Were you hoping for the year of the cookie?

Bummer.  I do hate to disappoint.  But trust me, this is something much bigger than cookies.

Last year, John and I decided we want to travel the world.  Sure, we’ve been on our share of international journeys (I’ve hit 28 countries so far), but we’re ready for something more extended.

This year we’ve decided to take advantage of how low maintenance our lives are right now (no kids, no property, no 9-5 jobs) and create an adventure for ourselves.  An adventure in traveling the globe slowly, living in cities or countries for weeks at a time, intermingled with small stints as tourists.  12 months of being international vagab0nds.

Here’s the gist of the plan.  At the end of April we’re moving out of our Denver apartment, putting our furniture in storage, and dropping the cat off at my parents.  For May, June and July we’ll be floating around Colorado and the midwest, visiting family and friends, attending some important weddings, and photographing a few last events.  Then in late July/early August, we’re outta here.

We’re still tweaking our international route, and leaving a good amount of freedom for exploring and changing our minds along the way.  But generally speaking, we’ll be starting out in South and Central America and moving west around the globe.

For the next four months you can expect the same standard posts around her, but in May things will start to get more interesting.  Most of my travel posts will live on my other blog:  food.tracycarolyn.com.  If you haven’t already subscribed to or bookmarked this website, do it now.  There might be more information there that you are interested in than just recipes.

I will still be accessible while abroad, and have worked out a system to ensure you can still order prints, albums and DVDs while I am gone.  If you have any questions or concerns, please send them my way.  Happy 2012!

Last time I saw Joey, he was 3 months old.  Now he is 6 years old.

Wow.  I usually don’t get that much time between shoots :)  And now he has two fabulous little sisters, too.

A whole household of cute.

We took these photos at the family’s greenhouse, which was such a great idea.  It is so personal to them, and a lot more fun than a park.

Have a great weekend!

How adorable will these holiday cards be?

Playing in the snow and decorating the tree were Sarah’s ideas for their winter shoot last weekend.  Brilliant.  I love everything about it, but especially the purple snowsuit that Anna is sporting.  I’m not sure she can move in it, but it’s completely adorable.  And it kept her far dryer than the poor snow-covered kitty :)

Just a little time left to get your family portraits taken before the holidays.  Contact me if you want to fit in a session!

I have a special affinity for this little guy.  His mom was my college roommate at Mizzou, and is still one of my close friends.  She found out she was pregnant with this little guy the day before my wedding last year, which was the last time I saw her.  Last weekend I traveled three hours north of St. Louis to visit and meet her little guy, who is now 3 months old.

Bravo my friend, you have a cute bambino.  Graham is such a happy and chill baby.  This was just a quick portrait session we managed to fit in during my whirlwind trip to Illinois (I had to be back for a wedding in St. Louis and only stayed for about 12 hours!)  I love the one of him hugging the teddy bear – the bear was a souvenir from a college spring break trip to Disney World that his mom and I took.  So cute :)

After doing their engagement shoot on Thursday and photographing their rehearsal dinner Friday night, I had gotten to know Kari and Sam a little bit before the big day on Saturday.  But when family and friends each took their turn at the microphone sharing stories and spreading love for the happy couple, I felt that I really got a sense for who they are for everyone around them.  That’s one of the reasons the toasts are my favorite part of a wedding.  I love hearing all the stories that provide context for a couple’s relationship.

After the toasts came a cake cutting that could have turned incredibly messy.  Kari had planned to have  some sort of cream pie available to smash in Sam’s face after feeding him cake.  I think it was delayed a bit somewhere down the line, and by the time she had the pie in hand Sam had figured out the plan and was backing away from the table.  He certainly lucked out.

The rest of the reception was filled with dancing.  This was my last wedding of the season, and I must profusely thank Michelle for second shooting (and doing a whole host of other things), and Kayla for being an expert with the lightstand.

Congrats Kari and Sam!

Kari and Sam were married last weekend at an indoor ceremony and reception at the Westin in Downtown Denver.  Kari’s dress was, in a word, stunning.  So much so that while she was walking down the aisle a guest exclaimed out at her “You look HOT!”  It was a chorus heard throughout the rest of the day, alongside commentary that Sam was a lucky man :)

After the ceremony, we went through a marathon of family photos (Sam has a large family), and only had a few moments to do photos of Kari and Sam together.  It was dark and cold, and there was a fire truck outside blasting lights and alarms, but they were willing to venture into the streets to capture a few shots in the 5 minutes we had before cocktail hour ended.  It was one of the fastest couple shoots I’ve done, but I think we pulled it off.

Then it was back inside to the warmth of the ballroom for the reception.  More from that tomorrow!

Technically, Kari and Sam are no longer engaged – as of Saturday night they are married and off on their honeymoon.  But when we took their engagement photos last Thursday, they were still fiancees for just a tad longer.

Kari and Sam live in New York and were unable to make it back to Denver before their wedding weekend, so we decided to do a quick engagement session before all the wedding related events kicked into full swing.  Unfortunately the windy weather kept us inside for a good portion of the shoot.  Luckily there are some great places downtown that allow photography, such as Union Station, the Tattered Cover Bookstore and the Jet Hotel.  Many thanks to them for sharing their spaces with us.

Stay tuned for much more from Kari and Sam’s wedding weekend coming soon!

Reception time!  Becky and James had a rockin’ dance party going inside the Magnolia.  We still managed to sneak out for a few photos downtown in the dark.  I must say, they had quite the display of cupcake flavors in their display – Happy Cakes may have outdone themselves this time.

Many thanks to Michelle for second shooting with me, and to Kayla for assisting.  Congratulations Becky and James – enjoy Hawaii!

Can I say that Becky and James have good taste because they chose the same wedding venue that we did?  I think I just did :)  In fact, the venue was how Becky found me in the first place.  By googling Magnolia Hotel wedding photos she discovered our wedding images on Charlotte Geary’s blog and found a link to my website.  I’m so glad she did because I so enjoyed working with these two amazing people, and it was really fun to shoot at our wedding venue nearly a year later.

After a quick First Look we headed straight into portraits of the lovely bride and groom downtown.  Becky and James were blessed with excellent weather (and only a few drunk people harassing them while wandering 16th street.)  After the ceremony, we ran out before sunset for a few more photos with the wedding party, who were good natured enough to stand in a smelly alley for me so I could get my shot.  Thanks guys!

Stay tuned for the reception photos in Part Two!

After a few brief portraits, Leslie and Peter made their way into Mise en Place for a fabulous reception.  Mise en Place is essentially a giant kitchen, where the chefs prepare food right in front of you.  Guests (and a few lucky photographers) enjoyed a fantastic three course gourmet meal, followed by delicious wedding pie.  (Seriously, amazing food.)

Many thanks to Brooke for second shooting with me, and to my assistant Kayla for all her help.  Congratulations to Leslie and Peter for surviving a somewhat hectic wedding day with such class.  I hope they have a phenomenal honeymoon in Italy!