Fact #1: I’m a wedding and portrait photographer! These days (and ever since I gave up music…sooo for 11 years now) I make money outside of Everlane by taking photos of people in the sweetest seasons of their lives. I get to capture their joy and give it back to them in a form they can treasure forever. It’s the loveliest.
In case you’re wondering: yes, I do have lots of crazy wedding stories. Yes, I am tired of hearing “The Cha Cha Slide.” And yes, I absolutely love my job. You can see some more of my work on my website if you’re interested - and definitely hit me up if you want to hire me as a photographer or need any recommendations!
Fact #2: I got married at 22 to my high school sweetheart! Colin (not the one from the gang, but colin++ regardless) and I actually met in 1st grade (see the letter that he wrote me from back then… it’s framed in our living room) and started “dating” when we were 15. Though, we couldn’t actually go on a date until 4 months later when we were both 16.
In 2020, we’ll be celebrating 7 years of marriage (the same number of years we dated before getting married), both of our 30th birthdays, and 15 years of being together. So yes, that means we’ll have been together for half of our lives and married for half of our relationship. What a crazy world we live in, huh?
Anyway, I feel lucky to be with him every day. If you ever get to meet Colin, you’ll probably feel the same way. He’s the very best :)
Ok, enough with the sap (except I love the sap- send me any and all sap!), onward.
One of my senior photos from high school. I promise I won’t make you pose like this if I ever take photos of you - wow.
Fact #3: I used to be a musician! Basically from the age of 11 (when I got almost a perfect score on that music test in elementary school. #weirdflexbutok) to 18, I was a percussionist with a dream of being a professional musician one day.
My first semester of college was at Oklahoma City University on a percussion performance scholarship…then I realized professional music was not for me. I wanted to spend my time hanging out with people instead of sitting in practice rooms.
To this day I wish I didn’t have to choose between those two things - I miss playing music a whole whole lot, and I’m currently on the lookout for any ways I can jump back into it!
On the edge of a tornado we were trying to outrun - we were successful, but it was scary
Fact #4: I’m from Oklahoma City! Or, actually, a suburb of OKC (Edmond…”a great place to grow” haha). It took me about 4 years of living there after college to really appreciate all that Oklahoma has to offer, but now I truly love it and appreciate the many ways it shaped me as a person.
My husband and I always knew we wanted to try living somewhere else (because *adventure*), so in 2017 we gave away most of our possessions, had my best friend take our dog for a bit, and moved to England. We then realized it wasn’t the right timing for us to stay in England long-term, so we looked for jobs in the States and ended up in San Jose, California (with our dog. bozeman++).
We love it here SO MUCH! For more on that whole (long) story, you can read the blog post I wrote about it here.
Me as Luna Lovegood for the Deathly Hallows pt 2 midnight premiere circa 2011
Fact #5: I’m kind of a crazy fangirl! In middle school my nickname was Mary Potter, I’m in a group based on the podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text (it’s amazing and not weird at all despite the name), and I can pretty much own anyone at HP trivia (yep, that’s a challenge).
And don’t even get me started on Star Wars, Hamilton, The Good Place, The Office, Brooklyn 99, Parks and Rec, The Bright Sessions, Arcs Podcast, and The West Wing. When I fall, I fall hard. I’m a total fangirl in every sense of the word. Nerdy and proud of it over here :)
BONUS lightning round fun facts:
I have a bachelor’s degree in Human Development & Family Science - Emphasis in Marriage & Family Therapy and a minor in Religious Studies from Oklahoma State University.
I’m a certified yoga teacher (namasté).
I haven’t had a Facebook account since 1/1/2011 after doing a research project on the company in 2010.
I’m a total flower child…some might call me “granola.”
I’m an enneagram 4 and Myers Briggs INFP.
I looooooooove to cook (and eat…especially Mexican food).
I have Associative Synesthesia which is not a disease, but it is a weird thing that I didn’t know was unique to me until I was in college.