Anything but run of the Mill(s)...

 "I've been looking forward to this day since I was like TWELVE years old."

With her mother Sally as my witness, those were the first words out of Lauren Mills as we sat down to discuss where we were gonna go with her senior session.

Excited? 

I say yes.

So we had established that Miss Mills was stoked for her visit to Stewart Photography.   I was only vaguely familiar with Lauren up until that point because I was aware of her joining friend-of-the-studio Abby Nuese on a mission trip to Honduras this last summer, but other than that?  Her book had yet to be written with me.   But if the first chapter of that book includes telling me she's been gearing up for this day for half a decade... that works for me.  ;)

The solid impressions didn't end after the first stanza, however.   We were on our first outdoor location by the Montour creek and, as Stewart seniors will all tell you, I had to go through my rig-a-ma-roll about our grey card.   I normally will ask seniors if they are aware of what a grey card is, fully expecting them to look at me like I have three heads and following up with... "ummm... NO!?!?"

Lauren's response?   "Yeah... that's a grey card for white balancing."

I did a double take.

Whaaa?

How did you KNOW that?

Turns out as part of her duties as an employee at Sonshine Daycare in Marshalltown, Lauren had helped their photographer for their annual pictures on a couple of occasions, so she was MORE than ready to drop some knowledge on me when I asked.

Make no mistake... I was impressed.

But the blowing-away-the-photographer revelations didn't end there.  Team Mills and I had spent most of the session talking about church related topics... her faith... her mission trip... some of the challenges we face as Christians... even what we wear to church.  She had also mentioned that she planned on becoming a sign-language interpreter some day.

All very admirable topics to be sure, however, then Miss Mills starting piling on again with her amazing attributes.

For those of you that haven't paid a visit to the Stewart Photography camera room, there's a big Pittsburgh Steelers Blanket draped over a prop near the back wall.  It's there to ward off evil forces like Patriots fans... Broncos backers... and even a few delusional Dallas Cowboys supports.  But on this day... there would be no need for balancing the scales.   It was pointed out that Lauren was a die-hard lover of the Black-n-Gold and if one wants to score brownie points with their photographer in Montour, Iowa.... that's a good place to start.

I suggested that perhaps Lauren was just angling for a discount with all this impressiveness and that's when Mama Sally took her shot.

"Maybe we should tell him we're HUGE Hawkeye fans, then, Lauren?"

(Turns out they are Cyclone supporters in the Mills household... but hey... the Good Lord can't bless a girl with EVERYTHING, now can she?)  :)

All that being said, after all the grey card-slash-Steelers-slash-being super stoked-slash-like minded believers-slash-angling for a discount talk, we even found some time to mix in some Harry Potter stuff... a lot of laughs and super cute hat.  Five years of build up is a lot to live up to, and I only hope that I met this young ladies' expectations because she certainly deserved it.

Thanks, Team Mills for a fun filled day.