January 1: I started the year with excitement, thankful that our God is a God of Second Chances. Little did I know how much He would really prove that to me this year!
January 3: I was quickly reminded at how empty the ring finger on my left hand is, how deeply that made my heart ache for companionship. I rested on the promise of restoration in 1 Peter 5:10.
January 7: I continued to work through the emotions of being 30 and single. This picture means more than I can adequately express in words.
January 11: I got my first root canal. A 6 hour marathon of a root canal. It was NOT FUN. Can you tell which side of my face is swollen? I sure can!
January 12: I was a runner-up in the infamous Pioneer Woman's photography challenge the first time I ever enterred it. This subsequently led to many people stealing this photograph without crediting me, and even discovering several companies have used it to sell their product. What's a girl to do?
January 14: Two weeks into the project, I finally stopped hiding my body from my pictures. I decided to accept my curves and really try to view myself as beautiful. This continues to be a daily struggle.
January 15: My Singles Class at church started to renovate an unlivable house. Despite the overwhelming smell of cat pee and the fact that squatters used a lower level closet as a toilet, I really fell in love with this home!
January 17: I paid tribute to my love for all things Dexter and Abby. But I guess I freaked some people out along the way. Oh well. ;-)
January 19: I laid down on a country road and painted my legs to match it. This also made people think I was a bit strange. I didn't mind.
January 20: I took one of my favorite self-portraits to date. Inspired by Isaiah 1:18.
I also made this stop-motion:
It was delightful. :-)
January 28: I finally learned how to use layer masks in Photoshop to "clone" objects, like this origami flower. There was only 1 flower in real life. Thank you, YouTube.
January 31: I got raptured away to heaven. Haha! Just kidding! But I did get some weird looks from our adorable neighbor Edith while balancing on a stool in my stocking feet to take this.
February 1: I was reminded of how much my grandmother loves my grandfather, even after his passing. This photo of her hands is one of my most treasured possessions.
February 3: I learned that sunlight + icy branches = best bokeh ever!
February 9: I played dress-up.
February 10: I accidentally killed a bird on my way to work this morning. It taught me that even when I believe my sin isn't hurting anyone (such as speeding down an isolated country road because I'm late to work!), that it's consequences are deadly.
February 11: I was still plagued by my deepest fear... that I would die alone. Sorry if that sounds depressing, ya'll, but that's the truth!
February 14: I dedicated this stop-motion video I made to my future husband, wherever he may be.
February 18: One of the guys in our singles group at church decided to anonymously sponsor the girls for Valentine's Day. All we had to do was show up at Panera at the given time! We each received a unique Thirty-One lunch tote embroidered with "Bonded by Faith", a stuffed animal, and dinner. It was very sweet. We enjoyed the much needed Girls Night and felt very loved!
February 18: One of the guys in our singles group at church decided to anonymously sponsor the girls for Valentine's Day. All we had to do was show up at Panera at the given time! We each received a unique Thirty-One lunch tote embroidered with "Bonded by Faith", a stuffed animal, and dinner. It was very sweet. We enjoyed the much needed Girls Night and felt very loved!
February 23: I got on my soapbox about being anti-merit-based-pay for teachers. This was also the first (and last?) time I had a police officer monitoring me during a photo shoot!
February 27: I photographed my friends' adorable firstborn son... then laid my heart bare in the anonymous world of Flickr about how it feels to be 30 and single in a world surrounded by friends that are married with children. I felt God asking me to let go of something that I had been holding onto for far too long.
March 1: My future husband asked me out on a date.
March 2: I said yes!
March 4: I was so completely giddy about going on said date that I made him a picture. But I didn't tell him it was for him. Yet.
March 6: The morning after the best first date ever. :-) This was also the day that David says he realized he wanted to marry me. Of course, he didn't tell me that until MUCH later!
March 20: Pretty emotionally traumatizing day. Brutal.
March 21: But David made me smile the next day by going on a walk with me to one of my favorite places. I didn't expect him to peel off his shoes and socks to wade right in. But the water was just fine. :-)
March 29: Channeled my inner Pat Benatar. Because every girl needs to do that from time to time.
