Posts tagged Love

Annika & Ray

Life in the city seems to speed by faster than normal, maybe it's because the city never sleeps. Stories formed here thrive by the glow of the skyline at night. Stories you point to and say "this changed us for the better".

I love to tell these stories - of couples and the closing of a chapter of their life kindled by a sacred connection with the city they love. So when Annika texted me to share the news about their upcoming move to New York (RIGHT when we were moving closer to Chicago!) I knew I had to tell their story.

We started in Lake Shore Park, where they got engaged, taxied to museum campus, where they'd run after work, and ended in their empty apartment.

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, Hither & Hold | www.aliciasturdy.com

As their moving boxes were packed waiting to be put on the truck, I asked them to take a few minutes to breath in the last moments here. To answer the question, "Without you, this city would have felt ___" and "Before you, this city felt ___". They whispered each other secrets kept only in their heart and now between just two.

To view the rest of the gallery, click here (http://printshop.aliciasturdy.com/gallery/annika-ray-goodbye-session/) and don't miss the special 10 second video preview of Annika & Ray's session ONLY on my Instagram (@aliciasturdy)!

marriageAliciaNovember 6, 2015Chicago, City Story, Connecticut Photography, Goodbye, Love, Moving, Seasons, SkylineComment

New Haven Photos | Wooster Square Pictures | Madeleine+Anton

A while back I threw a party on my blog for my 4 year anniversary to Mr. Andrew and gave away TWO photoshoots - Madeleine's entry rose to the top of the random.com god's list of picks...resulting in a lovely afternoon of hanging with these two #winners that ended with dinner at Bar over none other than Mashed Potato Pizza (yes you heard me!).The first time I talked to Madeleine it was at a Yelp Elite party back in March - and she said to me "Aren't you the girl screaming in your profile picture?" Yes, indeed Madeleine...it was me. Now, her and her husband Anton have become some of our favorite new buddies we've made here in Connecticut. And as luck would have it - just as we were wishing we knew more people who lived in New Haven so we could get to know another great city just down the road from us - they moved there this fall!Enjoy the photos guys - I hope they helped you capture your love of your city and all that is New Haven.Want to get in front of my camera? Email me (hello@aliciasturdy.com), Facebook me (www.facebook.com/helloaliciasturdy) or check out my website (www.aliciasturdy.com) - and don't forget to LIKE me on Facebook or leave a comment below to let me know you're here!

Life, Marriage, PhotosDecember 3, 2012Connecticut Photography, Couples, Fall Engagement Photos, Hartford Photographer, Love, New Haven Photography, New Haven Pictures, Shoreline, Wooster Square Pictures Comment

this is me.

I know I have been personal but not "up close" on this new blog. I have referenced people, situations and places loosely, but never named things specifically out loud.So maybe I need to write a little about myself, why I am blogging, and my hope for all this in the end.But let's take this slow.Today, I'll tell you about me.I am Alicia.Married to Andrew.Daughter of Michael & Kathy, Daughter in Love of Rob & Kim.Sister to Melissa+Kaylee & Kaitlyn+Christopher.Physically born in 1985 and raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (not to be confused with the Mitten portion of Michigan).Spiritually born again in December 2001.My citygirl soul was born in 2003 & raised in the great city of Chicago, Illinois.I am a city girl at heart.An external processor, ESFP and 7 on the enneagram.Have a Bachelors Degree in Art from North Park University.Art was not what I thought I would do.I play music, and thought I'd be a music teacher.But, deep down - I am just an artist of many mediums.I have been impacted and changed by the people in my life.My family. My friends from my hometown. My girlfriends from college, my family of friends I left behind in Chicago.I fell in love with Andrew after a long obedience.We met in a worship band at college, and led a missions trip together to the Dominican Republic.He didn't "like me back" at first.We started dating when he kissed me on the floor of my furniture-less apartment on the corner of Kedzie & Carmen (he decided he "liked me back" then).We fell in love in the city.Taking rides on the EL late at night.Stopping for Starbucks in Lincoln Square.Our not so real first date was at Tre Kroner one Wednesday morning for breakfast - it felt like half the school was there, staring at us.Our real first date we went to see the movie "Rent" - we were the only non same-sex couple in the theater.Three years later, he asked me to marry him on a rooftop in downtown Chicago.I worked at a church for 5 years in Chicago - one year doing Communications and four years in Urban & Global Outreach.He went straight from undergraduate studies to Seminary.We married in 2008 in the north shore of Chicago.We moved from Chicago in June 2011 for him to take a job in Connecticut.He's a youth pastor. I work for the regional office of our churches denomination.I am thankful God has placed me here.Boston to the East. The mountains to the North.The ocean to the South. New York City to the West.I am loud.Talkative.Have a strange draw to Marathon running.Live in a 175 year old house on a busy corner. It's bright yellow.Spontaneous.Gregarious.Love to entertain.Independent.Love to capture the moment.Always wanting to change the furniture around.

Life, Thoughts, WordsAugust 17, 2012About Me, Friends, God, Love, Story Comments

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