January 15, 2020 / Anniversaries
Not only cats have 9 lives
The in-home anniversary session of Annette and Nick
Welcome to my kitchen. My house. My neighbourhood. Our in-home session with Ampersand Grey.
My husband Nick and I asked Michel and her camera to come to our home to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary. Not having kids, we haven’t taken formal photos since our wedding day. It’s easy to let the year slip by without kids growing up to mark the time.
We met in our twenties in my parents’ kitchen. He was willing to watch Pride and Prejudice and I was willing to learn how to telemark ski. We got married two years later, bought a house and started collecting cats (4 at latest count).
Every marriage is marked by those amazing moments. The kind we would have posted on Instagram if Instagram was a thing when we met 23 years ago. We’ve traveled the world. Hiked and skied in the back country of Alberta. But most of our time we’ve spent in those regular in-between moments: working, living, snuggling our cats and each other.
Nick takes the “in sickness and in health” part of our wedding vows seriously. Twice he has spent an extended time in the hospital. Once for an epic backcountry ski accident and more recently for a mental health crisis. Both times he’s proved his resiliency and I proved my perseverance. It’s a cliché, but surviving the hard times teaches you more about each other than all those Instagrammable moments.
Which is why we wanted Michel to do a lifestyle shoot in our home and neighbourhood. We wanted to capture where we are right now. The mundane moments of every day that are anything but boring. They are supportive, content, and happy.
There is nothing I like better than to bake and feed my friends and family so when Michel asked me if there was something I wanted to do in the kitchen, no one will be surprised that I wanted to bake. I baked saskatoon pie made with berries picked by my dad in the Edmonton river valley. Pie like I’ve been making and eating for as long as I can remember.
Michel has a gift for capturing those looks and interactions that reveal multitudes. Those little details and wide angles that let us celebrate the life we’ve lived together. Every good, bad, easy, hard moment of it.
Thank you, Michel, for capturing us and our home beautifully. Let’s hope Nick has as many lives as the cats we hoard together, because it would be nice to have another 21 years together.
Annette
MUA – Tiiu Antrea Makeup
