Jody & Mara
JodyBladow
&MaraPorter
September272025
Hankinson, ND
Our Story
How We Met
In Mara's sophomore year in high school as part of the Art Club, she had spent her fall painting sets for the upcoming Drama Club's School Play. On Saturday, November 3rd, 2001, Jody, his brother, and his friend went to the Wahpeton High School Drama Club's production of Bye Bye Birdie to watch his friend's girlfriend in the play. Mara was there working set crew switching the sets in between scenes. After the play was over, Mara's friend asked her if she wanted to come meet her boyfriend and his friends. Jody and Mara became fast friends. Spending the rest of their high school years practically inseparable. From bottle feeding cows on Jody's farm to cruising the back country roads in Mara's car listening to the mixed cd's they had made for each other to babysitting on Friday and Saturday nights for every couple in the county. They remained the best of friends all through college and after, through the ever-changing ups and downs of life, the good, the bad, the sad and the happy throughout the years, they never lost touch and were always there for each other.
The Proposal
After two, short, fast and eventful years of dating, navigating life, raising two boys, dancing in the kitchen, two surgeries, home renovations and laughing like they were kids again, Jody hatched a plan to give his best friend his last name. Months into planning a family Desert Road Trip Vacation to escape a rough year and the bitter cold of February in North Dakota, Jody had asked Mara's Dad for permission to marry his daughter. With her Dad's blessing, he packed the ring and waited for the perfect moment. Jody, Mara and the boys landed in Las Vegas for two days of rain before setting out on the road from Vegas to El Paso, Texas. Many stops and souvenir shops later, they had finally arrived at one of Mara's bucket list places, The Grand Canyon. A full two days later than originally planned, finally on February 16th, 2025, after dilly dallying around and taking her time, Jody tried not to appear nervous as he scooted Mara towards the perfect viewpoint of the canyon. Again, not paying attention, Mara was taking video of the canyon while Jody set the boys up with their cameras on a couple rocks behind him. Jody got down on one knee and with the grandest of all grand gestures at the Grand Canyon, he asked, "Mara will you marry me?" After getting the surprise of a lifetime, almost tripping and an explicit later, she said, "Um, yeah, Duh!"