Sam + Clay | Steubenville, OH

This session was special for so many reasons.

Sam came into our lives three years ago through Franciscan University’s Ministry to Mom’s program. She came to our house once a week to hang out with Jack while I got stuff done around the house, ran errands, and did some freelance editing work. She gave us date nights (PRAISE), peace of mind knowing our kids were in good hands while we were out, and brought a deeper sense of community into our lives. Plus, she’s a fellow Californian, and we’ve both adopted “ya’ll” into our vocabulary, much to the horror of our Californian friends.

Sam and Clay met at FUS, but Sam told friends that she would probably never date him. (HA!) After they both coincidentally moved to Cincinnati to pursue careers with Dynamic Catholic, they started to hang out more. Sam realized that this guy was actually pretty amazing. When Sam and Clay came back to Steubenville for an event at FUS, we got to meet Clay for the first time, and we’d warned Sam that we fully intended to vet this guy. But from the get go it was easy to see that Clay was a kind, easy going man who was head over heels for our Sam. Plus, Jack heartily approved, which is no small thing for a three year old.

During their engagement session, I asked the two of them what they were most excited for in marriage. Sam giggled as the tears welled up. But Clay, in his calm, quiet way, wrapped Sam up in his arms and said, “I’m just excited to spend the rest of my life with my best friend.”

Cheers, you two. Cheers to a life of deep friendship and an even deeper love.