Who am I?! Let me tell you.

My first blog post, AHHH!!!

WELCOME! I am so glad you’re here! Since I’ve started on this crazy journey, I’ve met a lot of really wonderful people. In such, I realized many of you really don’t know who I am, why I started this business, what makes me qualified, etc etc. So. I decided that my first blog post would be all about ME and what led me here. 

I want to start by saying, while I love writing, I’m not always the best at it. Sometimes I miss punctuation, sometimes I don’t use proper grammar. I am a stickler when reading other people’s work, but when it comes to writing my own stuff, sometimes I just miss things. You can save the correcting because chances are, when I go back to read this, I’ll probably correct myself. ;)

I also want to say that sometimes, I write exactly how I speak! Meaning, sometimes a big ol’ rant comes through, or I say things that sound a little strange when reading them. I’m cool with it, and I like it this way. So let it be! :P

Okay. Who am I? Well. If you haven’t learned by now, my name is Aubri. I am 30 years old, I have 2 super cute babes (I’m biased, I know), and a really handsome, big-bearded husband. We live in Genoa, IL, but we consider ourselves Sycamore-ians as well since we both work and do most of our eating/shopping there. 

I am actually from the Bloomington-Normal area. I grew up in a tiny little 800 people town. I literally could walk outside and hear the cows moo-ing and the pigs oink-ing. One time I was late for a musical rehearsal because my friend’s goats were having babies and we had to help. I’m not joking. 

I didn’t get into a ton of trouble because, well, there wasn’t a lot of trouble to get into. I grew up with Friday night football games which transitioned to Friday night basketball games, which I was a competitive cheerleader for. I was involved in just about everything, from cheerleading to volleyball, switching over to drum major in my marching band, and I was involved in every single musical and play. I did it ALL, which to do so, I had to be very organized, strong-willed, and responsible.

I then went on to college where I was less involved but more focused. I spent the majority of my four years trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted to do with my life. If you can’t tell by the career change at 30 years old, I wasn’t successful in that. BUT I did learn that I LOVED planning events through being a Greek Panhellenic President and helping plan events through my sorority. I didn’t realize that was the start of it until recently, but it definitely was.

Post college, I was still planning parties and events. I threw Barbie parties for my favorite twins (what…?), a Californian party for my now husband (didn’t know it at that time!! *cue awwww*), and other random events for friends and family. I was the decorator, the organizer, the communicator. And I LOVED it. I also planned my whole wedding (with the help of my equally amazing planner mom!). There’s little that I love more than being stressed before a big party. It is such a thrill!!! 

Fast forward a few years. Alex, my now husband, had been my friend for four years. Friend. I swear, that’s it!! But one day, we just started looking at each other differently. We went from playing thumb-wars in his parent’s shed to getting married in about a year of dating. He is my best friend. We fight, we cuddle, we adventure. We’ve laughed a LOT and cried a little. He is my BIGGEST supporter. When I talk about a new dream of mine, his response is almost always, “well, just do it.” He even supported my crazy dreams for the wedding we (I ;)) planned in 6 months. The majority of the time, he just supports me in my crazy dreams and helps me to make them come true. Isn’t that what we all dream of?! 

We had two babies in two years. Yep. Not planned. BUT. They are the freaking best. Oliver, my first babe, is the one who made me realize that I did NOT want to work full time as a Bank Manager anymore. I would have been gone every day from 7 am to 6 pm. I know that works for some people, but that just isn’t the way I wanted to raise my babies. So, I quit, Pretty randomly. I was REALLY good at what I did at the bank, but I just couldn’t be away that long. Instead I became a part-time Youth Minister. It allowed me to be out of the house part of the time and at home with the kids the rest. It is the perfect balance. However, while I LOVE what I do, I knew something was still missing. 

I ended up also picking up a job at Blumen Gardens, a beautiful local wedding venue. I am the Assistant Event Coordinator. Most of my job responsibilities are what I now do in my local business planning/coordinating! I help lead vendors, I make decisions for couples when they aren’t available to do so, and I make sure the day runs smoothly. So now I’m working about 50 hours a week because I’m absolutely insane. BUT I still get my three full days at home with my kiddos. I am super blessed to be able to still do that.

Finally, at the age of 30, I know what I want to do in life. I think it’s always kind of been there, knocking at the door, trying to get me to answer. But I just couldn’t see it. I NEED to be the person who will help couples have the best day ever. Whether that be planning the whole wedding for them or just helping that day with making it perfect, that’s what I love to do. I also love planning ANY party!! I don’t want to lose the super fun birthday party planning. Maybe throw an amazing Quincenera or a for-once fun corporate party. Maybe a retirement party here and there?! I love planning ALL kinds of parties. My focus, for now, is weddings.

Sometimes it kind of feels like I’m living this fantasy life. How could it possibly be so good?! Now, obviously, it’s not always perfect. I am someone who will be SUPER real with you. I’m not going to pretend I’m having the best day ever when it sucks. I won’t be the person who tells you what you want to hear when what you really need is to hear how it actually is. I promise to give my thoughts with tactfulness and care, but I promise to always tell the truth. Maybe in the next post, we’ll talk a little about my enneagram 1w9...but for today, we’ll stick to this. I am a perfectionist, I am sometimes hard on myself, but those characteristics are part of what makes me so good at my job. Everything I’ve gone through and learned in my life has been leading me here. Isn’t that the American dream?! Maybe I’ve reached it. ;)

I can’t wait to make my next blog post!! But for now, I’ll let this one end. How do you end posts? I always struggle with that. Maybe I’ll think of a tagline or something. For now...BYE!!! Until next time. <3

—Aubri