Going quiet

Here's the deal...

I haven't blogged much lately because I'm in the middle of a TOP SECRET redesign. With a real URL: www.tracyannephoto.com. And it involves switching from Blogger to WordPress, handled by my amazing friend Anitra at Blue Lake Websites. More blog-love for her to come after the new blogsite launch on June 1.

Anyway, back to my point.

Since I'm moving from Blogger to WordPress, anything I post between now and June 1 I have to post twice. Once here, and once on my new blogsite.

Considering the redesign is taking a massive amount of time on its own, I don't have a lot of time to blog... let alone post it twice. So I'm going to go quiet for a week.

I promise, it will be worth it!

Ariell & Jared: Part II

I can't believe I let a week slip by between posting the details of Ariell and Jared's day before posting the faces! I don't like how that happened. As a result, I'm thinking about changing the way I post. Rather than details and faces posts, I'm thinking I'll do everything in chronological order and just divide the photos in half where it makes sense. We'll try it for awhile and see if it works.

Anyway, back to Ariell and Jared... Like I said in Part I it was gorgeous day. And Ariell was a gorgeous bride. Obviously Jared thought so too!

One of my favorite parts of the wedding day is the time between photos and the ceremony. Everyone is having fun, and the energy gives you goosebumps. One final hair check and time to straighten a tie or two.

Then the ceremony starts. A father giving his daughter away is my second favorite part of the ceremony.





My absolute favorite part of any wedding day... walking down the isle into their new life as husband and wife.

Ariell and Jared, you are so blessed. For each other. For your families. And I am blessed to call you friends. Hope you had a sensational time on your honeymoon!

Mom

I imagine she held me like this... once or twice. While I slept. While I cried. While I was sick.

And now she holds my son.

I'm sure she rolled a ball to me too. And then when I was older she signed me up for recreational softball. I loved her for it.

Now that I'm a mom, I understand she probably loved it more.

She showed me the world in my backyard.

And then she showed me the world.

Publish Post

Most importantly though... she showed me how to be a good mom.

Happy Mother's Day!

Ariell & Jared: Part I

It was a gorgeous day. Not in terms of the weather, mind you. It was a gorgeous day... for love. For the love of two people getting married with a foundation firmly rooted in Christ. Not even cloudy skies and scattered showers can prevent that day from being gorgeous.

Ariell and Jared went calmly through the day with a ease that showed everyone they knew... They knew exactly what they were doing and what it meant. They knew it was perfect. It just needed to happen.

Like I said... it was a gorgeous day.

Here are the details of their sneak peek. Enjoy!

Ariell was surprised to discover her necklace came in a purple box that matched her deep purple perfectly!

I loved shooting in the Elkader Grace Evangelical Free church. Loved. it. It's extremely well lit. I was talking to Pastor Mark before the ceremony, and he explained a local photographer belongs to the church and provided insight when it was being built.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Every church that's constructing a new building should involve a photographer!

Another ring shot... I couldn't decide. After much debate, this is my favorite.

The people post coming soon!

Stuck in mud

Growing up on my parents acreage, spring was always a muddy mess. The ground woke up from it's winter hibernation and left a thick layer of mud underneath standing water. The slimy sticky mess sucked off more than one boot and ruined countless pairs of socks. The entire horse lot was dotted with pools of water trapped by banks of mud. I say mud, but considering the horses spent a lot of time in there, it probably wasn't just 'mud'.

These days I feel stuck. Mired by my 'day job' and honestly... my photography business. Meanwhile, my most important jobs as wife and mother have barely been treading water. And let me tell you, "housekeeper" succumbed to the mud months ago. This post needs photos, but I'll spare you from seeing the mountain of laundry waiting for me or the dirty dishes piled on our end table.

Everyone's been there.

When we were little, my mom showed us kids how to use the heel of your boot to make channels in the muddy horse lot. Doing so let the standing water escape, and the ground dried up faster. For us it was pure fun. For my mom it meant not having to trekk through the muddy mess anymore.

The lesson here... find someone who enjoys doing what mires your life. I am.

One more, unrelated lesson, let go of the guilt.

I really hoped to get the photos from last weekends wedding posted tonight. But playing outside with my son this gorgeous afternoon was more important today.