About 365 days of marriage

I started this blog in April of 2011. At the time, Bret and I were wedding photographers and it was a way to share how marriage is more about the day to day and so much more than the wedding day itself. For about 5 years, I blogged about the joys and sorrows of the Christian walk, marriage, work, family and friends. I’ve blogged every day since a few weeks after I started. In May of 2015, we photographed our last wedding. Now, I have become passionate about simplicity, particularly in marriage, Christianity, business, travel and life. For a number of reasons, we have become minimalists. I’ve found that having simplicity makes life so much deeper, refreshing and joyful. I hope that this blog will help others see the benefits of living simply.

Day 3051 – Fallback Friday To A Fun Behind The Scenes!

Posted on November 17, 2017 by 365 days of marriage

This came up in my On This Day today, and I wanted to reshare! Such a fun wedding, and a fun behind the scenes post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Originally Posted 11/17/14
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whenever I do a behind the scenes, I try to include at least one “nice” picture of us….

day_1955a

day_1955c

But we tend to attract fun and silly clients, so the “nice” pictures don’t last long…

<img src="https://365daysofmarriage.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/day_1955b.jpg?w=584" alt="day_1955b" width="584" height="389" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-8889" /

When the couple is eating dinner, we tend to kind of sit back, relax a little and watch the action. Bret decided this was the best spot…

day_1955d

“Ha ha, I’m just kidding guys, you can enjoy your meal in peace.”

day_1955e

“Sherry, will you tell me a story? It’s a good time, right?”

day_1955f

Bret always seems to get the cake body guard task…

day_1955g

“Ummmm, yea, I took a bite….is that ok?”

day_1955h

And to finish out….I love this shot kicking back with the bride showing her some fun shots. 🙂

day_1955i

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 3050 – Blogging For Six And A Half Years – or – Almost Half A Million Words Written

Posted on November 16, 2017 by 365 days of marriage

Six and a half years of writing every day. Six and a half years of sharing stories about marriage, travel, business, wedding photography, silly things, serious things, my alcoholism, grief, joy, minimalism, etc. It has been a wonderful, humbling, amazing, slow journey. The other day, I did a little math, and realized I’ve written almost half a million words. It’s hard to say the exact number because there are a few Bret guest posts, there are some days I only share a photo, there are some days I write really long posts. But I did the following calculation – 6.5 x 365 = 2372.5 posts/days x 200 words (figured that’s a good average) = 474,500 words. People with sometimes say, “wow! You blog EVERY day? How do you do it??” Honestly, it’s just become a habit. It’s one of those things that I automatically do. Some days are harder to write than others. Some days aren’t my best work. Some days I’m lazy. But it is a habit in my life, and one of the longest kept habits I’ve ever had. After reading Dream Big, Think Small (*Amazon Affiliate Link – because I truly believe in this book) by Jeff Manion, my whole mindset about achieving my goals and dreams completely changed. Before I used to think, there’s no way I could do XYZ, it will take forever to do! But after I read the book, I realized, wait, if I do a little bit of something every day, it builds up to something big. I only have to look at my blog to see a HUGE thing I’ve done. Here’s the thing, in some ways, I don’t think the blog is a big deal, because it’s just something I do. But when I take a step back, and see what it has amassed, what it totals up to, I am just in awe. Just me showing up every day has lead to something I’m very proud of. Rereading my posts (less than 1000 to go! Eeep!) has shown me how much potential rough content I have for other things – more ebooks, digital products, etc. It’s shown me I don’t need to reinvent the wheel when creating things.

I sit here, on the verge of tears with gratitude….for YOU, my dear faithful readers. Thank you for allowing me to take part of your day. Thank you for coming back. Thank you encouraging me to keep going through your views, likes, comments, and shares. Here’s to another 6.5 years, or more. Happy anniversary friends!!!

And here’s to my first photo on the blog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 3049 – I Love To Write Day

Posted on November 15, 2017 by 365 days of marriage

When I saw this fun day pop up, I thought, “wow, that is SO true oh me now!” As a kid and young adult, I liked to write. I think at one point I did want to be a writer when I grew up. But like many things in life, it got pushed to the side as a “you can’t do that as a job” type thing. I still got the nagging thought that I needed to write a book. What that book would be about changed over the years, but the feeling wouldn’t go away. While it took me about three years to finally finish and publish my first book, I don’t regret the process. It changed me in so many ways. The second book was much easier, since it was a more practical topic, and I wrote and published in less than six months. My third book has been a lot harder, in some ways even more than my first book (digging into your struggles as an alcoholic and sharing that with the world wasn’t something I’d choose to do). And yet, I am still enjoying the process. I am still enjoying writing every day. I’m so thankful that I finally listened to that part of myself that needed to get words out to the world.

So a very happy I Love To Write Day to you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 3048 – Lessons Learned From Minimalist Travel – repost

Posted on November 14, 2017 by 365 days of marriage

I came across this post a day or two ago while rereading my blog posts and I thought it had some great lessons for today!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
originally posted 12/27/2014
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In normal Jen and Bret fashion, we waited until the day before we left to pack our bags for our trip. While we were packing, we had a crazy thought – only take two carryon bags. So we took everything out of our bags and looked at what we had…and we realized we could do it. We’re here for about ten days and brought enough for that time. Here’s what I learned about myself and life in the process.

– When you’re forced to pick only what you absolutely need, the unimportant becomes obviously apparent.
– If you think something is impossible, if you HAVE to attempt it, you might find that it is possible.
– When everything is in your possession, you don’t have to wait for others.
– When you do something you’ve never done before, it’s a really satisfying feeling to actually do it.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about going through security with shampoo and all that jazz (because I would always check it in the past), but it was a great feeling knowing that I could. We were through security in about 15 minutes….on Christmas Eve no less! It was also great when we got to California, we didn’t have to wait for our bags, we could walk right out the door and meet Bret’s parents.

So, lesson learned? It is possible to travel across the country for ten days with only the clothes and backpack on your back. 🙂

day_01926a

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 3047 – Setting Boundaries And Keeping Them

Posted on November 13, 2017 by 365 days of marriage

I have a whole lot going on in my life. Working for clients, working for Bret, writing my third book, building my online presence, reading 300 books this year (29 to go…what?!), just to name a few. I’m learning that having boundaries in my life is the way to fit everything in. I’ve noticed a few habits that have been making it much harder to meet my goals. I’ve noticed a very unhealthy habit with my phone. From checking work emails WAY too much….I mean, seriously, how much is actually going to happen between 8:30 p.m. and 6 a.m.? I was also playing way too many games. I cut them all off, but I have found I need a few. So I’m up to 2 games. As for checking work emails, I am so freakin’ proud of myself….I didn’t check them at all from about Friday at 5 p.m. until, well, I haven’t checked them yet. I always thought the ideal day would include free time all day to use as I wished, but having structure is so important for my workflow. I still have a long way to go, but it feels great to see results already.

How do you set boundaries in your life?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

365daysofmarriage

Simplicity in Marriage, Christianity, Travel, Business, Life

Author Archives: 365 days of marriage

About 365 days of marriage

Day 3051 – Fallback Friday To A Fun Behind The Scenes!

Day 3050 – Blogging For Six And A Half Years – or – Almost Half A Million Words Written

Day 3049 – I Love To Write Day

Day 3048 – Lessons Learned From Minimalist Travel – repost

Day 3047 – Setting Boundaries And Keeping Them