The story behind the date:

Originally, we were considering July 11th as our wedding date because that day in 2020, Dylan realized Natalie was the woman he never wanted to lose.  Of course, Natalie was already enamored and hoped their journey would lead to forever. We had been together for 9 months by this point. For months prior we had been talking about our dreams, what we wanted in a marriage and the type of parents we hoped to be. This was the day we knew we wanted to make our dreams a reality together. Summer is not our season though, so out of sentiment of the day and our anniversary (October 2nd) we decided to swap the numbers from 7/11 to make 11/7. 

This isn't to say we didn't have doubts or that everything is perfect. For those of you who know Natalie and Dylan well, you know they are opposites. Dylan is scheduled and consistent with his daily routine, yet Natalie doesn't do anything at the same time from one day to the next and the only thing consistent about her routine is the unpredictability. Natalie loves structure and plans ahead, Dylan thrives on emergencies so less planning the more...exciting! Dylan grew up in the city, Natalie is a small town girl and speaks from the heart and Dylan is as technical as it can get. So as you can see...we definitely have our personality quirks and differences to learn together. When times get tough, our dreams and values help us come back together, and in the end we couldn't imagine a life without each other.

Over the years, we have listened to dozens of audios, read several books and sought out other resources to help us work through our differences. Below are some of the building blocks for our relationship that we'd recommend to every couple!

1. What Makes Love Last - Gottman 
2. Love and Respect - ​Emerson Eggerichs 
3. Non-Violent Communication - Marshall Rosenberg 
4. Boundaries - Henry Cloud and John Townsend
5. Have the hard conversations now... it only gets harder if you wait 
6. The ADHD Effect on Marriage - Melissa Orlov (if applicable)
7. Learn your personalities - 16personalities.com 
8. Always say "Goodnight, I love you" no matter what
9. Each night share one thing your grateful for 
and one thing you want to remember <3
10. Learn your love language