Hey everyone! I’m Bri, associate wedding photographer with the amazing Merry Character team.

During the week, I am a social worker for the state, which I love, but can also be pretty dang stressful! I am recently engaged to the (I can say this for sure because I’ve wanted to marry him since I met him)absolute love of my life. He is my calm in the crazy, my absolute best friend, and the man I could only dream of spending my life with. He is my best asset and the absolute proudest part of my life right now! We share a wild dog named Yogi who loves the snow, loves to act tough, and LOVES his mom and dad. I forgive his incessant shedding and drooling because he brings us SO much joy! I find my peace in the outdoors, but we’ve kind of made it our thing to explore big cities as a little contrast to our slow-paced town life. My word for 2019 is “light” – I am actively working to bring more light not only to my life, but to those around me! Following Mary and Holly’s beautiful blog posts about hard things they have worked through, I thought I’d do a little comparison of the things I love about myself, and the things I struggle with.

When I love, I love BIG. Whether it be in relationships, with friends, or with family. I would do absolutely anything for the people who bring me happiness (but don’t ask me to jump off something high, like a bridge, cause that ain’t happening).

I am a hard worker. I pride myself in working hard and doing my absolute best, even if my best is not as good as the next person’s best. I find fulfillment in completing tasks and being able to reflect and know there was nothing else I could have given to that task.

I love to explore. I would rather plan a completely itinerary-free trip than take a trip that was completely planned out prior to arrival. I’d rather take off on a free weekend and just drive until I find something that peaks my interest as opposed to having a plan.

I’m calm. Not much gets me riled up, in the sense of being mad. I do get overly excited and a little hyper at times, but hey, that just keeps me on my toes because not even I know when that’s coming.Haha!

I like to challenge myself. Just in the last year, I did a few things that I never thought I would: graduated college, ran a triathlon, and started a new full-time job! If I get to a point that I feel stuck, I know it is time for a change and off I go!

Not being great at everything I do. I know this is an impossible feat, but if I start something and am no good at it, I’d rather just walk away than keep trying. I’ve done this way too many times to count. I’m now trying to be more cognizant of these times and pushing myself to continue trying until I’m better instead of just walking away.

Comparison, comparison, comparison. “Comparison is the thief of joy,” I know. But I think we’re hard-wired, especially in this social media world, to constantly compare ourselves, our homes, our bodies, our relationships, and our work to others’. I have found that social media triggers this in me WAY more than the real world does. But how does that make sense? I don’t even personally know half the people I follow on Instagram, but somehow, I think I NEED everything they promote, or need to mold my life to look a certain way because this other person does. I have a way better handle on this now and have learned to appreciate my differences, but Lord knows we can all improve a little in this department, and this improvement is a lifetime task!