Happy New Year!

 

Okay, so it's not quite 2012 yet, but I, along with many, I am sure, am taking advantage of the post-holiday quiet to re-group, and to get into the spirit of ringing in a New Year!  

As I begin to put away our Christmas decorations, for yet another year, I get a little sentimental, a little reflective, about the year coming to a close.  This one was a busy one...with lots of new people in our lives, lots of travel opportunities - to familiar spots and plenty of new territories too! 

We rang in 2011 in the Tetons, one of our favorite, right in our own backyard, places!  We traveled throughout the year, several times, to Oregon, another of our favorite spots; for Allison's graduation from Oregon State University, for Allison & Stephen's beautiful wedding and all of those related festivities, and we spent a lot of time in one of my very favorite places, the Oregon Coast!  We got to go to Alaskaaaa, as part of a great adventure that began this Spring with mine and Ashley's incredible trip to Thailand and Burma!  And finally, we got to spend Thanksgiving with the Ryan family all together...and then enjoyed a nice, quiet Christmas with our beautiful (and pregnant!) daughter, Ashley!  (So looking forward to meeting our grand-daughter in 2012!!!!)

It was an exciting year!  And I am so grateful for all that we have been able to do and see...and all of the wonderful people in our lives.

I don't really "do" resolutions.  I find that as soon as I commit to a New Year's resolution, it becomes my goal, instead of keeping it, to break it, as quickly as possible, so I can let it go and relax!  Instead, I hope that I live my life as a resolution...to be an authentic, open person.  I hope that I have been true to myself...I hope that I have shown, by my actions and my words, and by my photography too, who I am and what matters most to me.  Time passes by so quickly.  It really does!  Even those days that seem to drag on forever are really just the blink of an eye!  So I hope, in 2012, I can continue to appreciate my life, continue to explore and to be open to new possibilities and new experiences...and that we all treasure every moment we are given and let the people in our lives know how much we cherish them.

To all my friends and family...Happy New Year...I love you!  Thank you for being a part of my life!