So, back to our journey. After our nap we went out to grab our first beer and schnitzel (of many)  and walked around taking in some sights. The next day we began our drive up to the Ganischgerhof Hotel in Nova Pontente Bolzano, Italy. For three days we drove the BMW in the rally, and then ventured through northern Italy until our return back to Germany to fly home. The entire experience was absolutely amazing.  I've been meaning to share these photos for quite a while now, figured Father's Month was a good time. I call it Father's Month because, well, when your dad is as cool as mine is he deserves more than just a day.

I'll let the pictures tell you the rest of our story...