Meet the Cast Monday #11: The Bride

Well you read a lot about The Bride on my blog. She and I have been friends since high school, so needless to say, there are a lot of stories and experiences that we share! The Bride is one of the most talented people I know---she works extremely hard at everything that she does and is great at it! She works for a university in the midwest doing some sort of event planning/coordinating (I clearly should pay more attention to job titles....). Luckily for me, she is into photography and took care of getting all of the pictures for this blog (with the exception of the high school one I added....she didn't really thinks he'd get away without one!) and made my job easy.

So here we go....Meet The Bride!

I call you The Bride because your wedding was amazing. Tell us your favorite part of the day?
This is such a hard question to answer because I'm sure as every bride would say, there were so many! Ironically, my favorite part of the day was when it started raining. {and later hailing} {She's not kidding...it literally hailed. We all ran for cover. But the wedding went on!} It was in that moment that I realized that no matter what happened that day, I was marrying Jon and we were celebrating with a few hundred of the most special people in our lives. And that was what mattered. He chose me to share his life with, and rain or shine, we had to continue to choose each other from that day on! But... second to that moment included the time with my bridesmaids that morning, taking photos before the wedding, the photobooth we had at the reception, and all the dancing we did!

I have also deemed you my marriage consultant. What are a few lessons you have learned over the last year and a half of your marriage?
Oh so many! Not only have Jon and I been married a year, but we've been together overall for 5 years and of that, living together for 4 of them. So we've definitely figured out a lot! The biggest thing I've learned is that you still have to be your own person. I'm a true believer that if you are not happy as an individual, you can't be happy in a partnership, and in turn, can't give 100% to your marriage. So we make sure to have our own time to grow our interests, hobbies, and friendships. Without making this a novel, I also believe in having your own bank account for play money, traveling a lot with your spouse, having real date nights often, and realizing that marriage takes a lot of conscious decisions and actions to make the other person happy. I don't believe in soul mates, I believe you choose each other every day over and over. {I seriously think she should teach a class on this!}

How did you decide to get into photography?
When Jon and I got together, I wanted a really fun way to document our lives and started doing a photo book for each year of our relationship. Because of that I found myself taking photos of everything and realizing that I really really enjoyed it. Being the researcher I am, I read a lot about the subject and learned about the different ways to approach this hobby and finally ended up really dedicating myself this past summer by making it a priority to learn. Like anything we learn in life, some days it's a little frustrating, but I can honestly say I have not regretted jumping into this hobby and really dedicating myself to it! I'm definitely still learning, but it's been fun!

We grew up in the same small town--what was your favorite part of growing up there?
I loved that the entire town felt like your family. {Great answer!} It always seemed that at every sporting or school event, the entire town showed up to support the school and the students. It's an amazing feeling to have that much support behind you through some of the toughest years of life!

Tell us about the worst date you've ever been on.
Oh dear, where to start! My absolute worst date ever was when I invited a boy to spend an evening with my family while they were visiting. It was his first time meeting them {which was not a big deal to me at the time} and he complained about everything. Where we ate, what we were doing, the card game we played. I've had some pretty bad dates before, but since this one involved my family, it made it even worse, especially coming from a family that does not believe in complaining, especially when you are a guest for the evening! Needless to say I was ready for that night to end.

You love to travel--best place you have ever been?
I really loved the trip Jon and I took to Hawaii. It was the first big trip we'd taken that I literally planned every day myself. I did a ton of reading on Hawaii and it's history and found where the best places to see and eat were on the island. Then when we got there, we just treated it like a big adventure and headed out every morning with our list and tried to get as many in as possible! The island was beautiful and we had some amazing food, did some amazing snorkeling, and got to see some pretty amazing things like the volcano that was active from a helicopter and a handful of amazing waterfalls. And it doesn't hurt that this was the trip that Jon proposed to me!

You are also a great cook (my questions make you seem VERY well rounded!)...what is your favorite recipe?
Well, I do love being well-rounded! Again, such a hard question because I do consider myself a lover of food. But if I had to choose my favorite recipe of anything I make it would have to be my green chile posole. Living in the Midwest, we really miss the Mexican food so anytime I make this, it brings us right back to feeling at home!

What is one thing you have learned about life that you didn't know when you were 18?
I've learned that in the big scheme of life, some things just really don't matter. By that, I mean that some relationships {friend and boyfriends} are worth the effort, and some aren't, and that I had to stop hoping that my relationships would suddenly change and that individual would make me a priority. I had to make me a priority and give to relationships that were meaningful and where there was equal give and take. As my mom says, "Spend time with the relationships that are real, and stop wasting your time on those that you are just trying to make real". {Amen to this!}

What is one (or more) thing(s) on your bucket list?
I just recently started thinking about my bucket list since focusing on Tiffany's for her Christmas gift. I started jotting a few things down and I have a few things on my 101 in 1001 list too. A few of the things that made my bucket list are to visit Brazil, adopt a pet from an animal shelter, take dance lessons, construct a piece of furniture, plant a herb garden, be content with making mistakes, renew my wedding vows on a beach, throw someone a surprise party, create a home with a loving atmposphere, visit the Grand Canyon, and learn to use the sewing machine collecting dust in my basement! {See? She's super talented in lots of areas!}