.png)
.png)
We Move Forward
We love things that are new, right? New adventures, new friendships, and some shiny new photo spots! Reflecting on last year, it was filled with all things new.
The best of all things new: I married my beautiful wife and best friend for life, Corrin! We created so many wonderful memories and spent quality time together. Being a newlywed has brought immense joy!
Corrin and I got engaged on March 24, 2023, in Abilene, TX. We visited my best friend and his girlfriend, and I proposed with my best man by my side! Nick and Hailey were instrumental in making the evening extra special. I am sincerely grateful for Hailey capturing photos of the engagement; those pictures will make us smile for years.
We became Mr. & Mrs. Gutierrez on May 29, 2023; we loved our wedding, it was perfect! Adam Robledo, with ShutterCraft Photography, captured our wedding so well. We traveled to Riviera Maya for our honeymoon, enjoying 8 nights of all-inclusive laziness. It was a much-needed break after all the wedding planning and adjusting pieces before our special day (more on that in a minute). I relished capturing moments there with my old camera, a Canon 5d Mark II, and my point-and-shoot film camera, a Minolta Maxxum Qtsi.
New Challenger Approaches
I’d be dishonest if I said 2023 wasn’t one of my most challenging years... story time.
It was my first year on my own; I moved out of my parent's house and into an apartment to start the new year. Looking back, it was likely a necessary step for my journey. However, it was also a terrible experience and a rough start to my year. For multiple reasons, including horrible upstairs neighbors and apartment management, I couldn’t stand living in my own “home.” I was constantly stressed, seeking any excuse to leave my apartment.
A Message From Above
One calm Saturday night, I couldn’t fall asleep, but this time it wasn’t my neighbor's fault. I was restless, feeling like my mind was racing, and I had no clue why. It was February, my second year giving up something for Lent: video games. They consumed a lot of time and headspace too.
I vividly remember the night the Holy Spirit spoke to me, asking: Why wait to marry Corrin? Why do you have to wait?... I sought advice from mentors and trusted friends to share this confusing insight that God was trying to tell me. Well, we can all see how that story went… Corrin and I married only two months and five days after our engagement on May 29, 2023!
Marriage was the best change in my life; my wife is the best! Additionally, my wife also happens to be in the military, adding an extra layer of intrigue to our relationship.
Solitude
Remember my apartment? Pshh, I don’t want to. Long story short, I terminated the lease and moved most of my stuff to my wife’s home before our actual marriage ceremony. The interesting part is that she has been stationed in Del Rio, TX. (crickets…..) Yeah, most people haven’t heard of it.
I moved to Del Rio in June of 2023, after living in San Antonio all my life. That was tough.
Leaving behind family, friends, church community, and the best aspects of my job (which involved in-person work) and establishing my business in San Antonio was a lot to handle.
For close to 6 months after moving here, it was the most isolated I have ever been. It took me a while to find community, but now that I have started to, it has begun to make an impact.
This place is temporary; a year from now, we will likely move, and life will be so different. As much as I can, I am relying on God’s strength to enable me to endure this time. It’s better, but it is still a challenge.
Looking Ahead, But Gotta Be Present
It is in my nature to be a planner. Whether it's planning photo or video sessions for my clients, in my other work, or my personal life, I feel like the atypical man with perpetual planning going on in his head, rather than a stereotypical male tumbleweed brain.
My wife will be separating from the military in close to a year, and as much as that feels like a relief, I have no idea what comes next. It is so easy for me to formulate plans, which can be a good thing; but 2023 was a giant year of God saying, “This is my will, even if it wasn’t in your playbook.”
The bottom line is that truth is a relief. However, my nature still tries to battle that truth, and I am slowly learning to trust in Christ’s perfect will for my life. So yeah, we are gonna have at least a plan A and B as we transition to life outside the military, but I’m gonna hold them with open hands.
Comments