Meet Your Photographer: Andrea's Love Story
Meet Your Photographer:
Andrea's Love Story
By: Andrea
Intro by Jill:
Even though Valentine’s Day is over, love is still in the air. Andrea is one of our amazing photographers here at The Boudoir Studio! When she is not here at the studio she is busy raising her 3 kids with her husband Zach. This week, she shares with us the serendipitous way Zach came in and out of her life which ultimately ended with them being together. I guess it is true when they say, “If you love somebody, let them go . . . if they return, they were always yours”.
Check out Andrea’s love story:
I truly believe that how we got to where we are today is just what was meant to be, and while we didn’t always know, the universe did. We were presented with challenges and obstacles that have gotten us to where we are today. I suppose you could say our story started all the way back in 7th grade! Zach and I both went to the same school K-12. In 7th grade, we happened to be in the same English class and sat next to each other. I feel pretty confident that if you looked back on my report card from that year it probably said something along the lines of, “Andrea is frequently distracted,” and “Andrea enjoys socializing with classmates.” Really it was just one classmate - pretty sure you can guess who that was. While there was no magical 7th grade/12-year-old “relationship”, I do recall telling my cousin that he was going to be my boyfriend.
“I truly believe that how we got to where we are today is just what was meant to be, and while we didn’t always know, the universe did. ”
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Fast forward to senior year, we both were seeing other people. We hung out with different crowds basically up until the end of that school year. In fact, I definitely no longer thought he would ever be my boyfriend. But the universe had other plans! For some reason (that is still debated today), Zach thought sitting at a lunch table with a bunch of senior girls would be fun. He was so very wrong. He was constantly annoyed with us and didn’t understand why we talked about the things we talked about or did half the stuff we did yet every day for MONTHS he would join us at our table. This put Zach back into my life just enough. At the very end of senior year, my high school boyfriend and I broke up. Zach and I were both working at the same pizza shop in town and so that’s when our real love story really started to take place.
Again, hello universe, out of the blue, after the break up I texted Zach. I was upset and just wanted someone to talk to. Although he was still seeing his girlfriend at the time he never hesitated to come sit and keep me company. I would stay hours after my shift ended at the pizza shop, going on deliveries with Zach and we would drive around talking. We started going to parties and concerts together. So we spent the first half of that summer in this very teenage drama-filled relationship. He was on and off with his girlfriend, I knew about this; she knew about me; yet we kept going in this circle. Zach was leaving for the army mid-July so there was an end to all this, the question was who would be the one to see him off? Spoiler, it wasn’t me. So that's where it ended after those brief two months of being whatever we were. I went to college that fall, started seeing other people and kept very little contact with Zach other than occasionally running into each other with mutual friends.
“I remember standing there thinking “Damn it, he wasn’t supposed to do that!” Yet he did, and slowly my wall started coming down.”
The fall of my second year of college I transferred schools and was staying in the dorms away from home for the first time. It wasn’t more than a few weeks into school when I was feeling homesick and, again, why I did this I still don’t know. But my roommates and I were all planning on going out so I texted Zach inviting him to come up to go with us. I just wanted a familiar face. To my surprise he said “Sure!” Now this time we were both single, had been for a while, and we were a few years older. He came up and my roommates loved him. He fit right in and we had a great time. And while, truthfully, I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend at the time, again the universe had other plans.
I had these silly rules when I would go out with a guy because I had such a strong wall up and wasn’t willing to let anyone in. Two years after that break up with my high school boyfriend I had such doubt of everyone's intentions and trusted no one. Well, the next morning Zach was leaving to head back home and he broke one of my cardinal rules. I remember standing there thinking “Damn it, he wasn’t supposed to do that!” Yet he did, and slowly my wall started coming down. We ended up spending nearly every weekend together. About a month after that first “date” we were officially dating. Yet we were far from smooth sailing in the years to follow. I come from a very conservative family and Zach had been on his own for years. We were 20 and 21 and Zach was in a place where he had to move out of his current apartment. I was back home at my parent's house and we decided that it was time to get a place together. To say that my parents didn’t take it well is a major understatement. Yet without their full….or really even partial approval we went forward and got an apartment together.
