Category Archives: Life

Wedding Weekend Part 3 – The Wedding!

Whew.

I’m running out of steam on the blogging surge today.

However, I will not rest until all wedding photo thirsts are quenched!

(before we start I would again like to add that my duties this day were maid of honor/personal assistant and I shot what I could when I had a second – I was not the hired photographer – these would be much better if I had…promise)

The third and final installment of the Jagim Wedding Spectacular : )

Look at those two lovebirds posing for photo’s the day of their wedding.  So cute.Pretty flowers doing their best to hang on through the heat and humidity.  The A-Team (minus me of course).Andrew’s stepdad and wonderful mother.  It was so special to watch Mary all weekend reacting to her first of three son’s get married.  She was so proud of him and rightfully so because she raised a wonderful man.  Vanessa’s three adorable little nephews fascinated by the water feature in the park.  My walking partner Mike and his beautiful wife Katie!

All right everyone the time has come for what it’s all about…ceremony time.

Their ceremony took place in a bandshell in the middle of all this beautiful green space next to the water.  To prevent any of the guests from seeing the blushing bride before it all began, we shoved delicately placed her in an air conditioned car near the site.  I had the privilege of sitting in there with her, blotting makeup, applying lip gloss, and offering calming words.  I can so clearly remember how I felt in those same moments just a year ago, a crazy mix of excitement, nerves, sadness that it was almost about to be over so quickly, and elated happiness.  She felt all those same things.

Sometimes weddings can seem like an extravagant and unnecessary show.  I think most of the time that’s the case when the relationship itself is a bit of a show.  But you have to admit that when it’s the real deal, and especially when it involves people you’re particularly close to, they can be really magical.  Weddings aren’t just about all the things everyone plans for over the course of year.  I’ve found that the best parts about them are the little moments you couldn’t plan.   The time in the car, seeing yourself in your wedding dress, the glance at your new husband, the feelings you experience that you never expected.

This was my first time being in a wedding as an adult.  I have been a flower girl twice and was a junior bridesmaid in my aunt Megan’s wedding, but those weren’t the same.  To not only attend, but to stand right next to, your closest friend on her wedding day was a pretty cool experience for me.  I thought I would dread it, the whole ‘bridesmaid’ bit, but I hope to do it again some day.

(All ceremony photo credit has to be given to Jon!  Thanks Honey!)
This is one of my favorite shots from the whole weekend.   Great photo Jon!

Jon coming through with another great shot!  Andrew and his brother Ben hugging it out.
I know you’re worried about my wonky face here.  You can relax.  That’s just what it looks like when I’m trying not to trip, not to cry, and not to throw up from nerves.

It’s official!!!

Let’s party.

Can’t possibly enter a classy reception without first stopping at a local bar for some wedding party celebrating!  


The reception was a total blast and everyone danced until they kicked us out.

I have a rule that once Piano Man comes on and pants come off, it’s time to shut the camera down.  

Thank you Vanessa and Andrew for a spectacular weekend, for sharing your friends and family with all of us, and for some great memories.

Wedding Weekend Part 2 – Getting Ready

*a brief disclaimer – I was not the hired photographer for this wedding – I just snapped what I could when I wasn’t busy being the maid of honor.

Vanessa and Andrew chose La Crosse for their wedding day for several reasons.

Andrew went to UND for undergrad but attended grad school in La Crosse before going on to A&M in Texas for his PhD.  Vanessa and Andrew fell in love there while falling in love with each other, and Andrew proposed to Vanessa on the top of a bluff overlooking the Mississippi during a trip there last summer.  Finally, it’s just so beautiful that they couldn’t help but be swept up in it all.  It’s so lovely and the morning of their wedding day was no different.

