{I thought I would do this in an interview form so you can read it with her own lovely words}
KRISTINA + KIP
Ann: How did you meet the love of your life?We met in law school (nothing exciting there!), but I do note that
Kip and I were friends first, and I didn't start to see him in a
different light until a group of us stayed at his parents' house in
Houston during law school for a friend's wedding. Meeting his family
and seeing how he interacted with them showed me a different side of
him and peaked my interest:) At his friend's wedding, Kip also spent
time showing me pictures of his then 2 year-old niece, which also
revealed that he was just a sweet guy inside.
Ann: When or at what moment did you know he was the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?
Kristina: Kip and I say we did not have a "fairy tale romance." That is, we
didn't start dating and automatically know that each other was the
one. We were both hesitant, because we both had in mind that we
weren't ready to settle down and because I was planning on returning
to my native California after graudation to go back to my family. The
fact that I wasn't intending to stay in Texas created a facade in our
relationship that it wasn't going to last, but that we were going to
enjoy it while it did. After graduation, although Kip and I had an
amazing relationship, I wasn't ready to change my plans and I moved
back to California (I even took the California Bar Examination). But,
Kip and I couldn't imagine breaking up. After several months of
long-distance, I decided to move back to Texas and give it a shot.
Immediately Kip and I knew we made the right decision and knew we would
eventually get married.
Ann: You faced some challenges recently, what were they and how did you overcome it?
Kristina: We got engaged exactly two years after I moved to Houston. Kip is
extremely close to his parents, and I became part of the family, too
(I even lived with Kip's parents while I was looking for a job and
getting settled). Soon after we got engaged, we decided we didn't
want to wait another year to plan a big wedding and set a date of June
12th for a wedding in Cancun with only family and close friends. On
April 30, 2011, we got a call that Kip's parents had been in a serious
car accident on I-10, in which they had crashed into the freeway
barrier wall at a high speed. Kip's dad suffered a broken neck and
broken back (he was extremely lucky not to have suffered any spinal
cord injury) and Kip's mom broke her back. Kip and I had to decide
whether to cancel the wedding, because we couldn't imagine a ceremony
without both of his parents there. Kip's parents were adamant that we
have the ceremony, and hoped that at least his mom would heal enough
to be able to go (Kip's dad had a halo and was hospitalized for seven
weeks, and therefore there was no chance he would be able to go).
With their encouragement, we went forward with the wedding in Cancun.
Kip's mom was there, and Kip's dad watched a live webcast of the
ceremony. Although it was heartbreaking to miss Kip's dad on our
wedding day, it was a beautiful ceremony and an experience that has
brought us all closer together.
Thank you so much Kristina for sharing this amazing story.
Congratulations to you and Kip! btw, your pictures are breathtaking!!!
