fourteen favorites in 2014

happy new year's eve to you!  i managed to stay in bed till 11:00 this morning and after a very late breakfast, have spent the last couple hours enjoying reading others' reflections on 2014 online and looking back through my own blog posts from the year and reminiscing.  it was a very good year.  here are just a few of the highlights.  i'm glad i've gotten so many more recorded here on my blog and in my scrapbooks.

this first one is from a blog post i wrote to accompany a lesson on using natural lighting that i shared with the photography club at my high school.  i think i need to brush up on these points myself and see if i can work them into some winter photography. 

this will always be a treasured photo and one of our favorite childhood memories.  i'm glad i was able to get my thoughts about it written down here.  i'm not always good with the wordier essays.  i like to keep it brief.

i did a little more cooking in 2014.  go me.  i know that gabriel noticed, because at school he wrote a little abc book for mother's day and my favorite page in it is the letter d, "my mom is daring at cooking because she will try new recipes."  many of this year's recipes were tasty soups that i threw together without a recipe.  this one i am most proud of as the corn, peppers, and tomatoes were all from my own garden and the potatoes were from homer's farm.  it is very satisfying to grow your own food.

it was hard limiting myself to one layout.  there were several contenders.  i didn't dwell on it too long as i like them all for different reasons.  this one i love because of the soft  design that manages to let the little vintage photo of my brother and i shine.  i also managed to write a lot of lengthy journaling and get it on the page in a way that works well with the design.  this is one of my all time favorite photos.  the page just has an all around sweetness and i'm glad i've gotten these stories written down.

i love all my florida photos.  it's always warm in florida, plus we always have fun times with the family, like going out crabbing on the intracoastal, and it always reminds me of other great memories from my childhood.

this was my second year taking wildflower photos.  i have tagged them "roadside attractions" and photographing them has become one of my favorite hobbies.

i also got into gardening more than ever before.  i enjoyed documenting my garden and homer's farm in my online garden journal.  these zinnias got a post all their own.

this summer we got to travel a couple extra times.  the first was to visit my sister and her family at their campsite in the mountains of north carolina.

we also visited my sister in texas where i got to photograph texas wildflowers and a crazy grasshopper invasion.

i didn't get as many crafty projects done this year as i had intended, but i do a few.  g's class valentine's are always a highlight of my year.  i was worried this year that i wouldn't be able to come up with anything close to the coolness of last year, but i persevered and was quite happy with the way these turned out.  you can never go wrong with shel silverstein, right?

brevity is my forte with journaling and i was very pleased with this six word memoir.  i just wish i'd gotten more of my dad's old black and white photos documented.  i need to be more diligent about it in 2015.

i am very close to accomplishing my goal of reading 52 books this year.  i know today is the last day, but i think i'm going to make it.  so many great books.  this was one of my favorites this year.  so looking forward to more great books in 2015.  this was a very worthwhile and enjoyable pursuit.

this was one of my proudest moments this year.  i dug up a holly bush with a hatchet, a shovel, a trowel, and my own brute strength.  actually, it happened more than once.  i am woman, hear me roar.

and i think this is my favorite photo of my son and i from this year.  i was actually taking a solo selfie when he came and photobombed it.  i always think my smile is better when he's in the picture though.  and with this, let me encourage you to take more pictures WITH your child this year.  you won't regret it.

i hope your last few hours of 2014 are special ones.  make them so. 

much happiness to you and yours,

doris (and gabriel)