love.travel.life.

you heard right - what would you say if i told you i can do some lifestyle sessions with hot air balloons as our “props”?

um ya. totally cool, right?

this year’s PHILIPPINES HOT AIR BALLOON FIESTA up at clark airbase, is something i’ve wanted to visit and now that i’m not afraid of air balloons, thanks to TURKEY, i’m like, LETS DO IT!

here’s me on my very first (and not last!) hot air balloon ride in Kapadokya, Turkey!

please contact me for more info at tracey@traceylheppner.com and to book your spot!

xotracey

photos courtesy of the philippines int’l hot air balloon fiesta

18 days ago i got sick.

about a week ago i was almost better.

then i caught something else and have been in bed since saturday night, except for pulling myself together today to shoot a corporate gig for a friend.

i’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.

and it’s in the tropics - being hot AND sick is so uncomfy.

ok enough whining about that. :)

my big plans for this blog got jolted and have been on hold. i can barely sit in front of my laptop on my lap to get anything done.

sorry about that friends!

vicks vapor rub, ascorbic acid, strepsols and water and ORS have been my best friend these last days.

but i gotta tell ya. i’m BORED. as in B-O-R-E-D.

i have two days to get better, so to speak - or on the road to better - i am shooting a destination wedding with my lovely friend pilar out of town, and will be away 3 days.

anyhow, i thought i’d post something on my very lonely blog. :)

until next post,

xotracey

what sorts of things do you do, minus a computer, when you are sick?

and a photo blog isn’t a photo blog without a photo..so here are a few of my lovely manila.. :)

i dont even know where to start with this blog post…

do i start with where we were a year ago? or what we have done in the last year? or how i love our little family of 4?

cuz they would all really be a sweet way to start this blog post.

i dont know if it’s because i’m turning 40 in a couple months, or what, but i am finding i’m getting more sentimental, filled with more emotion, wanting to not RUSH through life but to LIVE it, taking each moment and ENJOYING it.

no i dont konw exactly how to start this blog post. so i’ll start it with a picture:

not only is this the LAST family photo we have together (i’m working on getting a local photog here to do some awesome ones!), but this is the beginning of the current journey our family is on.

this was taken in the elevator of the fairmont airport hotel on dec 30, the day we left our comfortable, amazing vancouver and headed west to our new home, our new life in manila.

excited. anxious. giddy. quiet. scared. happy. sad. some of the phlethora of emotions that filled us that day.

as i sit here and reflect the last year, i hear fireworks STILL - it’s 8:33am on new years day. filipinos sure know how to throw a party. :) we sat up at the kids’ school and watched the entire metropolis, a 180 degree view, light up with fireworks. it’s a sight to behold. and we beheld it. :)

THINGS.

lots of THINGS have happened and such in 2011…and i love making lists..so why not do it that way? lists of different THINGS. :)

THINGS I HAVE ACQUIRED THIS YEAR…

a deeper appreciation for life. being surrounded all the time around so many less fortunate that i, my world view and life view is changing…i’m so incredibly blessed. as in INCREDIBLY. we have a home, food, clothes, each other. we have so MUCH. and the days when culture shock or the cultural walls are so frustrating and i want to be anywhere but here in that moment, i must chose to remember how richly blessed i am. life is short and we must live it to the fullest - not rushed or quickly getting through it but THOROUGHLY and with intention.

a sense of who i am. nothing like throwing yourself into a new culture, albeit familiar to some degree, with a teenager and preteen, an 18 year friendship with your spouse, having built my photography business a couple times from the ground up, and being a student in the school of life. yes, i’m turning 40 in april. and i simply can’t wait. the 30s brought a lot of good things. but it was a very hard decade. and one i would never choose to relive in many ways, at least the first half of it for certain! i know that this next decade will be so kick arse and that as a person, wife, mom, friend, photographer, i will have the best years to come. there is something about turning 40, to me. you dont actually give a rip what people think of you, or if they like you anymore. you LIVE life and hope that you get to journey with people who love life just as you do and want to see MORE out of life than just “living”.

