Let’s boil it down to the essentials...

I wear barefoot shoes (if I wear shoes at all), I rock a gnarly mustache, and I find just as much delight in a $7 pour over as I do in a 79 cent cup of gas station coffee. I use the energy from that dirty joe to wrangle three forest children who fill my house with mud and sticks, and my heart with happiness. A portion of that energy is also used to hang out with Queen Mama. We’re friends and lovers who plan adventures, write musicals, balance budgets, and carry all those mud and sticks from the living room back to the yard. I siphon off another chunk of that energy to do the work I love: telling stories. I’ve been telling stories since I was filling my mother’s house with muddy sticks of my own.

Some of my first stories were written in crayon and those scented markers that almost certainly weren’t good for a 7-year-old to be smelling all day. Then I started writing songs, which are just stories you can snap your fingers to. Then I started writing papers for professors who wanted to hear stories about history and psychologists. I often had to come up with stories about why those papers weren’t turned in on time. Most of my stories now are told around campfires, kitchen tables, or snuggled up in bed with the fam. But some of my favorite stories to tell are about the wild adventure of love.

There will be a moment at the end of your day, after the hours spent getting dressed up with your people, after sharing vows with one another, after partying harder than you’ve ever partied in your life. There will be a moment when you both collapse onto a chair or bed or hardwood floor, exhausted and amazed. You’ll kick off your heels, or flats, or hiking boots. You’ll throw your tie on the floor or hang it up if you’re real responsible. You’ll shake off the dirt and dust and rice from your dress. And you’ll look at each other and say “Did we just get married?” And even though the whole day feels like a whirlwind, with little moments flashing in and out of your head, the answer will be “Yes. You just got married!”

You’ll spend the next few weeks remembering little bits and pieces and talking with each other about your favorite moments, scrolling through photos from friends and family, hearing stories from guests who celebrated with you. And then one day, you’ll sit down to check your email and you’ll see a message in your inbox: “Your Wedding Film is Ready!!” You’ll freak out for a second, debate whether you should wait for your partner or just watch it now (you should probably wait), and eventually you’ll hit play. And every moment that you’ve remembered or forgotten or never saw will play back in front of your eyes. The first time of many, experiencing this part of your wild adventure all over again.