We lived in our apartment for two years. During that time we learned so much about each other and what being in a “grown up” relationship was really like. It put a lot of strain on us. We both were trying to figure ourselves out while holding onto the tiny threads that were keeping our relationship together. Ultimately we decided that living together was no longer beneficial for us financially or for our relationship. We weren’t really ready to call it quits we just knew we needed something to change. So we both moved back home with our parents while continuing to date. My parents, I am sure, were in their glory thinking, “Told you so.” But as I later explained to my mom, yes, that time spent in the apartment may not have been what we thought it would be, it made us that much stronger as a couple and that much more ready and aware of what living together as a couple would be like in the years to come. I truly believe everything that happened in those years shaped who we are and how we manage married life today.
“We weren’t really ready to call it quits we just knew we needed something to change.”
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So jumping ahead a few years to answer how did Zach propose?! We had been together for a while and we knew marriage was in our future, getting engaged was a very open conversation. One morning I was having an off day and I suggested maybe we just go look at engagement rings. He agreed and off we went. We headed into Cornell jewelers and they took us upstairs to where all the engagement rings were and I started trying them on! Now I know this isn’t for everyone. But hear me out. I have strong feelings on wedding rings, I don’t think they are something you upgrade or replace just because. I wanted a forever ring. I also had absolutely no idea what I liked! What I thought I liked I absolutely hated. I learned that I have a bit of OCD when it comes to how my wedding band and engagement ring sit together. So we decided we would pick out a bunch of settings and when the time came Zach could pick whatever setting and diamond size he wanted to get.
So 3-4 months later Zach and I were out to lunch and I again suggested, “Hey let's just go look at those settings again.” Zach agreed, but then he kept disappearing to make phone calls during lunch. I was super annoyed by the third mystery call but didn’t press it . . . much . . . Come to find out Zach had recently been to back to Cornell and had already picked everything out but didn’t want to give away the surprise so he was trying to get in touch with Michael who we had been working with him to let him know to play dumb. Well, they all fooled me because I had no idea of any of this till much later!
“I was super annoyed by the third mystery call but didn’t press it . . . much . . . ”
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Proposal day! We were heading to a Dave Matthews concert at CMAC (yes we’re those fans that have been to more shows then we can count). Well I always said it would be fun to be proposed to at a show. So we went to the concert, it was in full swing, annnnnd nothing . . . all those perfect “get-engaged-to-songs” came and went and - nothing! So I figured well this isn’t it. Much to my surprise, Zach picked the most perfect song, got down on one knee and purposed. It was absolutely perfect!! Of course, I said yes!!
And so began the next chapter of our lives together. Of course, again, nothing goes exactly as planned. We have had a lot of ups and downs, some to be expected, some we never even thought would be part of our story. But every time we come out stronger. It’s work, every day! Now, 6 years of marriage later, we are still trying to understand each other. I want to hash out a disagreement till it's resolved even if that means we're up till 4 am, and Zach wants to walk away and revisit it after everyone has time to relax. I don’t shut my dresser drawers, Zach is neat and tidy. We’re both insanely indecisive. I like to have a plan and make sure everyone is kept in the loop . . . Zach is super last minute. But it all works - we balance each other out. We have so much learning and growing yet to go and that's the most beautiful part of all of this.
“I don’t shut my dresser drawers, Zach is neat and tidy. We’re both insanely indecisive. I like to have a plan and make sure everyone is kept in the loop . . . Zach is super last minute. But it all works - we balance each other out. We have so much learning and growing yet to go and that’s the most beautiful part of all of this.”
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We now have 2 beautiful babies and by the time this blog gets posted, we will have had our third. And we are so excited to see what comes next. What is life with our family being complete, what adventures await us? And better yet who will we become? What traditions will our family have, what big memories will be made? What will we look back on when we are 75 years old and reminisce about? Maybe that's all optimistic in today's world we live in. But we have to believe in our story, we have to believe that we will be there in 45 years sharing those memories with our kids and grandkids. And between now and then we will take each day as it comes.
“But we have to believe in our story, we have to believe that we will be there in 45 years sharing those memories with our kids and grandkids. And between now and then we will take each day as it comes. ”