NDA theology teacher Lisa Schmidt will be celebrating her 10th wedding anniversary over spring break.

Their story started when mutual friends of theirs began telling them about each other, and finally, after years of hearing about each other, they had lunch together at a local Mexican restaurant. They now have their own booth at this restaurant because they eat there so frequently.

After this day they dated for a year before getting engaged and eventually marrying on March 14, 2009, at Old St. Joseph’s in De Pere.

Since their marriage, they have built their dream home in Wrightstown and adopted a dog named Coleman along with the making of many other memories.

“We love spending time together. We love camping, quiet nights at home enjoying a fire, Saturday and Sunday morning coffee, snowshoeing, cooking, weekends spent at my brothers’ cabins and spending time with our dog Coleman,” Schmidt said.

Another thing Schmidt mentioned was the memory of buying the lot for their house and being able to design and build it just the way they wanted it. They have now filled the house with memories of friends and family, including their 43 nieces and nephews.

“I love being married to him,” Schmidt said. “He’s really smart! I love the way he thinks.  He also has a kind and gentle spirit, which attracted me right away. He always puts our relationship first, which is very affirming. And, of course, he puts up with me.”

The biggest challenges for them are not being close to their families and navigating the stress that comes with working in “helping professions.”

Her advice for a successful marriage is to always spend time with your spouse, learn each other’s love language, celebrate one another, do not take anything for granted, communicate, be loving no matter what and be able to put your spouse first when it is needed.

As the teacher explained, their marriage is somewhat unique because they were both single for so long before marrying.  Consequently, they have always been very grateful for each other’s companionship and are able to appreciate the little things.