Did you suspect that my quirky habit of consuming travel guide books cover-to-cover for months before a trip would turn into a blog post just days before we set out on one of our big world adventures? Me neither. But here I am, thinking about a conversation Joel and I had on our way home […]

It’s going to happen. At some point in your marriage, you’re going to not feel the warm fuzzy feelings. The feelings will border (or deeply plunge) on the I-love-you-but-I-don’t-like-you-right-now kind of sentiment. There’s even a 99.9% chance that at some point in your relationship, you’re going to ask yourself, “Have I made a mistake?” It’s […]

This is the fifth and final love language in our series on Gary Chapman’s book The Five Love Languages, and it’s perhaps often misunderstood. Women see the words “physical touch” and automatically roll their eyes. “Oh yes. Guys always want us to speak that love language.” But it’s legit – and it means more than […]

We’ve been talking about some powerful marriage building this past month! We’re up to the third love language this week, and it’s all about gift. Gifts are pretty self-explanatory, but they’re super powerful for those who speak that language. :) People who love getting gifts aren’t necessarily greedy for things. The actual gift has so […]

I’m really excited about this week’s Mocha because Acts of Service is one of my primary love languages! (Thankfully Joel has a servant’s heart because he gets to use it often!) Acts of service is just like it sounds. It means going above and beyond to do things that serve each other, particularly when it […]

Welcome back to our series on the Five Love Languages! This week we’re highlighting Quality Time. I feel like this love language is getting more and more difficult in our ever-busy culture. Quality time focuses on spending intentional time together that is focused on each other, not focused on an activity that involves participation by […]

Words of Affirmation is one of Joel’s main love languages and something I’ve been learning a lot about! We both really love to encourage others and build people up. But one of the valuable lessons I’ve learned about myself, Joel, marriage, love, and life came from understanding the concept of words of affirmation. I love […]

When we sat down to think about what we wanted our business to stand for, we knew right away that encouraging couples to build the foundation they’ll need for a strong marriage was at the top of the list. We often gift our couples a copy of The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman because […]

For today’s Mocha, we’re are so honored to have our sweet J&A Bride Olivia Pirtle joining us! We photographed Olivia and Derek’s wedding back in 2015, and we have been so blessed to call this amazing couple our dear friends. They’re the kind of friends we get together with for dinner and hear the words, […]

I came across H. Norman Wright’s discussion on self-talk in his book, Now That You’re Engaged, that used a really good example of how our attitudes (and then our self-talk) has a huge impact on how we treat our spouse. Self-talk refers to the frequent conversations we have with ourselves in our minds, kind of […]

Aways assume the best. Easy enough, right? I think back on a night not too long ago. I was in the middle of a stressful week and I was Exhausted. With a capital E. I was already in bed, waiting for Joel to finish up in the office so we could do our devotions and […]

He doesn’t take out the trash. Again. You sigh quite loudly, roll your eyes, and do it yourself. “He’s just so lazy sometimes. I don’t even ask him to do that much.” He comes home late from work and dropped on the couch in front of the TV after dinner, leaving you to clean the […]