Rachel Hope {Fort Smith Portrait Photographer}

You know those perfect, sunshiny warm spring days? How wonderfully the sun beats down on your face, and the tiniest of breezes flutter by making it an absolutely magical day? I love those days. What I love even more is when we're blessed with not one, not two, but three of those days right in the middle of January. It has been absolutely amazing in Arkansas this week. Something about these perfect, out of character winter days make the best sunsets, too.

I can't lie, part of the reason the last few days were so perfect is because one of my favorite people on this planet came to Fort Smith to visit. You've seen her on my blog before, and probably all over my instagram feed and Facebook, too. There is something so profound about meeting someone in life that totally understands you, flaws and all, and chooses to love you anyway. I feel like I'm the luckiest person on the planet, because not only did I find that in my husband, but I found that in Rachel, too.

My story is pretty roller coaster-y, but in a nutshell, my brave fearless husband maintained an unending veteran status… well, for about 10 years. The last 6 of those 10, he was in Iraq 3, 5, 6, and 8 months at a time, only being home about 28 or 30 days in between. The last 2 of those 10 years.. I began to crumble. The burden of being alone and being fearful was too much to bear. God heard the plea of my heart for someone to lean on, someone to love, someone to love me.. and then one day this blonde angel walked up to me and said, "Hi I'm Rachel." Shortly after, during the same conversation, she says "I've got a boat! Will you be my first mate?" And we laughed, it was so silly. A few years later, and here we are… I couldn't imagine my life without her. Best friends are a true gift, a soul sister is a Godsend.

I'm so, so incredibly lucky.