Mark and Noelle :: Five Year Anniversary

"Girl point those legs, they're hot and I want to show them off"
"I know, that's what snagged me"
He lied. Sure the girl has nice legs, but that's not it. It's not even her classic vintage charm, fantastic sense of style or a keen taste of music. He saw in her what none of us saw from the beginning. Only God and Mark Cruz knew the gem that Noelle would be. Thank God for that.

When he introduced this girl to us we mostly frowned. Minus one, Mark gleamed. He absolutely adored her. We intensely disliked. I owned that fact, we made a habit of rejecting Noelle from the group. She was confident though, and resilient. She stayed around a group of stink eye'd "friends" to be with her man. No stink eye is ruining this good thing.

So knocking on the door of the girl who I hated seemed like a terrible idea. Surely she hates me too, she is going to open up this door and just punch me right in the face. I was sure of it. I sort of liked my face, so I thought about just turning around and going back to the car. Then she opened the door. Well, she opened it about an inch and stuck her nose out to greet me. I had caught Noelle in the middle of a enthralling episode of Unsolved Mysteries and the knock came to that door at the most inappropriate time. We had that in common, things easily scared us. Me, knocking on a door of a girl I disliked. Her, unsolved mysteries and this crazy half Mexican daring to be at the door. I came in, we exchanged pleasantries... and became best friends.

So it came as a surprise to be standing on the beach in a bright teal dress as the maid of honor to one of the most in love couples I know. They love the Lord. They are tremendously talented... and they are absolutely without a doubt crazy about each other. I do not know another couple like this! Not like this. When I marry, I pray my love looks exactly like this. Mark and Noelle are too lucky to have each other. I'm too lucky to get to shoot them, and too lucky to call them friends.

Happy 5 years my friends! Congratulations to finding a lover in your best friend.

Mark and Noelle from Ashley Sellers on Vimeo.