The New Wifestyle Profiles | Katie

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greetings from meixco! i am super excited to bring back “the new wifestyle profiles” series! for new readers, this is essentially insight into how women in our community are living in their own relationships and what it means to be an empowered woman to them. i am looking to feature more women throughout the year so if you’re interested or know someone else who might be, check out the guest post information and let’s connect!

we are kicking it off again with katie! she has a unique story of changing things up in her life to ensure happiness, adventure and her relationship are the focal points! let’s show her some love and thank you katie for sharing a piece of you with us!


Hello Wifestyle Readers!

My name is Katie and I am from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I am a nurse and really enjoy my work, even though it can feel like the most stressful job in the world sometimes. I am an avid baker and am usually the first one to offer to make dessert. I even made my own wedding cake, albeit it was a little crooked! I also love to travel, camp, hike and feel like I am a part of nature. My husband and I have a blog called LoveTripping that focuses on keeping relationships strong. Now that you know a little more about me let’s get into the nitty gritty.

the new wifestyle profile katie

My Relationship Role Models

I want to start by saying I have always been really lucky to have amazing role models around me. My mother, sister and grandmothers are such strong women who work hard, are well respected, and are the most loving people imaginable. My mom and my dad have been together for 35 years and my grandparents for 60 years now. I still get lost in watching my grandparents interact with each other. The love they have is so strong it resonates and encompasses the whole room. I never had to be told how important respect, equality, and unselfish love in a relationship was, because I had amazing examples of it in front of me. I know not everyone is lucky enough to be surrounded by so much love so I make sure to never take it for granted.

Our Love Story

My husband Chris and I met 10 years ago, when we agreed to be our friends chaperones on their first date. Our friends didn’t date long but Chris and I became good friends and eventually he convinced me to go on a date with him. He quickly won me over when he bought me ice-cream (my one true weakness!) and I guess I won him over too because when his colleague called with a “work emergency” escape route he told them they could handle it themselves. Our relationship started very slowly and all at once.

We knew right away that this was something special but it was over a year before we were ready to say our “I love you’s.” Looking back, I think we both knew that once we said “I love you”, that was it, we were in it for the long haul. Chris is a quiet dreamer who is always coming up with a new big idea and I am there to plan and organize while making as much noise as possible. We have spent many months living in a campervan and traveling the world so we have learned to spend 24/7 together while still giving each other our space.

the new wifestyle marriage advice PuertoRico 236

It has been a hard balance to achieve and we are always having to reconnect and recognize when we go too far in one direction or another. That is one of the reasons we started our blog LoveTripping. Even though we are in a very happy relationship, we are aware that it still takes constant effort to maintain and we want to help other couples do the same.

My Wifestyle

Our relationship has always been about lifting each other up. We don’t put each other on a pedestal but we do push and motivate each other to get to the top by ourselves. This kind of encouragement allows us to remain individuals while being part of an awesome relationship. I am so grateful to have a partner in crime when it comes to doing things a little unconventionally. We have travelled the world, changed careers, gone back to school, and moved far away, because our happiness matters more than doing what is expected of us. One of our best examples of this is when we moved our wedding up by 6 months, cut the guest list in half, and planned the day we really wanted instead of one that we thought we should have. We wrote a blog post on some of the unconventional choices we have made here!

the new wifestyle marriage advice K&C Wedding Ceremony Yen Photography (94)

Yen Photography

Sometimes getting into relationships at a young age like I did (I was 19 when we started dating) can hinder self-development. It becomes so easy to just be a girlfriend and nothing else. When I started dating Chris, he saw more in me then I saw in myself, and he has helped me become more self-assured and confident. I have discovered qualities in myself that are independent of our relationship. Being a nurse is very fulfilling and forces me to realize how capable I can be and my new-found love of fitness has helped me feel stronger (literally!) It’s a strange thing that the more independent I feel as a woman and a person, the more satisfied and comfortable I am in our relationship. I have also found that having strong female friends has been so empowering. I look at my girlfriends and see intelligence, beauty, independence, and confidence and I am proud to be in such amazing company. You are a reflection of the people who surround you.

the new wifestyle marriage advice

Having a good marriage is so much more than what happens between you and your spouse. I am happy in my marriage because I am happy in my career and I am happy with my friendships and my family. I am happy with myself and who I am. That being said, it means I need to constantly work on maintaining happiness in my life and being present in my relationship. It is too easy to look at a happy couple and think “they are so lucky”, when in reality it should be “they work so hard”.

Questions

1) What is one awesome quality your partner saw in you that you didn’t always see in yourself?
2) What do you do independently from your partner to improve your relationship?

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8 Comments

  1. Katie

    May 22, 2015 at 8:34 am

    Thank you so much Chelsea for allowing me the opportunity to reflect on myself and my relationship with Chris and share it with your awesome Wifestyle readers! I love your vision and hope I gave a little insight into my vision too! Cheers!

    • chelsea

      May 25, 2015 at 3:36 am

      thanks so much for sharing part of you katie! love seeing insight into how people view the world is powerful. i am so happy you had so many strong examples of great women and relationships katie 🙂

  2. Audrey

    May 22, 2015 at 9:55 am

    Katie! Your life is so fun (and challenging)! A campervan? That’s awesome! It sounds like you and Chris have learned so much! You guys are writing such a wonderful story together!
    Audrey recently posted…FOUR

    • Katie

      May 23, 2015 at 7:42 am

      Thank You Audrey! I know I am in the right place in life because every challenge we face becomes fun and I hope our story sounds like one of those epic adventure novels by the end of it. Really appreciate you reading my wifestyle profile! Have a great weekend

  3. Elyse

    May 22, 2015 at 1:18 pm

    Your first paragraph in wifestyle about lifting each other up, to motivate each other to be the best that we can be, is spot on! Love it!

    1. My husband always talks about my caring heart. I don’t always see it because between giving out handouts to homeless people and volunteering on Sundays, I can be such a grouch. I’m a work in progress though, just like everyone else!

    2. The most important thing I do for our relationship, is spend time by myself. I’m an extreme introvert, and he’s an extrovert so between work and just life, I need an evening to myself along with a half hour everyday or I become grouchy(see #1!)
    Elyse recently posted…What’s Your Love Language

  4. Katie

    May 23, 2015 at 7:46 am

    Elyse Thank You for reading! I really do feel that in a good relationship we bring out the parts of each other that we take for granted or or blind to in ourselves. And it is always a work in progress but that’s the fun part! My husband is also an introvert so sometimes he just needs to put headphones on and escape into his own world otherwise he loses his sense of self a bit.
    Thank you for answering my questions, we are always learning from each other!
    Cheers!

  5. Sarah Elizabeth || SEDiva Abroad

    May 23, 2015 at 11:23 pm

    Aaaaah! Why is this the most perfect and well timed guest post I’ve ever seen? xx Heading over to your blog right now. xx Thanks for sharing!
    Sarah Elizabeth || SEDiva Abroad recently posted…14 day relationship challenge

    • Katie

      May 28, 2015 at 7:10 am

      Thank you Sarah

      I’m so happy you enjoyed my post :)! I will be sure to check out your site as well!

      Cheers!