It’s 5:30 am, but the darkness makes it feel like it’s still midnight. I head to Dunkin’ Donuts for my hot caramel latte with an extra shot of espresso. At the drive-thru, I roll down my window and hear a strange noise from under the hood. I think to myself, “that doesn’t sound typical,” but it soon stops and I brush it off. My destination is just about 45 minutes away as I proceed to Ponte Vedra Beach. I make it about 10 minutes from my location when my car flashes a series of warning lights at me, including low oil pressure and check engine light, then promptly shuts off. I pull over to the side of the road and call my almost 9 month-pregnant sister-in-law to inform her I have broken down, and then call a tow truck. She meets me at my location and we wait for her husband to arrive.

All of us tired, and running on E, rack our brains and scour the internet trying to find a location nearby to take the maternity pictures. We’ve all been looking forward to this day for a couple of weeks. Well, by “we all”, I mean myself and Kalani. Aaron, my brother-in-law, who had a gig until 2am that same morning was rightfully not as enthused as we were, but was an absolute trooper all the same. We all huddle into Kalani’s car and try to make a plan for pictures. We finally arrive at the conclusion that the best place to take the pictures would be on the side of the highway we were parked on. I found a huddle of trees a few hundred feet from where we are parked and decide to check it out and lo and behold, it had quite a bit of charm, barring all of the spiderwebs in the trees and on the ground. Braving the bugs and spiderwebs, we take a stab at some pictures and were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful they came out. I’m honestly thinking about adding this location to my list. A beautiful Ponte Vedra Beach sunrise session turned into a glowy Nocatee Parkway session. WHAT??? When life gives you lemons, right?!

Although we got some great photos out of this, our time did not end here. The tow driver shows up and we tow my car to what was thought to be a shell oil change business, only to end up at a Shell gas station. GPS’s may have come a long way, but there’s definitely some room for improvement. On the way, Kalani’s check engine sign comes on in her car. So here we are at a shell gas station, my car loaded up on the back of the tow truck, myself and Kalani sitting in her car and Aaron in his. As i’m looking for a different location to take my car, Kalani turns off her car and tries to turn it back on, but it wont start! I find the location I’d like my car to be dropped off at and inform the tow driver and also inform him Kalani’s car wont start. He tries to jump her car, but figures out it’s her alternator. The tow driver leaves with my car while I was inside the gas station and now Kalani, Aaron, and I are stuck at the gas station because his car only has room for one other person. Aaron calls a tow truck driver for Kalani and we head inside the gas station to figure out our plan. At this point, we are just surviving the day and it’s only just past 7am. Kalani brings up we should say a prayer and we come together, hand in hand and pray over the day. Aaron decides he’s going to wait for the tow driver to get Kalani’s car and drive to the shop with him.

Kalani and I take Aaron’s car to where my car was dropped off. As we get to the location of my car, I am informed there is nothing they can do, that I need to take it to a full repair shop, so I call the tow company and decide to have it dropped at the same location Kalani’s car is at so we can all meet there. The cars are finally dropped, but now we only have Aaron’s car to get all 3 of us back to their house. We cram my happy butt in the very back where there are instruments and about 2sqft of space for me to sit. We manage it and safely arrive to Plotz headquarters where I call my husband to pick me up and the rest is history.

My car is towed again to a car dealership because it is under a recall. It’s been over a month now and I still have no car. I am bummed, but I know these things take time and it’s all in god’s timing. Looking forward to getting my little car back and trading it in for a mini van so I can haul around my two babies and my sweet baby nephew, Luka. Kalani and Aaron welcomed their sweet blonde haired, blue eyed boy to the world on August 2nd, 2024.