Everyone woke up to sunny skies, very little humidity and tons of excitement.  I cannot account for what the boys were doing all day, but the girls met again in the lobby bright and early to head to the salon.
Vanessa had this incredibly calm and collected attitude throughout the whole weekend.  She was truly one of those wonderful brides that was able to let go of all anxiety regarding how anything went.  She simply wanted to marry Andrew.Tebow was spoiled fortunate enough to be the one of their three dogs (children) small enough to travel with Andrew and Vanessa for the wedding.  He was so sweet watching his ‘mommy’ get ready to marry his ‘daddy’.  Andrew is one of the most caring and big hearted men I’ve ever met.  I could not have chosen a better man for my best friend.  He proved that once again the day of the wedding, doting on Vanessa, worrying about how she was doing, and had the sweetest love letter planned for her to read while getting ready.   Seeing her happiness, laughter,  and smiles that morning was the best part of my day.
Obviously.I was grateful to meet and get to know most of the girls in the wedding party during both Vanessa’s bachelorette party and bridal shower.  Every girl in attendance was a completely supportive and calming influence on Vanessa in every way imaginable.  Nobody was dramatic, nobody was smothering, and thank goodness for that because I would have kicked some ass.  Lucky for her she has some amazing women in her life and those that she chose to stand beside her did so with such grace and love.  It was wonderful to be a part of.  Vanessa’s “something borrowed” were the earrings that I wore the day I got married.  She and I had the same problem while searching for jewelry…nothing worked!  I had these custom made to compliment my dress and Vanessa and I have very similar taste so they ended up working perfectly.  They were beautiful on her.
Judy is V’s mom and she took a total hands on approach to everything she touched regarding the wedding.  It was amazing!  She hand made Vanessa’s garter from fabric taken from her own wedding gown.  She sewed on two lockets that held meaningful photo’s and their wedding date.  

Here’s where I’m going to get choked up.

Vanessa has been my best friend since we were 19 years old.  She has always been a beautiful girl in the way that she would say I have always been a beautiful girl.  What I mean is we were both 14 and awkward once.  We were both 19 and awkward once.  We’ve had braces, weird hairstyles, questionable hair color choices, and bizarre taste in clothing.  But she’s always been beautiful.

This day was something different altogether.

I didn’t see it right away.

I was with her the night before and she definitely had a content and happy look to her.

I was with her the morning of her wedding, but everything was too chaotic and happened too fast for me to notice.

It wasn’t until the photographer, Vanessa, and myself spent a few moments alone getting her into her dress that I saw it.

She was EASILY the most beautiful I had ever seen her and the most stunning bride I’ve ever witnessed.  It went beyond her hair, beyond her makeup and beyond her dress.  She looked so serene and so happy that it was all I could do not to burst.  She was gorgeous.

Annabelle, her flower girl, seeing her for the first time after talking about (insert southern little girl accent here) ‘Vanessa’s Weddin’ for months and months.  So. Adorable.Everyone in the wedding party was ready for action and the pictures were set to start any minute.  I snagged these pictures right before Vanessa went to see Andrew for the first time that day.
And with those final two images of my glowing and gorgeous best friend, I’ll say ‘that’s all folks’ until tomorrow’s final post:  Wedding Weekend Part 3 – The Wedding

Wedding Weekend Part 1 – The Rehearsal

A little over a week ago Jon and I got back from New York City, spent 24 hours at home, unpacked and repacked just in time to catch our flight to Minneapolis for the Thompson/Jagim wedding weekend!

Vanessa and Andrew hosted their friends and family in the beautiful city of La Crosse, Wisconsin in celebration of their nuptials.  They had amazing weather which only further showcased the unexpected beauty and incredible scenery of La Crosse.

I can’t really stress enough how beautiful La Crosse turned out to be.  If anyone in the Minneapolis area is looking for a weekend getaway, I would HIGHLY recommend making the 2.5 hour drive to this hidden gem.

Well things got rolling as soon as we arrived.  All gussied up with drinks in hand we met in the lobby to head over to the bandshell for the rehearsal!Beautiful Vanessa sporting her wardrobe staple…a black hair tie on her wrist : )
My handsome hubby/photographer’s assistant.  Several of these images came from his keen eye.  I’ve trained him well!After successfully getting fake married three times, everyone headed across the river for some grub and yard games.Thank goodness Missy brought a little bit of Texas to the Midwest.The beautiful bride and her new sister in law/wedding photographer.Tatum and her auntie Vanessa.  I knew Tatum when she was around 6 years old.  Needless to say it was a little alarming to see her all grown up!There was definitely a love connection between Belle and Hunter that weekend.After filling up and drinking up, the wedding party decided to hit the town for a night of shenanigans before the big day.  We even got the bride out for a little while!  Everyone dispersed eventually (some earlier than others) to get a good nights sleep before the big day.  Vanessa and I kicked Andrew out for the night and spent it together just like the night before my wedding.  There was a little girl talk, a couple of nerves and lots of excitement.

