First, let’s take a look back for those who haven’t read this blog in the past: 2009 was one of the most exciting and heartbreaking of my life. I got married for the first time, gave birth to a gorgeous baby boy, and then lost him to a brain tumor eight weeks later. 2009 is one of those years that will always seem almost surreal to me. 2010 and 2011 have been a blur of heartaches, disappointments, depression, and transitions. Despite my best efforts, both of those years were mostly sadness and turmoil, strung together by occasional happiness. To put it bluntly, 2010 and 2011 sucked. I can say goodbye to those years with no melancholy whatsoever.
So here we are with a chance to start again. To start new and fresh. I feel that, in the last few months, I have made enormous strides to get back on track. To get back to the “me” I have missed so much. I am actually excited to start a new year. I have plans. The biggest thing I have planned is weight loss surgery. After Ian (our son) died, I slowly gained 45 pounds. I think, subconsciously, I was trying to kill myself with food. My blood pressure got high, I had swollen ankles and painful joints, my hips have started hurting. I just kind of checked out of life. So I am taking the required classes and am looking forward to surgery some time in late Spring. I’m excited about having that tool to help me get healthy and active again. I can’t wait to snow board again next winter. I can’t wait to look and feel good again!
Another thing I have planned is to work harder on photography. It’s always been an interest and hobby of mine. I’ve always had a “good eye” for the setup of a picture, but I’ve never taken the time to learn about the mechanics of photography. So, that’s on my agenda for 2012. To that end, I am starting my own “Project 365″ (although, since it’s Leap Year, it will be a Project 366). I will be posting a picture a day for the next year. It could be of something I did that day, or a pic of something interesting I saw, or of something completely meaningless that caught my eye. The goal is to make sure I really look at the world every day, and find something to appreciate every day. As part of the project, I’ll post a blog entry every Sunday. The topic could be almost anything. There will be a lot going on in my life, so prepare for some schizophrenic posts. Ha ha. So – I’ve committed: 366 pictures, 52 posts. And here’s today’s:
I'm learning about "depth of field" and experimenting with the settings on my camera. These poinsettias are left over from Christmas and on the porch awaiting their fate. I loved the way the color in the flower caught the sunlight!
I look forward to reading your posts. I’m so glad you decided to do 365, looking forward to your pictures.
I’m nervous about keeping up with it! But, so far, so good. I’m four days into it, and I’ve taken the pictures daily! I’m going to download the pictures weekly, along with the blog. Looking forward to seeing yours, too!