so who am i? i am a woman who  knows what she wants (sometimes not as clearly as other days!) out of life. who chooses to live with intention. be in relationship with intention. love with intention. play with intention. be present in my childrens lives. love them intentionally and deeply. photograph with intention. interpret the world with intention. serve my Lord with intention. i’m thinking INTENTION is my word this year. :)

i definitely know what i DONT want and with that i choose to run after what i DO want. and i’m so blessed to run it with my best friend and the greatest kids on the planet. they are such a part of who i am. without them, i would not be who i am today. their presence and interaction with my life have molded me. i will be forever grateful. xo

seeing a little more of the world. i never in my wildest dreams thought i’d see and do as much i have this last year…within the philippines, asia, british columbia and then turkey. from road trips in the okanagan with good friends, to shooting love on the shores of boracay and the city life of hong kong, to traveling for lonely planet philippines to turkey, i have been blessed to see more of my world. and am excited to see where 2012 will take me. (an ITALY tour for APRIL, my birthday week, is definitely going to be a highlight! you should come along!) i want to continue my lifelong journey of travel til i’m old. it started when i was a young teen. and i want to bring people along for the ride. i’m really fantastic to travel with. :) no really. i am. hehe..

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED THIS YEAR…

having fun is a choice. surround yourself with people you want to reflect. metro manila traffic is god’s way to slow us down and breathe. you can change the world by loving just ONE. being positive is worth the work. you can never take too many photos. you can get sick of taking too many photos. :) cats dont have nine lives. you can teach filipinos how to make food and baking that are from “home”. being a parent of a teenager is hard. being a parent of a teenager is one of the most amazing things to watch. meeting new people can be scarey. meeting new people can take you to places you never dreamed. you can find just about every thing you “crave” from “home” here-you just gotta know where to look. having a daughter is a fun thing. traveling smart is an art. a smile goes a long way. 10,000 km is far. 10,000 with skype is not so far. having sleepovers with your kids when daddy is away is the sweetest thing and should never be taken for granted. a thousand pesos sound like a heckuva lot more than $25 dollars. you can get some sweet deals with a thousand pesos. just when you think you can’t go on anymore, more GRACE abounds.

THINGS I WANT TO DO THIS COMING YEAR…

+ get fit and healthy. i know we all say that every year. but in turning 40 i realize this old grey mare aint what she used to be. :)

+ finish several personal projects that i have started years ago, or have put off to start. the time is NOW. :)

+ build my photo tour and travel tour sideline so that i can impart to others all that has been imparted to me..and have a fantastical time doing it in fantastical places around our world.

+ take more road trips out of the metro with the family. believing we will find a vehicle in the next week or so, there is so much more to the philippines than living in the metro. and to show our kids it will increase their appreciation for where we live!

+ shoot many weddings and love this year…near and far. and one with an iPhone, yes it’s on my bucket list. :)

+ be a better friend, wife and mom. this is who i am. what i do is irrelevant as to who i am. as i better myself as a person, a mom, a wife, a friend, my life will be full and what i do will be in complete connection of who i am. :) wow..that was deep. ;)

+ make a difference in my world. in my relationships. in my volunteering. in my photo life. in every part of my life. i cannot change the world. but i can make a difference in mine. :)

THINGS I WANT TO TELL YOU

thank you. for your support. love. relationships. for believing in us and the dream God has for us. for supporting us as we have transitioned to a new life in manila. without your love and friendship..i can’t even imagine. we love you.

and with that, here’s to 2012..a year full of intentions. full of dreams. full of life.

xotracey

ps - a full year in photos is coming this coming week..stay tuned!

pps - in the spirit of the beatles, we say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012!

yes i totally almost quoted lionel ritchie right there in my blog post title. hehe..

wednesday - FULL of PARTY! not only did we have our GH christmas party but some of my friends Madie (from Lonely Planet who went to Turkey with me), Pilar (my dear photog friend), her sister Marlene (General Manager of the publishing company), Alana (Wedding Belle Magazine), Sherif (very tall and funny son of the ambassador of egypt here in manila and dude who played “santa”!) his cool friend who i have forgotten his name because my brain is so full (sorry!!), Prayot & Christina (enterpreneurs of many cool businesses and friends of everyone!) and others came and put on a party for our kids at Gentle Hands.

