When I was four (yep 4!) my dad got me my own film camera. Around that time, my parents were also getting divorced. While packing up our home, I stole some wedding photos that I’d found in a box in the basement. I carried them around with me everywhere just to remember the times they were together and happy.

Being only four, it was pretty hard on me, so I created my own "happy" moments with my camera.  I'd spend hours styling and posing my Barbies around the house (and propped on my German Shepard, Max).
My mom would have the film developed and I'd wave them in anyone's face I could. I loved showing everyone what I created.

While real life fairy tales might not be Barbie + Ken perfect, your love story is unique and perfect to you. My childhood has taught me that happy and beautiful things + moments throughout life might not last forever, because time continues on - the best day of your life, a loved one, or your favorite song on the radio - but we can surely document these happy days to hold close to us through tough times.

Twenty-some years after posing my Barbies, I've gone through college, dropped out, and earned an Interior Design degree. Now, I'm here doing the same thing I loved to do back then - except now with even more meaning than I could've ever thought (and with actual breathing humans in love).