Anniversary

We've been married a whole year now. I can't believe how quickly it has gone by. We've been busy going on hikes, taking road-trips, visiting friends, and setting up our home. And it has been so much fun. 

This was a fun little blog while we were preparing to marry, and we had a few side projects going at the time, so I felt like I was spreading my focus. I have decided against keeping a whole bunch of blogs about us/our projects all up and running on various levels. So, we've consolidated things a bit. If you want an invite to our personal blog, just let me know (leave a comment and and fill in your e-mail information) and I'll send you the link. Otherwise you can find us here:

Janel's photography/art blog: The Desert Loves You
Jon's adventure photography.
Janel's flickr.

Thanks for visiting!

Wedding photos

Our wedding day photos were taken by Leo Patrone. He photographs exclusively with film cameras, which I love. He was a lot of fun to work with and I like how the photos turned out.

The ceremony:

Family: 

 

Details:

 

Friends: 

 The happy couple:

We had a wonderful wedding day. There was a lot of planning that went into it, but it was well worth it. The whole experience of putting together a wedding stretched me and further solidified Jon and I as a couple. We learned a lot along the way, like how to find a good caterer, what kind of cake we wanted, what kind of mood we wanted on our day, how to budget, how to craft all kinds of DIY elements, and a ton about ourselves. I got to further witness Jon's patience, kindness, listening skills, and sense of humor as we stumbled through the planning stages of our wedding together, and I'm only getting to see more and more of Jon's strengths as a married couple.

My advice for those that might be getting into all of this? --
1. Plan what you can plan, but be open to change and alternative options as you go.
2. Involve as many people as possible. Not only does delegation give you the chance to relax and gain perspective, but keeping everyone involved also creates cohesiveness.
3. Remember to keep having fun with your honey. There are a lot of business transactions and decisions to make, so balance that out with date nights, adventures, and a few days where talking wedding details is off-limits.
4. Get as much sleep as you can for the couple of nights before the wedding day-- not only does it make a difference in how you feel, but it also shows in the photos (which are forever).
5. Finally, on the day of-- just relax. Roll with the punches.

For me, the more details I had hammered out, the more contracts I had signed, the more comfortable I felt, and by the wedding day, I just went along with whatever was going on. Actually, Jon and I both did. We just had a good time-- we got our photos taken, we got to hang out with family and friends, and we actually managed to eat a little. I'd call that a pretty great day.

Happy Ending (in progress)

Its been just over four months since Jon and I got married. We've been doing fantastically.
We've been slowly making changes to our home and getting on with the business of putting two lives together. We have painted an accent wall, we bought shelves, we organized our study, and we're slowly making design decisions. There's no rush, right?

We've also enjoyed a few firsts as a married couple-- church, a garden at our place, a camping trip, the wedding reception of a couple of great friends, a couple of road trips, etc. We've both taken a part in the changing of my name, too. There have also been a few tough things we've already tackled, like deciding on health insurance, getting through a bad cold (mine), a cat bite (also mine), a week apart (when Jon went exploring caves in the Grand Canyon area), and losing a beloved pet (my hamster Pearl). And so far, I have nothing but good things to report. We really work well together. We love one another, we look out for one another, we take care of each other, and we are growing up as individuals and as a couple.

Things are going really well, and I expect them to continue to do just that.



On a completely unrelated note, I'm not sure what to do with this blog anymore. I have a personal blog that I started years ago, here. I don't think I have that many readers on this blog right now anyway, so maybe I'll ask the question both places: Which one do I sacrifice? This one clearly gives away my new status as being with someone. . . but my wordpress blog is one I've stuck it out with for years now. (I write about events in our lives there, but the blog address doesn't have anything to do with Jon/coupledom. I'd like to simplify and pare things down. So what do you think?

Other people's photographs

For the most part, the following are photos that other people took at my wedding. I had my Keystone Everflash instant camera as well as my Holga and my Diana camera out for our guests to utilize. We wanted people to be daring, to pick up these cameras and to take a few shots. I have yet to have my Holga and Diana film processed, but I look forward to everything that they captured. I think many of our Keystone photos found homes with our guests (which is great, only I want to see them, too!) but we managed to get a few for keeps. At the end of the reception I took a photo, and then got a few of some of the wedding guests with Jon and I taken by various people. I've included the best of the ones we have.


This first one is of Jon and I nearing the end of our reception. My sister took this photo of this tired but happy couple:

Next is a shot of my folks. They are blurry, but happy. I'm not sure who took this one.

I'm assuming Seth took this shot (and a few others) of Nicole and Pru:

Aren't they both cute?


Last is a shot that Jon took of our friend Chuck, who volunteered to play his bagpipe while people arrived and took their seats:

If you want to see more wedding photos, there will be more slowly collecting at my Flickr account. Check it out HERE. Also, if you are facebook friends with me, there are loads more photos there.

Also, If one of my readers happens to be a wedding guest with a instant photo, will you please scan it and share an electronic version with me? Please and thank you.

We did it!

August 9, 2010-- what a great day. Jon and I are finally married. Woot! I loved how just about everything ended up falling into place. It was the closest thing to a perfect day I've had so far.

As scared as I was of tripping while walking down the short aisle to where Jon was waiting for me, I didn't pass out. I can stand in front of a huge room of people to teach a lesson, I can crack jokes for a handful of friends at a time, but just walking past a bunch of my closest friends and family had me jittery. What gives? I may have been a little shaky from the nerves, but seeing Jon standing there with this grin on his face helped a good deal.

Jon looked so cute, I almost cried. There other moments throughout the evening where I nearly cried-- hugs and sweet words from friends, co-workers, an old boss, and family members old and new. There were so many wonderful friends and family that came out to support and celebrate. And there were more that were there in spirit. It was pretty amazing just seeing this huge mix of people from various phases of our lives all in one spot at one time to cheer us on.

Jon commented after we were driving off at how amazed he was over me holding it together as well as I did. He saw me tear up a few times, and a couple of tears did roll out, but Jon thought that once they started, I wouldn't be able to reign them in. Boy did I prove him wrong. He admitted that he experienced quite a few touching moments himself, which was totally cute to hear.

Enough with the super mushy stuff. Here are some photos of our lovely day--

Jon looking at our little home-made welcome board while Chuck played the bagpipes in the background.

My bishop married us. He did a great job.

The part of the ceremony where we take one another by the right hand.

The part where we exchange rings.

The part where we get to kiss as husband and wife.

A wedding gift from our friends Jan and Martha.

Our amazing wedding photographer only shoots film (one of the main reasons I picked him), so it will be a while yet before we get our professional shots back. But thanks to my sister and a couple of other people, I have these to share right now.