March 30: It snowed on Spring Break. Never fails. Thanks, Ohio. ;-)
March 31: I shared an important message with the world. Or at least with my Flickr world. What I find MOST INTERESTING about this message is that I wrote it exactly one year to the day before I would be getting married to the love of my life. Click on the picture above to check it out. I think you'll find it interesting, too!
April 4: I found an animal carcass on the side of the road and got incredibly pumped to photograph it. I then wrapped it in a black trash bag and took it home with me. Well, not home exactly. I left it on David's porch. He said he would store it for me in his backyard. This is when I knew without a doubt that he loved me.
April 8: I photographed my first official wedding for my cousin and his wife Andrea. It was way harder than I ever imagined, and I imagined it would be hard to begin with.
April 9: On my way back home from Missouri, I stopped by this road sign for my daily picture by this vintage looking Route 66 sign. Sounds awesome, right? Enter: severed deer leg. No sign of the body. Just the leg. With flesh and hair still intact. It should be noted that I did not react to the severed deer leg the same as I did the aforementioned animal carcass. In fact, I nearly peed my pants!
April 12: I successfully composited 6 images in Photoshop to expand my final image into a square frame for the first time. I was pretty stoked! Thanks, Sarah Ann Loreth!
April 13: David had fun discovering that his cell phone camera was capable of taking pictures with sun flare (say what?!) while I enjoyed taking pictures of him taking pictures. And daydreaming about living in the vintage, robin's egg blue trailer in the background.
April 18: Absolutely nothing of importance happened this day. I worked all day, then spent about 30 seconds taking this picture. And yet, there is something about it that I simply adore.
April 20: I had the most difficult time getting home from work today! I can't even remember how many "Road Closed" signs I encountered due to heavy flooding. I suppose it was an adventure, eh?
April 27: I pretended I was a set of siamese twins getting in a fight. Because, you know, why not?
April 29: David and I spent Friday night on an abandoned country roadside creating light paintings with our cell phones. It was brilliant fun.
May 5: David and I celebrated at a baby shower for Chaney and Mikey and baby Emmelia. Words cannot express how long and hard we prayed (for many years through many tears and much frustration) that Emmelia would be conceived and born! I made her a picture frame that matched her bedset. I think it's safe to say they liked it! :-)
May 10: I got called into the principal's office today. The superintendent was there to hand-deliver my Reduction in Force notification detailed that I would not have a teaching job in that district next year. He said it was nothing personal. They just couldn't afford to keep me. My heart crumbled.
May 11: I tried to keep hope alive.
May 18: I cheated.
June 3: When I walked out into the backyard this afternoon, I found pieces of a bird strewn about the yard. It looked like a larger animal had attacked it and ripped it apart. The child in me wanted to collect the pieces, put them back together again, and watch the bird fly away to freedom.
My dress in the background reminds me of blue and white patterned china, beautiful but fragile, like the relationships in our lives. To me, this moment reminds me how easily we let time creep in and distance us from those we love the most. And years later, we look around to find only scattered pieces of what we once held so dear.
June 4: I made a photo tribute to the lovely neighbor, Edith, that I mentioned earlier. Edith always had dozens of hummingbirds flitting around her back porch for a sip of her sugar water. Her family made sure to give my grandma one of her hummingird feeders so they could come feed in our yard. I love all the little hummingbirds we have flitting around in our backyard now. They will forever remind me of her.
June 11: Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs concert with Stephanie!!! Wow, is he amazing live.
June 17: I got a new camera. And I fell in love for the second time this year.
June 18: I shot my second wedding, this time with Dave as my second shooter. It was much more enjoyable that way!
June 19: I returned to the graveyard to execute an idea I had in my head for awhile. I think it turned out pretty cool.
June 20: I played dress up again. Only, this time I was a bad ass Maori warrior. Because some days, you just need to feel like a warrior.
June 25: I spent the day today at the Pennsy Trail Art and Music Festival supporting my friend Lauren. Unfortunately the clientele seemed more interested in confederate flag belt buckles and t-shirts with crocheted cats on them. So, while it was a learning experience for us both, it wasn't the most productive day in sales. But I did find time to slip away to an antique store in town and find a few gems. This is the etiquette book I found, copyright 1922.
