Three years into our story: Happy Anniversary to us!

I can’t believe Sean and I have hit our 3-year mark already! Yesterday we celebrated our proposal anniversary. That’s right, Sean and I got engaged the night before our elopement. I love telling our elopement story because it’s so different from the traditional wedding; it’s so… us. And I love bringing these photos back up because to this day it is still my favorite set of photos. Forever grateful to one of my favorite photographers, Carolina, for capturing our first milestone as a couple.

Sean and I met in 2014 after I came back from LDAC. It was unexpected for me to fall so hard for Sean since I had just gotten myself out of a whirlwind of a relationship, and I had just found my footing again being myself. But there was something different about Sean that kept my attention, and it was probably the fact that he and I seemed to be the same person (for the most part, I’m definitely meaner than Sean is). Sean and I dated all throughout college. We were apart for some time because of his career and my school was on the other side of the state. When I graduated from nursing school, my career brought me halfway across the world to Europe. That’s how we found ourselves in Copenhagen, Denmark.

We had a very intimate ceremony at the Bryllupsalen in Copenhagen’s City Hall. It was just us, his parents, sister, and my mom… and my mom’s random friend. If I had to choose to have a traditional wedding, I’d choose a place with the same aesthetic as the Rådhuspladsen. Every moment of our elopement felt like it was in a fairy tale.

After our ceremony, we walked over to the Botanisk have (Botanical Garden) for our photos. When I saw this place online, I knew that it was where I wanted my photos taken with Sean. It was definitely the best way to capture our fairy tale elopement. What I loved about Copenhagen, is that on the entire walk to the garden, everyone was congratulating us on getting married. So it was like we had a giant wedding party of strangers throughout the entire day.

So where are we now?

Sean and I still ended up spending about 1.5 years apart after we got married. When it was time for him to move duty stations, I put in the paperwork to follow. I left my European dream early and moved to Korea. We were still apart in Korea by 4 hours (due to Seoul traffic) but it was better than being a hemisphere away. We were lucky enough to escape Korea, and move to good ole’ Texas together. We aren’t fans of living here, but we’re grateful that we are able to be together especially since we’ve started our little family here.

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Dear Babe,

I can’t believe that you and I have made it to three years! It doesn’t feel that long, but it also feels like we’ve been together for so much longer. The past 3 weeks, I’ve loved watching you learn how to be a daddy to Maverick. From the moment that you held him, it’s like we were complete. I know that there have been some trying times we’ve had together, but I’m so glad to know that we work as a team to get through it all. Building our temporary home in Texas has been so much fun, especially since we finally have just one household. This upcoming year is going to be crazy together as we learn our new roles as parents, but I can’t wait to see where it takes us. I love you so much! Maverick and I are lucky to have you in our lives.

Love, Jakki

Thankful for: Photographer Edition

  Sean and I have been together for almost 6 years now, and we’ve had so many adventures all across the globe.  We’ve spent so much time apart in the 6 years we’ve been together, that pictures used to happen over SKYPE.  Our photos used to be screenshots of each other during a video call.  We would always take the time and effort to hire someone to take our photos during the times we were together.  So, I’m taking the time to really appreciate the ladies who have helped us keep the memories throughout the years during our biggest milestones.

Our Elopement by Carolina Segre – Copenhagen, Denmark

  I found Carolina from an extensive search through Instagram and Google.  It was my first time looking for a foreign photographer, and I was terrified I wouldn’t be successful due to the language barrier.  When I reached out to her, she was extremely easy to connect with.  Carolina’s work on Instagram captivated me, because you could see the realness it all of her photos.  When we met her on our wedding day, she was so easy going.  Everyone was so comfortable during the photo sessions, and all of the photos she captured were beautiful.  She really took her time to get intimate shots of our small ceremony, and we greatly appreciate it.  I think my favorite part of the shoot was when she pulled out a giant jumpsuit to get down & dirty into bushes to capture shots.  I was so surprised with how dedicated she was with her work.  Carolina also travels outside of Copenhagen to do photography, so you know that we’re going to be reaching out to her again when we’re back in Europe!

Location of Shoot: Ceremony at Rådhuspladsen (City Hall), Botanisk Have (Botanical Gardens) of Copenhagen

Our 1st Anniversary by Jas & Jules – Tacoma, Washington

  It was through one of my sorority sisters that I actually found Jas.  I saw her work of my soror and her boyfriend, and I immediately wanted to do another photoshoot with Sean.  When I reached out to her, I was talking to her from Germany, but the communication was still so easy!  Jules was actually also in Germany at the time, and I hadn’t found that out until the day of our shoot.  These two ladies are bada$s women, who take their work so seriously.  Just from following them on social media, you can tell that they pour every ounce of their souls into making sure they’re doing the best for their customers.  The one thing I really appreciated about Jas during out shoot was her patience with us when we asked for photos with our fur baby Okami.  Okami is not the easiest to photograph because she will literally turn away from any type of camera lens, but Jas was able to get us some amazing photos with Okami!

Location of Shoot: Fort Steilacoom Park, WA

Our Baby’s Announcement by Northern Lily Photography – Seoul, South Korea

  Michelle is SO understanding.  I have to start off with that because we had to reschedule due to so many weather warnings in South Korea, that when we finally met up, I was surprised.  This lady also puts her heart into her work, and you can tell because it seems like she’s pumping out all sorts of photos all hours of the day on her social media.  It makes you wonder how she has so much time to shoot and edit, but she does it!  Really, our day was just so special with her because we were all so high on life due to the fact that we found out we were pregnant, and this was going to be our baby’s first announcement to the world. 

Location of Shoot: Mulhyanggi Arboretum, Osan, South Korea

Our Maternity Shoot by Memories by Christine Mendoza – El Paso, Texas

  Our most recent photo shoot was with Christine and it was for our maternity shoot.  I connected with Christine through a Facebook group because I saw she had questions about living in Germany.  It wasn’t too long until I realized that she was the mastermind behind the beautiful photos I was seeing all over the El Paso Facebook page on business days.  Christine is a very down-to-earth, easy-going photographer.  She brought so many dresses for me to wear for the shoot which was nice because I didn’t have to go through the trouble of finding something to wear.  All of the work that she puts out looks amazing, and I’m sad that she’ll be gone when our baby arrives, but we’re so excited for her family to experience Europe!

Thank you to all the ladies that have given Sean and I beautiful memories to look back on during our time together.  These photos are going to be something that we cherish forever.

Location of Shoot: Red Sands, El Paso, Texas