Bible Translations vs. Interpretation

In a conversation with some dear family members the other day, the topic of different translations of the bible came up.  One individual felt that when a scripture was different from what she heard growing up, was twisting the Bible to mean what you want it to mean.  She was surprised that a friend had used a different translation of Corinthians 13:4, at her wedding, and that it didn't even sound "right".  

Here's what I think about that...

A translation is converting the words in a way so that it is understandable.  For example, I may read my NIV translation (NOT necessarily my translation of choice but, what I have) and go, "What the...?" and need to find my NLV or go to biblos.com to figure out what on EARTH is being spoken about.  This doesn't happen ALL the time but, there are some occasions where I feel it's necessary for my UNDERSTANDING.

I feel what my family member was trying to say was that she feels that the translations are different INTERPRETATIONS of the Bible.  I'm not able to agree with that, however, I do feel that there are even more INTERPRETATIONS of the Bible than there are TRANSLATIONS!  

I can understand that people can interpret the Bible in different ways religion to religion, culture to culture, denomination to denomination and even individual to individual.  I don't think that I look at as a negative thing either.  We all come from different backgrounds and have different wealths of knowledge based on our experiences and education.  How is it possible for us to have the EXACT same take on EVERY single scripture of a book that is so old?

I'm not a scholar on the Bible and I can't say that I've ever studied the Bible any more than personally and, more recently with small groups of fabulously open-minded individuals.  Therefore, I know that many may view my take as very liberal.  Which is fine with me because that's how I like to think of myself.  Am I saying that is right?  Not at all...but it's what worked to bring me to my relationship with God.

I understand that this may be a sensitive topic so, let's try to keep comments well thought out and fair.  What are your thoughts on translations vs. interpretations of the Bible?