2022 Love List:

Jeremy & Heidi & Jess, Monona, 20 years & 4 years
Grace Novie Stolen (She/Her, Ae/Aer) & Martin (Ze/Hir, They/Them), Washburn, 1 Year
Patsy & Vivian Lin, Madison, 2 years
Sylvester Brown & Giordi Molitor, Milwaukee, 2 years
Joseph & David Rogan-Nordstrom, La Farge, 30+ years
Bear Cunningham & Danielle Jordan, Madison, 2 years

Our love story started online more than 16 years ago. We learned quickly what makes our relationship both fun and strong is our broad sense of humor and our thorough enjoyment of being playful with one another. We have an enormous amount of respect and loyalty to each other and found that both our differences and similarities compliment each other like pieces of a beautiful puzzle. 

To top things off, we are seasoned adventures and great travel companions. We’ve enjoyed short day/long weekends visiting state parks, wineries, and super clubs. Most notably in 2008, on a whirlwind road trip, we toured 10 states in seven days. In recent years we’ve journeyed to Canada and the Bahamas. We love experiencing the culture, history, and cuisine of new places. Colleen is the business-minded, detailed-oriented organizer and Kimberly is the creative, artistic, comedienne. One tradition we created together is that no matter how busy life becomes, we set aside Friday as our “date night.” We honor the importance of being present—spirit to spirit—and take this time to positively reconnect, rejuvenate, and celebrate our love. 

Life is full of challenges, and we have faced a variety of them, from the difficulties of not being accepted by family, friends, and clients, to the struggle of finding work-life balance when juggling two jobs or running a business, to stressful financial and legal matters. But we stayed true to ourselves, kept God and each other as our priority, and are happy to say we have overcome those challenges. We are undoubtedly each other’s champions. Our advice to anyone struggling with coming out is to be authentic. Happiness comes first from appreciating and loving your genuine self. Our advice in general is to be kind to everyone, even those with whom you don’t agree, because we are all created from Divine love. 

In 2006 Kimberly published her first book of poetry and black & white photography. Since then, she has published multiple works and continues to create and sell her books, CDs, paintings, and photography around the world. As an activist and motivational speaker, she’s also performed at a variety of events and colleges. In 2015 she became a licensed officiant. Colleen has been in the insurance industry since 1997, and in 2014 she became an American Family Insurance agency owner in Janesville. Since opening the agency, we chose to use the space to also highlight local artists, host charity events, and give back to the local community and our LGBTQ+ community as much as we can.

Love and be loved. Treasure each other!