I wake up on Saturday morning super excited to travel down to Bountiful for Mikayla and Bryan’s wedding. The sky and roads were clear and it was going to be super fabulous. I leave 15 minutes early to give myself plenty of time in case of traffic. Once I got into the canyon, I was terrified. There was a mini blizzard that was totally unexpected. I had no traction and the roads were SO slick. There were cars crashed every so often and I went into full panic mode.
For those of you who have ever had to ride with me in terrible traffic, snow or anything unexpected, you know that I am the worst! I have super bad car anxiety that started when I was in an accident when I was pregnant. It’s got progressively worse each day since. I even tried CBD oil to calm my anxiety. Check out https://cbdforsure.com/cbd-oil-in-tennessee/ to check where you can buy it in Tennessee. Also, I grew up in Washington. When there was snow, schools and businesses shut down and you didn’t leave the house. Even though I’ve lived in the Valley for three and a half years I have never driven on an unplowed highway.
So I get through the Canyon and come across this accident with three semis and twenty-six cars. The freeway was backed up until Ogden (about 40 minutes South) and then later I found out it was closed for 6 hours! It was also backed up a little on my side of the freeway as all the cars were going slow to check out the scene.
After I passed the accident, traffic sped up and I began to breathe again. I was actually going to make it to the wedding, hallelujah! It was perfect when I got the the temple. The sky was still clear for about two minutes then it started dumping snow. Mikayla was praying for a little bit of snow and she definitely got it. I’m glad I took a lot of each pose because some of the outtakes had SO much snow you couldn’t see their faces. It was cold for all these girls in skirts and guys on leave from Cuba but it was BEAUTIFUL.
Taken by my fabulous second shooter, Rae Garrett
Taken by my fabulous second shooter, Rae Garrett 
Taken by my fabulous second shooter, Rae Garrett 
Taken by my fabulous second shooter, Rae Garrett
When it was time to leave, I was feeling a little bit nervous to drive in the snow again. If you’ve ever been to Bountiful, you know that it is a ton of really steep hills. I barely made it up the first hill where I was parked…then I started going downhill. MY CAR WOULD NOT STOP. I was going slow and I pumped the brakes and it would not even slow down!!! I finally turned into the curb so I could stop and not hit my second shooter who was in front of me. She did the same. I felt better stuck in the curb until THE BACK OF MY CAR STARTED SLIDING.
I was almost at a 90 degree angle in the road and still not stopping. Poor Luke was listening to me scream and cry hysterically about sliding down the hill backwards. Thankfully, the car stopped sliding and all the cars behind me were doing the same thing. If I didn’t crash and get stuck, there would definitely have been a pile up so for that I am thankful. A police officer came a little bit later to make sure we were all okay. Then a snow plow came and scraped the other side of the road. After I had calmed down, I backed all the way back to the other lane and rode down the hill on the left side.
I will never drive in the snow again. The end. Oh and also, I think winter weddings will now involve a fee for counseling ;) Jk. It was totally worth it for the beautiful snowy shots.
P.S. The bride and groom made it down safely. The only bridal party crash was the bridesmaids and besides a tire alignment they got out safely too. We were all blessed :)
Kylee started Kylee Ann Photography 9 years ago, and has since grown from a one woman amateur show to a full associate team. We shoot 50-75 weddings a year, and thrive on kindness and service. After a year of teaching Intro to Photography at the local technical college, she discovered that helping other entrepreneurs create thriving businesses is what fires her up! She hosts semi-annual Kylee Ann Sleepovers all over the US, speak at conferences and teach online courses about running a small business and marketing.
February 3, 2014
Kylee Maughan
