Once a year. That’s when Dallas and I are able to take a for real, get away from it all, vacation. Since weddings happen nearly every season but winter, we take our vacation over my slow work period, usually the last week of January or first week of February. It just so happens that our anniversary is January 31, so it works out nicely!

Being huge fans of active vacations and being out west in general, Colorado has become our go-to spot and specifically Winter Park as our preferred ski resort. I grew up spending summers and winters in Colorado and Winter Park was one spot that I kept returning to. For those skiers out there, I’ll give you my reasons for this resort over higher profile names such as Vail or The Canyons/Park City, Utah (which I have been to): Winter Park is only an hour and a half from Denver (this can be a downside if you go during a busy weekend since it is so close), direct flight from Atlanta (I just don’t do layovers if I can help it), the amount of skiable terrain is enormous and appeals to all levels of skiers, high quality skiing, not pretentious… the list goes on. It’s come to feel like home to us.

We discovered the resort of Devil’s Thumb Ranch several years ago when I decided to book a spa session and dinner reservations for one anniversary. It is about 20 minutes away from the ski resort in Winter Park. That one visit was all it took to know that we would book an entire stay there at some point. It sits on 6,000 acres of privately owned ranch land. It has the main lodge with rooms and a variety of multi room cabins that you could rent for a family or group. Perfectly appointed and completely relaxing, I was in heaven the moment we checked in.

Since we were having such a great time in a perfect winter location, I thought that I would ask James Christianson to come and take some photos of us. We don’t get in front of the camera. Like, ever. So, this was a bit of a stretch for us. But, I thought that if I don’t make an effort to document some of our time together, life would pass us by with no record of us actually living. So, here was my chance. As things like this go, I’m not the cheesy type. I don’t love close ups. I don’t want to be posed. It’s just not my thing. But, I’m glad I let James direct us and make us feel completely comfortable. And so glad that we were able to have this scenery and season in our lives recorded.

For those brides out there, the years will go by quickly. Remember to be present. And, if you can, get some talented people to come and document your lives every so often. It is so worth it.

Until next time… XOXO, Julie