My 2012 in Pictures

Narrowing down pictures to just a few to represent a whole year is a HUGE challenge.  I went through all of 2012's pictures, and made it to 42.  For those 42 pictures, you can look at the album I created on Facebook.

For a blog, though, That seems like a fairly cumbersome volume of pictures to post.  So this is my attempt to narrow down - even further - our 2012 in pictures.  The idea stems from a blog challenge.  Unlike "Wordless Wednesday" - this challenge encouraged using "captioning" (thank goodness!) and suggested picking one picture for every month.  I'm not sure I can narrow it down that far!


Baby Due Feb 11!  Baby arrived 8 days later on Feb 19.



Baby's First Holiday:  Mardi Gras!



Maternity Leave week 1:  Art Projects with Kiddo



Kiddo Learns to fish!  One of 2 camping trips



Atlanta, GA for Vacation - Daddy ran a 10K!



Beach trips included Myrtle Beach, SC and Crystal Beach, TX



Lots of time spent outdoors - plus a new kayak!



Hiking to the top while carrying kids was a challenge!



Mom got creative when Baby G started daycare!



Funnest Run of the year: COLOR ME RAD



Mom & Kiddo creativity, again: Robot Building 101



Painting Pumpkins!



Obligatory "baby in a pumpkin" picture!



Baby G never cries!  Well, almost never...



Kiddo loves his baby sister!



Thanksgiving Day hiking and picnic lunch



Mischevious Girl crawling up stairs...over and over and over

The Whole Family - in Wichita, Kansas



The In-laws - in Dallas, Texas (missing MIL and FIL)



Sweet Doggies on "Grandma Kathy's" bed!

Six Words

Internal age never matches external age.

Six Words

Curiosity has not killed me yet.

Best & Worst

As "they" say (whoever "they" is)...

It was the Best of times, it was the Worst of times.

We have just returned home from a whirlwind tour of the midwest.  That is to say - we visited family over the holiday, flying to Texas, driving to Kansas and back again, and flying home.  Whew!

The Best:

Often, holidays with my family are stressful.  Of all the times I've made the Kansas-back-to-Texas trek, many memories are of crying in the car - upset and/or frustrated about one thing or another.  This time?  That didn't happen.  Overall, it was a very pleasant, nearly peaceful visit.  I was a bit sad not to be able to see my neices and nephews (it's been over a year - and possibly two years - since I've seen them!)  Somehow, though, this Christmas Eve was magical.  It had that "spirit" of the holiday.

Before the actual holiday, we got to spend quality one-on-one time with most family.  It's great to see family at big get-togethers, but the smaller group visits this time around were more enjoyable.  It's so wonderful to visit, relax, and just hang-out with family.  This year, I found myself truly blessed in so many ways.  Perhaps that is - in part - why this particular holiday felt special to me.

The Worst:

Among Baby G's Christmas Presents lurked Pneumonia (or at the very least, she was diagnosed with Pneumonia on Christmas Eve after a three plus hour stint in the Immediate Care Center).  In fact - generally, it seems this visit centered around the health of the family.  Everyone is getting older, it's true - but there were many in the family where deteriorating health is evident.  It makes me want to make my health a priority for 2013.  I can't change the health of those around me - but hopefully, I can make changes to my own eating and exercise habits.  In fact, I'm looking forward to a 5 mile run on New Year's Day with a couple of neighbors!

There was also the weather.  It wasn't snowing in Kansas, but about the time we hit the Oklahoma border (1 hour into the drive), we begin bringing snow with us from Oklahoma all the way to Texas.  The trip took a few hours longer than it should have, and going was slow and a bit treacherous.   Kudos onto my hubby for keeping us safe, even though we saw countless of spin-outs, fender benders, and overturned cars.

So to family and friends... as the New Year approaches... I wish for all of you good health!

Overdue... Wordless Wednesday

Six words

We'll be home for the holidays!

six words

Thinking about Santa.  Makes me tired.

six words

Good to be home.  Now what?

Six Words

Some days, my patience is tested.

Six Words

Party like a rock, not rockstar.

Wordless Wednesday

Six words

Failed teenage rebellion, became school salutatorian.

Six Words

Dead tired.  Better than dead dead.

Six Words

Please don't make me repeat myself.

Six words

This year, I've had a calendar of "six-word memoirs".

I find it funny, and inspirational.

It's made me think about what you can say in six words.  Anyhow -

For the rest of the month, I'm going to attempt to post a little more than I have in the last week or so.  Even if it's only six words at a time.  I'll try to keep my topic for these as "six words", and the post itself limited to six words. 

But for today, you needed to read all of that as a lead-in to today's thought:

Don't add vanilla to sprite.  Yuck.

Blog

I didn't set out to blog every day this year.  However, I do think I was going to try for something like 350 posts.

I checked.  I think this is 343.  Woah!

I do like blogging, but sometimes, trying to do it every day is stressful.

Then, again, I have many "topics" that I have never even touched.  I don't think I posted much when I took my son to the dentist for the first time this year, for example.

It is interesting, though, that with less than 30 days left this year, I have only a handful more posts to meet my goal.

Let's hope I'm not too burned out to finish what I started!