happy new year // a look back on 2012

it's almost 2013?! Does anybody know where on earth the time went this year. It literally flew past me and left me surprised in it's wake. I've never had time go so fast. lol

These are all my favorite photos from this past year. And I can't help posting them all again. They are memories and I love them. :)

This is me... excited with what the future holds. Sixteen is just exciting, three are so many possibilities!

I am just a teeny tiny bit sad that this little one is growing up so fast. Sometimes i wish that little ones would just stay little forever. Life is so uncomplicated when you are 10 mos. old. :)

This photo ^ brought my first realization that I can do something with photography. That i can make something beautiful after all.

And this photo made me so excited for days. I felt that it captured what I was seeing exactly, and proved to me that this is something I need to pursue. I needed to be able to do something beautiful. And photography was that thing I needed to do.

And as a "I'm sixteen so lets celebrate by doing something crazy..." I decided to cut my hair off. And I am so happy with the results. (I'm not sure what Thomas thinks about it though. I sent him some photos and he never told me what he thought, so we'll have to see what he says when he sees me in exactly 29 days and a few hours. I can't wait to see him. You can't image how much I've missed my big brother in this past year. Tonight at 10:00 was when I saw him last... yes I'm sentimental... :)

Sunsets have become something that I love to capture. There is something amazing about each one, and I love them. :)

This.is.my.life. 

:) I couldn't resist sharing this one again. He's such a goofball.

Such a big boy now. I don't have any clue where all the time went, people. Seems like he was just a toddler yesterday!

...fall leaves...clouds...blue-sky...sunshine...beauty...

Okay so this one should have been the one to say:

this.is.my.life.

This was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. And I am so proud of myself. :)

The sun setting behind Mt. St. Helens while we climbed Mt. Adams. Brings back memories of cramps... (:p) cold...really cold...and the verse I can do all things though Christ who strengthens me.  I guess that wasn't really applying it as it was meant to be applied, but it made me feel better, 'kay. :)

This was the first real photo shoot I ever did. Isn't it cute?!

This mountain is such a huge thing to me. :) That might sound crazy to most of you, but I am perfectly serious. I love this mountain so much, and the sight of it makes me insanely happy! 

Every photographer needs a photo like the one above. So go find somewhere with trees like this and take a photo like this, because it is such a standard "photographer" photo. totally. :)

Mt. St. Helens. Someday I am going to climb her, and look down into the crater, and be overwhelmed by her beauty.

I love flowering photos.

Pretty...

Ditto...

Ditto ditto...

This is one of my 8 babies. Yes, I did just say that. :)

I love this photo, blurriness and all.

The hair... oh the hair!!

 <3

Cute

Cute

 cuteness... 

yumminess. (Sometime I will share the recipie here, it's so complicated, seriously, it will take forever to write it all down... yah. :)

My puppy... who is now 6.

<3

2013………… somebody tell me that it’s a joke, and it’s not really December 31^st 2012, please!! I am shocked that this year went so fast, and that tonight, in only 1 hrs. and 30 minutes (and seconds) it will be January 1^st 2013. It seems to me (And I found, after reading other posts today, that I am not the only one that feels this) that it should be August still… but here we are. J

    This has been a good year. And trust me; in January I didn’t think I would say that. J I was pretty sure that my life was the pits and everything was just spiraling down from there. J I think I was a little melodramatic in the first six months of this year, and have really only recently  been realizing that life is really an amazing gift and I need to get over my “problems” and enjoy it, but I am so glad that I have finally learned that. J

This year has been full of crazy adventures:

…Climbing Mt. Adams

…Turning sixteen

…Getting my drivers permit

…Learning that photography isn’t just pointing the lens at something and clicking the shutter.

…discovering BBC movies.

…Cutting my hair off chin length

…rediscovering piano, and finding that is stunning

…being tagged on my blog for the first time

…buying a Rebel Kiss DSLR (or T2i as it is better known as here in the states. Kiss is its Korean name. How cool is that?! J)

…canning 450+ jars of preserved food w/my mom this fall

…hiking Eagle Creek, Dog Mountain, and one other place that escapes me at the moment

…finally realizing that I don’t have to be amazing at volleyball to have fun; I can look like a dork and feel awesome at the same time!!! J

…I rediscovered the lost art of Bread making. Actually my mom makes amazing bread, I just discovered the fun of using different recipes and experimenting with deliciousness.

…I have improved with my writing skills(!!!) a lot this past year (if I do say so myself.)

So, those might not be considered crazy adventures, but those were the highlights of my year. J  And these photos are my favorites from this year. J

So, I will try to do a New Year’s post tomorrow, full of resolutions and all that, but tonight I have some other things to do… and this post is getting too long anyway.

     Dear 2012,

          You were an interesting year, I must admit. You were full of surprises and fun, and crazy adventures that I wouldn’t have missed for the world. Thanks for coming. I know I’ll never see you again, and even though that makes me just a little sad, I am very exciting about welcoming in 2013. So farewell, I salute you. J

     Love,

          The sixteen-year-old-photographer-in-bare-feet

So here’s to the future, lovelies! Have a lovely new year!

xo,