Meet Your Photographer: Asif & Nicki's Love Story
Meet Your Photographer:
Asif & Nicki's Love Story
By: Asif & Nicki
Intro by Jill:
Asif and Nicki are the husband/wife team and founders of The Boudoir Studio. Asif is one of our very talented photographers and Nicki is affectionately known as our studio mom and studio manager. 19 years and 4 kids later… these two highschool sweethearts recount their love story by giving us both of their perspectives on defining moments that happened early on in their relationship.
Check out Asif and Nicki’s Love Story:
“She was playing some card game with a group of kids and I somehow charmed my way in and laid my head on her lap and boy did it feel like I had glimpsed heaven!”
View fullsize
asif-nicki-a-boudoir-love-story-2.jpg
Asif:
So it was the first day of my second junior year in a private college prep school where I was a boarding student and my parents were paying a hefty premium for me to get a good education. I remember it clear as day, my friend and I were sitting across the street from the main entrance of the school having a casual chat. And then. . . the disruption of my life walks before me: stunned by the gorgeous beauty of this girl walking up the steps of the school, I looked at my friend and we knew we had to walk up and introduce ourselves to her. The only problem was her scary-looking dad and highly perceptive mother who knew exactly what we boys were up to. We proceeded anyway and made the introduction. A week later, at a school picnic, I was definitely drunk on her. She was playing some card game with a group of kids and I somehow charmed my way in and laid my head on her lap and boy did it feel like I had glimpsed heaven! Unfortunately, it got me nowhere. So let’s speed up several months ahead. While I was kind of like a puppy dog (with girls being my favorite treats), I was also highly spiritual and devoted to my religion of that time. I tell you no lies, one night, kneeling on my prayer mat, after finishing up my nightly vigils I remember sheepishly asking God to grant me a crazy wish. I was so scared, thinking God might just zap me dead for such a base and hedonistic request. In spite of being so scared and feeling so sinful, I proceeded anyway. As sincerely as a 17-year-old possibly could, I asked God that he would grant me Nicki’s love, possibly even marriage, and a family with her in the future. It wasn’t just a simple prayer, I sobbed and wailed for this girl in prayer that night.
“...without even thinking I blurted out, “No we wouldn’t, I could never trust you, you and all your college girls.” ”
Nicki:
Since I was new to the school, in 10th grade, I was just happy when anyone was friendly to me. Asif was super friendly, which was really nice. However, it quickly became apparent that he was not only friendly but majorly flirted with most of the girls from our school and the girls from the nearby college. I pegged him as a player and wasn’t interested in him beyond our very casual friendship. One day, during my junior year, we were working in the cafeteria together. He was holding a tray of cups while I was taking them from the tray and setting them on the tables. At one point he said to me, “Don’t we make a great team!?” I knew he meant that to be more than just a friendly comment so without even thinking I blurted out, “No we wouldn’t, I could never trust you, you and all your college girls.”
“ I remember spending a major part of the morning at the nearby floral shop. I had actually convinced the florist to let me arrange the bouquet myself. It was so good I even impressed the florist! ”
View fullsize
asif-nicki-a-boudoir-love-story-3.jpg
Asif:
Those words of Nicki’s hit me hard and before I could even frame a charming flirtatious response I had what I call a God-moment. (You may want to call it a Universe moment. Either way.) I distinctly remember hearing myself talk to myself and I witnessed this inner conversation within me from a third-person perspective. I heard me say to myself, “You know that she is right. There is no way she could ever trust you. You don’t even trust you. So, until you can become worthy of your own trust don’t expect her to trust you either.” You could surely call this a wakeup call or a turning point of sorts for me. Soon it was Thanksgiving banquet day and I had persuaded Nicki to be my date. I remember spending a major part of the morning at the nearby floral shop. I had actually convinced the florist to let me arrange the bouquet myself. It was so good I even impressed the florist! Well, the night did not go as hoped. Nicki was NOT impressed with the flowers, which I spent most of my fortune on at the time and then it also seemed that she was neither interested in being there or being with me. I got so angry, I remember going back to my dorm room right after, recruiting my best bud at the time and off we went chasing those “college girls.” We spent most of the night clubbing and partying. Sadly, I am not proud of how the night ended. However, I guess I wasn’t ready to give up yet. I mustered up the courage and pursued her again shortly thereafter.