Coming up next is part two…getting ready!

Play Day

Sometimes you’ve just gotta have a play day.

She makes friends within 3.5 seconds.  Who say’s summer is over?Try not to look too excited.Such a beautiful girl.Cool features of Sloan’s Lake park.What’s a play day without ice cream?!Pretttttttty excited about what’s happening.Coolest ice cream shop ever.Get messy!That’s all folks.

Weekend Recap

One of my looser life goals (meaning it’s lower on the totem pole than others) is golf.

Not necessarily learning how to golf because I basically know how.  I was after all on the golf team in high school.

Wait what?  You were on the golf team?

Sorta.

Kinda.

Not really.

Let me explain.

My family lives next door to the Ada Country Club aka Heart of the Valley (9 hole) golf course and I spent a lot of time there growing up.  My on and off best friend Jess and her family ran the joint so I spent even more time there when she and I were ‘on’.

My memories of “being on the golf team” involve going to the course with friends after school, flirting with the boys that were ACTUALLY on the golf team, avoiding our crazy coach at all costs, and eating the junk food that was always stuffed into our golf bags.

I’m 90% positive I never played in a single golf meet.

You’re welcome team.

So maybe I don’t know ALL there is to know about golf, but I get the general idea.

This loose life goal doesn’t really have anything to do with excelling at golf anyway.  I just want to be good enough to play 18 holes without looking like an idiot.

That and I’d like to enjoy playing 18 holes whilst not looking like an idiot.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed plenty of time AT golf courses.  Just not actually playing golf.

I posted awhile back about our couples match (which involved beer) and I had a great time!  Granted I only had to put, but still…fun.

I met Jon at a golf course and we’re married now!  So much fun!

I made out on a blanket under the stars at a golf course.  Still having fun….

Jess and I used to wander the Ada course, spot a random ball in the middle of the fairway, and sneakily do an innocent somersault over said ball and snatch it up to keep!  Turns out those balls were NOT randomly in the middle of the fairway and we probably ruined countless scores, but that’s not the point.  The point is ruining people’s scores is FUN!

I always have fun on and around golf courses.  I DO NOT, however, have fun spending four frustrating hours golfing 18 holes.

So we’re working on that.  I’ve been going with Jon to the range to hit balls, practice chipping (ugh) and putting.  I’ve been trying to power through when I would otherwise get frustrated and quit.  I’ve been hitting the ball dead straight (always have) and am trying to learn how to hit it farther.  I’ve actually been impressing Jon here and there with my surprising skills (for a girl).

So when Jon asked (signed me up without asking) if I’d like to play in a charity golf tournament (drunken mess of irons and balls) that was only 9 holes long I said yes!

Turns out each team needs at least one girl to be a team…but I was still honored to be asked/signed up with no choice.

It’s a yearly ‘tournament’ put on by good friends of Jon who are on the board for Food Bank of the Rockies.

Here are the highlights:

I’ve had to resort to the above in order to appear in any pictures.  Why were there bagpipers in attendance?  I don’t know.  Why did we put with a hockey stick on one hole?  Why were people taking shots?  Why is the hole so little and far away? Who invented golf?  These are questions better left unanswered.  That’s the swing of a sorta kinda not really golf team member if I’ve ever seen one!Another great example of questions better left unanswered.  The truth is just too terrifying.Here’s a question I can answer!  What is Ross doing?  He’s lounging, letting all the ladies drink him in, while all the boys try to be men and chuck golf clubs down the fairway.  Taylor won.  He wins every year.  It’s probably due to the muscles and the biceps and the triceps and all the other ‘ceps that aid in things like chucking golf clubs.Our team!Ryan’s job was to drive around with the keg and make sure nobody golfed TOO well.  He succeeded.I’m sure this is because the beer finally kicked in and not because they’re annoyed with my camera.  Everyone gathering to hear the results of all the contests!We think they cheated for the win.  So did these girls……not impressed.We didn’t walk away empty handed.  Jon actually won two holes!Here comes the auction portion of the program!  First up, Bruce Jenner and his thighs.  That sucker went for many hundreds of dollars.  Seriously.  Ryan would make an incredible Price Is Right girl.There’s only one winner in this photo, the others are merely winner wannabe’s.

