2011 Year in Review

Warning:  lengthy post / lots of pics

I follow a blog that has a weekly scavenger hunt (for photos).  I have yet to enter said scavenger hunt.  There is an end of the year scavenger hunt / year in review thing going on over there so I thought I'd join in.  There are 25 prompts for pics that you've taken throughout the year.  It took me a long time to go through everything, but I'm glad I did.  It brought back so many great memories.  Here goes . . .

1.  Me

I do have pictures of my whole face but I thought I'd be a little different here.  Not really sure what prompted me to take this pic in the first place, but here I am, untamed eyebrows and all.

2.  I Love You!

There's a lot of people that I love, but my kids are always first.  This was taken at the apple orchard and is one of my favorite pictures of them this year.

3.  Still Laughing . . .

The boys both did baseball this summer.  James made the age cutoff by about a week.  He was by far the smallest kid there.  It always gave me a chuckle to see his tiny little body out there, especially with this big helmet.  He just kept tilting his head back and forth and when he would run it totally fell over his eyes.  Too funny.  :)

4.  Winter Wonderland

Evidently I didn't take many pictures of snow at the beginning of the year.  There hasn't really been any now for me to take pictures of.  This was taken this spring.  That's right, snow in the spring.  I do love freshly fallen snow on a tree though.

5.  Birthday

The wee one's birthday.  Grandma thought it would be funny if he licked the cake.  It was.

6.  Friends

I evidently don't take pictures with my friends.  Or maybe I just don't have a social life.  Or maybe both.  I do love the pics that Amy and I took while walking around the U.  She's been one of my besties for 23 years.  Our anniversary is on January 10th.  Yep, we have an anniversary.

7.  I Was Inspired . . .

There are many people that I get inspiration from.  There are also places and things that inspire me.  Like this picture.  I am inspired everyday to take photos.  It has become evident over this past year from taking pictures for friends -- engagement, family, kids, and even a wedding, that my passion lies with children.  Maybe I should have come to this realization earlier considering my job is working with children.  I love capturing their personalities.  When I capture a photo like this with her innocent face and beautiful eyes, it inspires me to do more.

8.  Spring Fever

I got the kids some rainboots last year.  I wonder why they didn't have them before.  What's better than spending an afternoon jumping in some puddles?

9.  Travel or Vacation

Vacation?  Hahahahahaha.  What's that?  Seriously, it's been a long time.  I did do quite a bit of traveling in 2011.  I made a couple of trips to South Dakota, one to North Dakota, one to Wisconsin, and quite a few trips back home.  I felt like I was in the car quite a bit.  I took this pic of the boys on one of our trips to see my dad.

10.  Summer Days

The end of summer signals that it's state fair time.  I love some corn on the cob in the summer.  This picture taken at the state fair is on of my favorites.  I love that James is so focused on the corn that he's oblivious to the fact that Joe looks like he's ready to take a bite over his shoulder.

11.   A Day In My Life

Since I just posted this photo of James recently, I decided I better pick something else.  This photo is, of course, from James.  What to do with this child?  What to do?  He is definitely my naughty challenging child.

12.  All Smiles

I love this little guy.  I love his twin sister too, but there is something about this one . . .   This was taken when I had the privilege of taking photos of my cousin and his family.  Looking at him just makes me smile.  :)

13.  Autumn Harvest

I do love some pictures in the fall.  I wish the colors were better in here but I sill like it.

14.  Family or Home

So this is not my favorite picture.  I love some things about it.  I love that Joe is being silly and I love that James is holding my hand.  I do not love that I was wearing gauchos and therefore look like a tree trunk.  I also like that it isn't just my normal "hold my camera out with one hand and snap" kind of picture.

15.  Celebrate!

I had the honor of taking some wedding photos for an old friend this past labor day.  Just some snapshots of them throughout the day.  There are other pictures that I might have liked the lighting or positioning better but I love the look of their daughter on this one.  Pure love and joy.  They have a wonderful love story that spans over a decade so it was truly a day to celebrate!

16.  Let's Do It Again.

This summer my cousin and her children came to visit.  The two girls came on one trip and her son came on the other.  (Now she has a fourth!)  When the girls were in town we had the opportunity to take them to the park to play.  She's my closest cousin and I was sad when she moved back to Chicago.  I loved that she was able to visit and I think we should do it again.

17.  I Miss You.

My sister.  She moved to Georgia after her wedding just over a year ago.  I miss having her nearby.  When my brother-in-law gets deployed this spring she is moving home.  It's going to be nice to have her close again.  It's harder to pick on her when she's so far away.  :)

18.  Beautiful

I just love the simplicity of this.

19.  Dress Up

I never really have an occasion to dress up for.  I thought about using the Mario and Luigi picture from Halloween but then I came across this gem.  Be sure that you don't miss the one clip on earring.  He was proud of that.

20.  Macro / Close Up

I don't do too many of these kind of shots.  My kids were obsessed with this lady bug though and requested that I take a picture of it.  I'm sure it would have turned out better with a macro lens.  Mom, are you listening?  Take notes of these things for future birthdays and Christmas.

21.  Holidays

I had to get on the holiday bokeh train this year.  I love lights.  I love bokeh.  Good combination.

22.  My Favorite

This is my favorite picture of the year.  I love the tiny water bokeh that I get.  It melts my heart that Joe put his arm around his brother and this was an unplanned shot.  They've been fighting so much recently, it makes it nice for me to remember times like this.  Love!

23.  Don't Ever Change

My curious boys.  They ask so many questions and are so curious about everything.  The "Why?" question gets annoying sometimes, but I love that they want to gain more knowledge.  They are always eager to learn and I hope that never changes.

24.  Just Because . . . So There.

The picture that doesn't fit into any other category.  My favorite picture of Jackson from this year.  With just a tiny bit of snow still glistening on his fur, he looks so cute.  Kind of makes me want to get him a treat.  How can you not love that face?

25.  Hopes and Dreams

My hopes and dreams for 2012 . . . that I can be as brave as this little guy.  So excited at the first day of school, not anxious from the thought of change.  Totally different to how I act in those situations.  I'd like to take a few lessons from the kids in that way, to just go with the flow and see what happens.  I also hope to be more organized, more selfless, more PRESENT, more thoughtful . . . just more.  Even if  it's just a little bit more.