pilar and the christmas photobooth - so excited that all of the kids, babies to teens, got nice christmas photos taken…what a treasure those will be!

it was so fun! Christmas parties are a big thing here at GH every christmas, and on birthdays - people want to spend their special times with our kids… :)

here’ s a few iPhone pics from our awesome day together. can’t wait to see the christmas photo booth one! :)

thank you again for the amazing time together, the copious amounts of great food, the awesome photobooth, the fun games, the fantastic prizes, the thoughtful christmas gifts...but most of all, thank you for loving our kids.

xotracey

me with my awesome friends :)

i have been extremely blessed and fortunate to travel a LOT in my life. and i have been to some fairly AMAZING places. 

and i know that there are some places that i want to go BACK to one day and spend christmas there - and places i HAVEN’T been to that i want to spend christmas at. :)

of the miles i have traveled to, there are 3 places i wish to be at during christmas: ITALY, NEW YORK CITY, CANNON BEACH, OREGON.

ITALY

this probably is a given, as most people who either know me or my blog, know my love for italy. :)

the closest i have been to italy at christmastime was siena in early november in 2010. some lights were starting to get put up and it was “cool” enough to FEEL like christmas was in the air.

SIDE NOTE: i think living in a hot place plays with my psyche and the ability to really FEEL like it’s christmas. there is something, to me, that cool air, roaring fireplaces, and warm sweaters that makes it FEEL like christmas. END SIDE NOTE. :)

italy and christmas. from what i have read, it’s not flashy commercial christmas as it is in the west (north america). honestly, i’m QUITE ok with that. instead, there are nativity scenes…many of them. as a christian, this is the reason why we celebrate the holidays, so i can identify with this very much. there are some very old, hand-carved nativity scenes i’d love to see. and the hand-made gifts that one can buy at this time of year, in comparison to going down to a local box store - that is what i would love. finding treasures hand-made to give. mmmm. :)

or what about the MEATLESS christmas eve feast? now THAT i could do with!! no i’m not a vegetarian..but all the meat these days - too much. i try to eat very little meat as i can. and going to family and friends houses for antipasti, and cakes and gelato and… ya.. i could totally get into that.

one day i will..one day…my family will go and have christmas with my italian family…yes..one day….

NEW YORK CITY

the first time i went to new york city i fell in love. it was back in 2001. it was also in the month of may - very far away from christmas.

but i have watched enough christmas specials on tv and heard stories from friends who have spent the holidays there and WOW…..THAT is another place i want to spend the holidays in. 

there is something about skating at rockafeller..and all the artists who come perform christmas songs there.. and eating roasted chesnuts on the cool, crisps streets where macy’s and nordstrom are. 

back up to rockafeller - dude..to see the big tree light up…ahhhhhhhhhhh.. so nice. and times square…i bet it would JUST be bustling. 

ya..christmas in new york is definitely another on my bucket list. :)

CANNON BEACH, OREGON

yes…this is another place i have been to that i would love to spend christmas at. we have spent many summers visiting there. it’s a very “happy” place for us. 100% R&R. and right on the ocean. jonathan and i LOVE the ocean. and to hear the crashing of the waves in our cottage over an open fire…DUDE. THAT would be fantastic.

cannon beach has snow in the winter too, as does new york. think of it - small village type town on the coast of oregon…socked in for the winter, type feeling. i could TOTALLY do that. talk about a place to UNWIND.

that would be a dream. yes, add that one too, to my bucket list.

there also is MONTREAL & BORACAY. ok..add two more to the bucket list. :)

PLACES YET TO VISIT

now my list of places i’d like to visit for christmas that i have never traveled to..

SCOTLAND, because my husband wants to go there so badly and what a better time to make lovely memories than at christmastime.

and it’s now 5:30pm and i can’t think…how pathetic is that..must have been the buttertarts and sugar cookies i ate this afternoon. ;)

so i will leave it at that for today’s christmas post. in my home country’s other tongue: joyeux noel. :)

xotracey