“During the second half of my junior year, it seemed like without even trying I was growing closer to him. He clearly seemed to prioritize his pursuit of me over all the other girls and it started to get my attention. ”
Nicki:
So the flowers. . . yes, I did not handle that well. I had thought that we were going only as friends and when he showed up with the biggest bouquet I had ever seen, I got completely overwhelmed. I could feel everyone looking at us and hear people talking about it, and I was embarrassed that my bouquet from my “friend” was so huge it far outdid any other girls’ bouquet! It was such a huge gesture that I basically shut down, not wanting him to get an inkling of an idea that I would be more than his friend. However, after that, things began to change when he didn’t give up his pursuit. During the second half of my junior year, it seemed like without even trying I was growing closer to him. He clearly seemed to prioritize his pursuit of me over all the other girls and it started to get my attention. I will never forget the first time we spoke on the phone, this was a major turning point for me. I had hardly dated anyone, the 2.5 boyfriends I briefly had between the ages of 13-15 were almost a joke. Phone calls with any boy I liked were filled with those uncomfortable silences, so awkward! But when Asif called me, there was not even a split second of silence!! In fact, that phone call opened my eyes to see that there was so much more to this guy than just the shallow, flirty player I had first pegged him to be. I actually wanted to talk to him more and we did!
“Right when I thought I had done a great job describing to her what her life could possibly look like with me, she shattered it all with her response... ”
View fullsize
asif-nicki-a-boudoir-love-story-4.jpg
Asif:
It was one of those phone conversations with Nicki that apprehended me. I had just finished painting this elaborate picture of how I intended to forge a path of my own through college and beyond. It was my goal to pursue the dream of becoming a rich and successful business tycoon. Then I described in detail the opulent lifestyle and home I would build one day nestled atop a mountain where my bathtub (doubling as a hot tub) would, with the press of a button, be elevated to the glass dome in the ceiling. The glass dome would obviously slide open to provide me with the most gorgeous view of the valley below. Right when I thought I had done a great job describing to her what her life could possibly look like with me, she shattered it all with her response. She said to me, “I hate that and am disgusted by it. I would rather be barefoot in a poor country somewhere doing relief work amidst the orphans and the destitute.” She quickly brought me face-to-face with my perceived and false spirituality. I was awake and hooked. That did it and I was sure more than ever that she was the girl for me.
Nicki:
It took many conversations before I was open to the idea of dating him. My religious beliefs were very different from his and in my belief system it was completely wrong for me to date someone with his beliefs. However, I couldn’t deny that we had a deeply spiritual connection that superseded our individual religions. And besides, he had already become my closest friend. Eventually I “gave in” and said yes to dating him in spite of the fact that it was practically a sin for me to date him. My parents certainly weren’t happy about it at first.
Asif:
One day she walked into school beet red and completely flustered. I asked her what was wrong and she let me know she had spent the entire hour-long ride to school fighting with her dad about me. Her dad wanted her to break it off with me right away and she explained to him that we were just dating and that she would never marry me.
Little did she know that this was the decisive moment for me. I looked at her without saying it out loud and declared in my head, “You are my wife and I will marry you.” The rest is history. I married her two years after that day and we are now fast approaching 19 years of being married and have 4 absolutely wonderful kiddos. So you can say for sure, I got the girl and that family I cried out to God for when I was 17. Now, onto building the business and house of our dreams! And the best part is, we get to do it together.
ali-family-photos-2017-033.jpg
“Little did she know that this was the decisive moment for me. I looked at her without saying it out loud and declared in my head, “You are my wife and I will marry you.””