June 29: We planted herbs and watched them grow. Then we ate them with great pleasure.
June 30: I had a great lunch date with my friend Mandy and her twin girls, then went exploring a creek in the county. The blue bridge that I have used in several pictures is even delightful from underneath! The colors of the rust paired with the reflections of the water simply took my breath away. It inspired me to bust out my camera manual and teach myself how to use the video function!
July 1: Carolina Chocolate Drops at the Cityfolk Festival with my boo. It was amazing! If you don't own this CD yet, you should!
(This one is not zoomed at all.)
July 5: U2. Soldier Field. 360 Tour. And yes, we were THAT close. Enough said.
July 14: Tonight, my friend Anita, her friend David (who is not to be confused with my David!), and I went to the drive-in for a viewing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1... followed by a midnight viewing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2! It was spectacular! Before the show, David successfully turned Anita into a bag of Doritos. Delicious. :-)
August 5: I became obsessed with Mumford & Sons.
August 8-12: I stayed in this glorious cabin in the woods all by myself. It was a much-needed respite before beginning my new job at a new school. I read Steinbeck, took bubble baths by candlelight, listened to The Clogs, drank Passion tea, and grilled all my food. It was heaven.
Fairy tales are more than true;
not because they tell us that dragons exist,
but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.
not because they tell us that dragons exist,
but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.
~G.K. Chesterton~
August 27: I cheated again. I needed to remind myself what it felt like to be here. The beginning of the school year was a rough one!
September 3: By this point, I believe I had given up hopes of ever completing my 365. My job had, once again, taken precedence over my photography.
September 16: Despite the fact that I look utterly frightened by the thought of 75-80 mph balls flying at me... I just want to say... I totally rocked it. I mean, I put the guys to shame. And then, when the impressed stranger asked me "So do you do fast pitch?", I took great pleasure in replying... "Nope. Never played a sport in my life. I was in marching band."
Take that, suckas. ;-)
September 17: Lovely hike today with David. Autumn has arrived. And I couldn 't be more excited.
September 21: I celebrated Internation Day of Peace by locking myself in my bedroom with my new Shel Silverstein book this evening!
She had blue skin,
And so did he.
He kept it hid,
And so did she.
They searched for blue
Their whole life through,
Then passed right by--
And never knew.
And so did he.
He kept it hid,
And so did she.
They searched for blue
Their whole life through,
Then passed right by--
And never knew.
~Shel Silverstein~
September 22: Just one more reason I know David loves me. He agreed to let me paint him BLUE in order to pay tribute to my favorite Shel Silverstein poem from his new book.
September 24: Renaissance festival with the family! Always a fun time.
October 14: David and I carved our first pumpkins together today.
October 15: David asked me to marry him... and, of course, I said yes!
October 23: I had the pleasure of going wedding dress shopping with my mom and adorable future mother-in-law, Patty! I let them pick out any dresses they wanted to see on me and I tried them on for their amusement. We found THE ONE... And I can safely assure you that THIS is NOT it.
October 23: I had the pleasure of going wedding dress shopping with my mom and adorable future mother-in-law, Patty! I let them pick out any dresses they wanted to see on me and I tried them on for their amusement. We found THE ONE... And I can safely assure you that THIS is NOT it.
October 28: Moved into 2 bedroom townhouse closer to work. Future home of the Mr and Mrs! Slept on an air mattress for a few weeks.
November 8: I did.
November 11: My students and I desperately needed to do something creative in class today. So we painted autumn trees. Allowing 3rd graders to paint was moderately stressful, but worth the results!
November 25: Christmas tree lighting ceremony downtown with Stephie! Even MORE fun with a fiance. :-)
December 25: It was the merriest of Christmases! :-)
December 31: And the happiest of New Year's Eves.
On a separate note, Anita and Bill find the best party games. Though, it's hard to believe this one was sponsored by Disney!
December 25: It was the merriest of Christmases! :-)
December 31: And the happiest of New Year's Eves.
On a separate note, Anita and Bill find the best party games. Though, it's hard to believe this one was sponsored by Disney!
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