Meet Carissa

I was born in Humboldt, Iowa on July 5, 1985 on my mama’s 19th birthday. My dad was largely out numbered with 5 little girls for him and my mom to take care of. My entire younger childhood was spent moving around north central Iowa, Arizona and Florida. I was wildly creative with a curiosity for photography and an obsession with dolphins. When I was in 6th grade my parents decided to settle down in Bode, Iowa where I graduated high school from Twin River Valley. In high school, I met and started dating the love of my life, Joe Behounek, and we later married after college in 2009.

After high school, I attended Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, Iowa and graduated the Professional Photography program in 2006 as well as the Graphic Communications program in 2009. Shortly after graduating, Joe and I moved back to our hometown of Bode, Iowa where I started CB Studio. In 2012, I made the bold decision to move my business out of my home to West Bend where I opened my doors right in the heart of town. That same year, we also started the two year process of designing and building our home…mostly by ourselves! A dream of Joe’s that, as his wife, has me beaming with pride for all of his knowledge, determination and work ethic! At the beginning of 2017 we decided to take another big step and moved the studio to the larger community of Algona, Iowa, hoping to capture more hearts.

In my spare time, I enjoy following fashion trends and home decorating, all things that let me express all the creativity I have bottled up! I love margaritas, any food with jalapeños in it, salted caramel and all things teal. And last but certainly not least, I LOVE traveling and creating the BEST core memories with my family!

In January 2015, Joe and I ventured into the long awaited journey of parenthood after battling infertility for several years. I can’t tell you how incredible my heart has changed since becoming a mother! Our daughter, Liella, is very active, amazingly creative, and is always keeping me on my toes! We became even busier parents in January 2018 when we welcomed girl/boy twins! I have met so many new and amazing people, and have had some incredible God moments being in the twin parent world. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that being a twin mom was always the story God had planned for me, despite all the struggles we went through to become parents, and despite what I had always pictured for myself. Eden and Oren fit into our crazy life seamlessly! Being parents to 3 children is pure chaos at times, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world.