my word{s}...2010


every year, i go through a list of words...
and i wait for one to jump out at me...
last year was dare...
the year before focus...

this year, i'm trying something new.

play
really seemed to stick with me...
after a year of intesity and deliberation
i think i want to go back to the fun of it...
i want to remember why i started all
this in the first place,
which was not necessarily to make a living
but to make living fun...

so i was stuck on play...
and kept coming back to it...
but i wasn't sure it was what i would
be happy with for the whole year...
so i decided to do a
dual word
this year...

play::expand.

kind of like playing with purpose...

and i'm happy with this,
i'm looking forward to working this
into my daily life...

play.
expand.

it feels like fresh air and sunshine...
like swingsetfreedom...
like sleeping in.

dare.


2009 was a good year for me.
my word for the year was dare...
and as i looked back over the year,
i think it fit.

i started a new job, an hour's drive away
{which meant winter driving, a first for me!}

i photographed my first wedding.

i had my first photography showing.

participated in a bridal show.

started an etsy shop {and actually sold something!!}.

created a website.

had a photo featured on shutter sisters daily click.

had a photo featured on explore.

began shooting manually...no more relying on auto.

collaborated with liz...

did a month of daring....

started using lightroom.

was interviewed for 2 newspapers.

started the pretty little teacup series.

did my first guest post!

wrote 13 poems for aprils post a poem.

bought a computer and set it up all by myself!!

participated in an art and wine festival

attended a creative writing workshop

baked my first apple pie

made a mondo beyondo grande i'm gonna be 40 list!

started the 100 ideas for creativity

made scalloped potatoes

posted 28 out of 30 days in november

wow.
i'm excited by this
but i'm also a little intimidated...
where to go for this year...
and what will my word be...

what about you?
what's your word...your plan...your list...
your longings? what do you see for
2010...

on the spur of the moment.

no photos,
no plan
just writing from the top of my head
straight from the hip
no punctuation, no capitals
(not that i do that much anyway...)

christmas was good, very very good
in a relaxed, low-key kind of way...
after some family drama (which we never have)
i just wanted to relax
and slow down
and take christmas in...
let go of any expectations...
let go of any underlying resentments...
and it was good...

the kids were happy, we had so much fun at my parents
not once did i feel snappish or
like i needed a moment to myself...
it just went along smoothly...
and before i knew it, it was over.

i have spent the rest of the weekend
rotating between cleaning up
and sleep, with sleep winning out
much of the time...i have been fighting
a flu for the past week and now that
i can sleep, i think i will...the house
will survive some clutter and
a bedraggled tree a little longer...

i think i will take the lessons of christmas
into 2010 for me...to breathe
relax...ease into things...
take it slow...
let the little things go.

and yet, at the same time,
i am anxious to start thinking about my
new year's resolutions...i love resolutions...
well...really...i love lists.
:O)

now...off to find a cold can of diet coke
and figure out how to upload music to
my hand-me-down ipod...

i hope you had the happiest of christmases
and want to take a moment to say
how happy i am to still be blogging...
it has been a long time and i am grateful
for the friends that have stuck with me
for the long haul and for the new ones just made...

xo

december views {17} i've fallen behind...


a photo from a recent photo session i did...
i love this one.

i've fallen behind and may stay behind...
i start back to my full time job tomorrow
which is a 45 minute drive away
in the snow and ice
so that may cut back on my blogging time...
add to that the fact that i am totally
not
ready for christmas
(i never am...)
and that i am still working on photos from
past sessions to edit...
so...
it's busy.
but good.

so it may be sporadic, but i'll be here...
:O)