It was at a surprise 14th birthday party for her her best friend. She said that she “saw him (showing off) … and didn’t want anything to do with him.” He spotted her and says that was when his pursuit started. It took a while. Over a year in fact. Their first date was on […]

Her friend, Heather, loves playing matchmaker and had trying for months to set them up. Heather & her husband Greg had a housewarming party on Memorial Day weekend in 2009 and Heather seized the opportunity to introduce Mollie & Jake. There was no forewarning. Heather simply introduced them and then disappeared. “We were left here […]

They weren’t strangers when they saw each other one afternoon after a Hawkeye football game. They knew each other from high school, but had never hung out. But when they saw each other after the game, now in their college years, they started talking and they just never stopped. He says he was drawn to […]

It was the Saturday after Valentine’s Day, February 18th. The colored lights spilled over, under, and around the beautiful archway of the Center Street Bridge in downtown Des Moines as they strolled hand-in-hand, breathing in the brisk night air. In the very center of the bridge over the glass floor that looks directly down into […]

The dresses and suits were hanging in the dressing rooms. The bouquets were carefully lined up in vases. Their dog, Kobe, was outside playing fetch with the groomsmen. The breeze whistled through the trees, just gently swaying the leaves. It was glorious. It was perfect. I have a theory that Friday weddings are always a […]

This is how it started. Back when I was a young teenager, our family gift exchange started moving around. First it was Christmas Eve, then it was Christmas morning, then it was Christmas mid-morning after brunch, then Christmas post-lunch, then Christmas evening. The kicker was one year in my high school days when our gift […]