My favorite photos of 2011

I’m still learning to use my new camera, but I sure got a lot of practice with all our adventure this year. Here are some of my favorite photos.

 

We learned that bears like to eat dandelions

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My daughter discovered the most fascinating animal at the zoo

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I spent a little time in our back yard capturing ducks and lily pads

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my daughter showed off her fashion sense

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I trespassed in a beaver family’s back yard

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I listed my 10 favorite places to be 

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I got up close with some Poppies – I had no idea they were so hairy

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I tried out the macro lens chasing down raindrops

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My daughter and I explored Turnagain Pass in Alaska

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I went tourist at Pike Place Market

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I got all deep and philosophical about a Foggy Day

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and I can’t finish this post without including another picture of the sweetest little girl in the world

Gem

A look back at 2011

At the beginning of 2011, I was bald,  scarred, nursing a nasty radiation burn, and not ready to spend any energy on an end of year analysis of my introduction to life with cancer.

My life has changed a bit since then.

For starters, I have hair.

Judy Schwartz Haley

Photo by Darrah Parker Photography

 

There was some awesome

My little girl grew up so much:

Then

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Now

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While Aaron was finishing his master’s degree, Gem and I went on a 3000+ mile road trip with Grandma, through Canada to Alaska.

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I completed cancer treatment with the help of some amazing people.

We took a couple trips to the coast

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I was on CNN telling the world about my hero, Debbie Cantwell and the Pink Daisy Project.

 

I can’t say goodbye to the cancer experience just yet, I’m still dealing with some residual complications, but I am in the process of moving on. I did so much more than deal with cancer in 2011, but it featured prominently in my life.

Before we get to the rest of my life, I did write up a post detailing what a day of radiation treatment is like, which has been quite a popular post over the past year. I hope it helps people who are facing this treatment, and a little nervous about what they are in for. (I also wrote a similar post about chemotherapy.)

 

What else did I do this year?  

I learned you can experience beauty without feeling guilty for not taking a picture

I am still learning to look past the angry in others

I’m embracing the idea that improvement comes from habit  

Made a fun discovery in my journal

Random act of kindness: I received an amazing gift that still brings a smile to my face and checks my attitude every time I use it

 

Looking Forward

I am so ready to get on with 2012.

I’m not doing resolutions this year, instead I’m picking a couple of words on which to focus as a kind of guiding principle for the year.

I picked “habit” and “kaizen”

The two are related. By habit, I mean I’m going to be intentional about creating healthy habits, slowly and gradually, the same way my bad habits get their start. For instance, I’m gradually improving my diet instead of going on a crash diet cutting out everything at once. Kaizen was a new term to me, meaning small improvements made every day will lead to massive improvements overall. This year is going to be all about incremental, sustainable change.

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Do you have any plans, resolutions, or words of the year for 2012?

 

Turnagain Pass

Turnagain Pass is the highest point on the road between Anchorage and Soldotna, Alaska

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As of yet unscathed by corporate interests

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I love getting pictures of my little girl out in the wilderness

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she looks so fragile, buffeted by the wind

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of course, there’s the obligatory “Little House on the Prairie” shot

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complete with falling down scene

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but seriously, isn’t this gorgeous?

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Green

Green

We saw so much beauty and variety on our trip from Seattle to Alaska, but the predominant color was most definitely green.

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Yes, I know I should label all the pictures with the specific locations where they were taken. Maybe next time I take a trip, I’ll take better notes to accompany the photos.  Or, even better, I’ll have a camera that records GPS coordinates in the photo’s metadata. I’m all for technology that allows me to be even more lazy.


First flight

First flight

Here we are somewhere between Alaska and Seattle, most likely over Canada. This was baby girl’s first flight, and she spent most of the flight in this posture, watching Curious George on my computer.

first flight

She did peek out the window a few times to make sure we were still up in the air, and then she would announce to me that we were “flying in an airplane.”

Wish I could sit that comfortably in an airplane seat. There are benefits to being that short.