I’ve known Luke since high school, even though we didn’t go to high school together.

You see, Luke and his brothers were home-schooled. But since his parents were friends with the parents of some of my guy friends (Emery, Russel, Ethan, Adam, Ben, etc.), the guys had been friends with Luke since they all were in diapers. I think Luke’s mom was even the day care facilitator for most of them. Anyway, I got to know Luke on the weekends and after school — you know, once I got to high school and started actually hanging out with boys on weekends and after school… before that, boys just were silly and/or annoying and/or had cooties.

But then I got to know Luke even better when we went to college, even though we didn’t go to college together either. I went to Kalamazoo College, and Luke went to Western Michigan University which is in the city of Kalamazoo. Our mutual friend Russel also went to K College with me, and the three of us would ride home together for pretty much every holiday break and a few weekends scattered here and there. On those three-hour-long, one-way car rides, you can get to know a person pretty well. Even a person who doesn’t talk very much, like Luke. He definitely tops the list of the “Nicest Guy I’ve Ever Met” list.

Lucky for Luke, he met Katie, who went to K College with me and Russel, and she talks enough for both of them. (And I’m allowed to say that, because I’m a big talker who’s dating an introvert, too.) But Katie also knows how to listen, and she’s definitely very tuned into Luke’s wants and needs. For example, she was pretty sure that Luke wouldn’t want to get engagement photos done, and she was OK with that. Getting all smoochy-go-lovey-dovey in front of someone who is pointing a lens at them for three hours is just not their style. But when asked if Luke would be OK with someone he knew taking their photos — someone like me — that passed the test.

So here they are — the best photos from my winter engagement session from March with Luke and Katie! We started at Stormcloud Brewing Company in Frankfort, one of their favorite local hangouts, where they drank beer and played cards, two of their favorite past times. Then we drove to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and snowshoed into the Treat Farm where there are all these great old, patinaed, abandoned buildings. We even climbed the bluff, and it was sooooooo cold that we were fighting off rosy cheeks in the photos, but it was definitely worth it, because Lake Michigan was completely frozen over for as far as the eye could see; absolutely no open water in sight! What a fun day. Enjoy the photos!

–Aubrey