It was a really fun day.  I think I’ve got the right idea about working on life goals.  Be outside, surround yourself with friends, laugh a lot and drink some beers.

Who says accomplishing goals is hard?

What you’ve all been waiting for?

Here it is everyone!

What you’ve all been waiting for!!!

(I can hear you holding your breath)

No…it’s not any type of announcement like “I got a new job!  I’m a highly paid successful photographer! Marlo is pregnant (she’s fixed it’s impossible so don’t get your hopes up)!”

It’s way better??

This is the long awaited final installment of our near month old trip to Minnesota.

TaDa!!

Maybe nobody is bored with photo after photo of us having the time of our lives at the lakes. Maybe everybody is.

Doesn’t matter because posting the images on my blog is the easiest way to get all the people that are in them to see them.  And they’ve been asking.

So here it is, the last lake post of the year (I’m totally lying I’m going again in August).

We left our beloved Pelican Lake on Thursday morning after celebrating the 4th of July the night before.  We had already enjoyed our first 5 days at the lake so much that we felt completely spoiled heading to somebody else’s cabin for another 4 days.

Before we arrived at our destination, we stopped at the beautiful Gull Lake Zorbaz for some grub and great live music performed by Jon’s friend John.  John was gracious enough to be the musician at our wedding and he’s really really wonderful and talented.  He’s also a new dad! No appearances were made by the newborn (it was soooo hot) but I do have some shots from the performance.

It was great to see a bunch of people we don’t get to be around very often!  An afternoon well spent.  Onward!

Christian is a grade school buddy of Jon’s and he and his girlfriend Jennie hosted our group of Minnesota friends for an incredibly fun weekend at his family cabin.  As usual with this group, the moment we all get together we regress to behaving like shot taking college students, convincing ourselves that we are still quite young and capable of such shenanigans.  It never takes long for us to end up in silly hats, playing cards, talking louder and louder, listening to great music…and drunk.  It’s so fun.This goes on and on until before you know it people are drinking out of watermelons, abusing the props, and men are in women’s restrooms.  It’s chaos.  We always rally like champions, learn nothing, and do it all over again.  But it’s different this time!  Because it’s on a boat!We’re still learning about ‘sharing’.The ‘wives’.Not posed.  Not surprising : )Always has to have a melon in his hand.  : )One word: classy.

It only gets worse from here.Told you.It’s called a diaper and it’s a lake thing.  Don’t ask questions.  Just enjoy.
No we aren’t floating in our own pee.  For some reason this lake had a high iron content or something scientific that gave it that hue.Doesn’t get better than swimming in pee with your best friends : )Except for throwing back your favorite beverage while wearing a diaper.  Sigh.  This is the reason for my MN obsession.  Things like this.  Nemesis.Jammin’ to Beiber.Shot pit stop at the lake’s only bar.Saying farewell to his loyal companion.Once sufficiently buzzed up we left the lake for some showers, yard games, more drinks and a killer sunset.He’s gentler than he looks.  Not scary in the least.  Well maybe a little.We’re all well fed…must be time for a booze cruise!Awww.  Look at that pretty loon.  Wanna go to the bar and play pull tabs?  YES!  What a great idea!  Let’s hug it out.
We ended the trip with a genius game of golf.  Four couples – boys hit – girls putt.  It was a really fun way to get the girls out on the course with the boys.…and we played into the sunset.

We crammed a lot of fun into what is always never enough time.  Jon and I were so exhausted from our vacation that we split our drive back into two separate days.

It was all worth it.  These people are the people that make Minnesota so great and me so  homesick all the time.  I’m always grateful to them for pulling us back over and over again.