2011 was a year of work, travel, driving, lots of driving, growing my business, making new friends, spending time with family, and a big move to Asheville, North Carolina.

Dameian and I kicked off the year with a nice trip to Florida for the holidays.

My little, yet much taller than me, brother, Akeem.

Right after I returned from Colombia, I headed out to Colorado to photograph the wedding of my good friends, Chris and Jenni.

Me with my guy, Dameian, in Colorado.

Attended a great photography workshop by Justin & Mary Marantz, Spread The Love. Plus I took this photograph of my friend and fellow photographer, Leslie Keener. Isn’t she beautiful?!

I was thrilled to photograph so many gorgeous brides, happy couples, and crazy dance parties during 2011. I ate my fair share of wedding cake, most of it carrot, danced with the wedding party, cried with the father of the bride, and really just loved every minute of it. I want to thank all of my brides and grooms for trusting me to document such a special part of their family history. It means the world to me.

I also met and photographed several families, children, and babies. All of them were absolutely adorable.

My nephews, Ethan and Chandler.

The amazing mommy above, made the sweetest baby Sydney, pictured in the next few below.

I rounded out the year photographing a few furry friends.

The rest of the furry ones below are mine. :)

That was just a snippet of a very long year. I can’t wait to see what 2012 holds. :)

Last month I took one of those trips of a lifetime. My aunt was celebrating her 50th birthday in Colombia and my mom surprised me with a mini vacation. She is Colombian and visits almost every year. Me, on the other hand, I haven’t been since I was 13 (Which was a whole lot of years ago). While the trip wasn’t nearly as long as I would have wished, only 5 days, it truly was amazing.

Seeing Medellin with adult eyes, the riches and the poverty, those things I will never forget. The most striking were the children working on street corners and in the markets and a shanty town with dirt floor homes and no running water. They were in great contrast to the super luxury mall I visited in my aunt’s neighborhood. The best part of the trip most certainly was the food. I ate chorizo every day and lots of arepas, bunuelos, and empanadas too. Seriously, the food. omg, the food.

These guys are a papayera, kind of like Colombian Mariachis. They were playing right in the middle of the living room.

My sister and my brother.

Ah, yes. The chorizo.

My mom.

My family really is just a bunch of dancing girls. Spontaneous dancing is part of life here.

My mom and all her siblings.

I posted this photo to the blog a few weeks ago. I love it so much that I’m entering it in the I Heart Faces Challenge. :)