No time to for details, but here's what dinner looked like last week when everyone was in town.








Now I feel like empty-nesters again. It is just too quiet around here without everyone in the kitchen. Come back!

If I had a million dollars ...

I would buy one of these. How much is a 12 foot by 10 foot going to run me? Any one want to give me their best guess? $25K? More?

BTW - It's titled "When to Stop." Ironic in a way.

Super-Duper-Obama

Tennessee's Maple Grove Inn

After the wedding, Marco and I headed down to Tennessee to see Katie and Sam. Unfortunately I inadvertently deleted any pictures I took of Katie and Sam (I'm so sorry guys) but I do have a few shots from the B&B we stayed in. The Maple Grove Inn is an old, old house hidden away on 20 or so acres of Tennessee forest. It is also home to "The Lady in Blue." That would be the ghost the charming inn keeper (think Hell's Angel gone bad -- real bad) reminded us occupied the room next to ours. (If you look closely, you can catch a glimpse of The Lady in Blue peeking through the shutters on the second floor of the house.) She was one of the first Mrs. McCoughans to inhabit the house. Maybe she died of a broken heart after her soldier never returned from the war?

The other thing the inn keeper mentioned was that we were the only guests at the Inn and that he would be just a 15 minute Harley ride away if we had any trouble. That's right, we slept in the haunted house ALONE.

Well, Marco, Katie and Sam decided to take off the next morning at 5:30 am, well before dawn, to see the sun rise over the Smokies. You know what that meant ...

I was completely and utterly alone in a haunted mansion, hidden in the Tennessee forest, 15 minutes away via Harley from anyone who would hear my screams. (This is a shot of the rattling bedroom window shudders from my bed at 5:45 am. I wasn't sticking around to meet The Lady in Blue in person.)

Where did I go, you ask? I, of course, walked alone down this haunted lane to the misty 200 year old CEMETERY!!! (Yes, Shauna would have wet her pants.)

It was this kind of cemetery. Until ...

I heard the roar of thunder and, of course, a HUGE storm came up from no where. I was trapped under the towering oak trees in the pouring rain when I looked down and saw this ...

It was the grave of Thomas M. McCaughan, the dearly departed husband of The Lady in Blue. She had lead me here, I know it. That is what I get for not watching the sunrise from the Smokies. You never know, folks, you just never know.

Now I just worry that TLiB has followed me home to Utah.

The Bride & the Mehndi

In a word, Susan as a bride is drama. The color, the eyes, the jewelry -- I love it all. The first part of the wedding was the Mehndi ceremony. The women all gather and eat samosas while getting henna tattoos on their hands and feet.

The bride also gets gifts of jewelry she will wear to her wedding. Susan had her hands done the day before because it takes hours to do, but had her feet done with the other women.



I think one of my favorite parts of any wedding -- especially this wedding -- is the little girls. You can practically see the wheels turning in her eyes as she thinks about being the real bride one day.


This is Susan and Sanjay's niece, Lena. She is an absolute vision with black hair and blue eyes. Get this girl an agent and start making money for college!
More Indian wedding pictures to come ...

We're Back!

We're back from Ohio and Tennessee. The wedding was spectacular, and -- I have to say -- may every wedding be an Indian wedding. WOW! Nice people, beautiful colors, spectacular food are just a few of fringe benifits of hanging out with this crowd. It will take a while to dig myself out of the picture pit I have dug for myself. If you don't hear from me in the next couple of days, feel free to break my door down and peel me off of my computer.

Goodbye Mexico, Hello Bollywood

Finally, I have finished the Mexico pictures. Here are a couple of the highlights. Kjirsten, my niece, dropped in like an angle from heaven this week and put together these great combinations of shots. I think we make a great team. Please come back, KJ. Like tomorrow. 

s

(There's always one of these at every wedding.)

Goodbye, Mexico, HELLO BOLLYWOOD!

Tomorrow we head on out to our next destination wedding. Susan and Sonjay are getting married in a huge Indian way. It's the Hyatt Regency and 350 of their closest friends. I love working with this couple. Last week we headed to the Spanish Fork temple ... Krishna temple that is, for a quick shoot of the bride and groom.

It was a blast to introduce Sonjay to Utah's very own real Hindu temple -- at least I think Krishna is a sect of Hindu. Anyone know the answer to that? It's a surreal place that suddenly makes sense when you show up with a couple like Susan and Sonjay. 

One of the more daunting tasks of shooting an Indian wedding is deciding what to wear to an Indian wedding. The bride sent me a Saree  -- about 9 yards of continuous fabric to be wrapped round and round. In my defense, I have to say that I at least TRIED wearing the Saree. It lasted exactly 3 minutes before it was piled in a puddle around my ankles. I'm sure that would be attractive at the wedding in front of 350 people. 

Luckily, the Krishna temple has the world's BEST shop FULL of affordable Indian clothing. Really you should go check this place out. I got two 100% silk outfits for just $25 each. Love it. Silk Saree run about $30 each. I am talking 8 or 9 yards of silk, people, for just $30. Hello! Hare, hare on down there. Ha!

And because my blogger is acting weird, here are more Mexican wedding pictures below. (I just wish they were Mexican wedding cookies. Erin makes a hell of a MW cookie.) I took way too many pictures. And what is the rule of thumb? How many shots per hour does a responsible photographer hand over to a bride and groom? I need an answer. 

KJ and I both agreed that this was the best combo. What is it about sleeping dogs and stilettos that makes for good company? And with that, I will end this post.