this is : : 2012

1// At the very beginning of the year, Chloe celebrated her 6th birthday.  I had to work, so I'm really grateful for the pics of her first birthday party.
2// Visiting the botanical gardens and aquarium of Albuquerque with my family.
3// Chloe and I made cookies for Valentine's Day.
4// My family and I visited Santa Fe plaza.
5// Since then Titus has been promoted to Jonah's aquarium.
6// We went to visit the botanical gardens of Albuquerque at my favorite time of year--spring, when everything is in full bloom.
7// In April, I began sponsoring Majoie.
8// My sisters, mom, and I went to visit my grandparents before Rachel and I went to Glorieta.  Ellie and I had an adventure!
9// In May Rachel and I went to Glorieta.
10// Miranda helped document our summer together.  This pic and the next are hers.
11// Hanging out at the lake after work.
12// In July a kind couple at our church gave Rachel and I a car.
13// After being away all summer, it was so nice to be able to spend time with Chloe again.
14// In October my family and I spent two glorious weeks visiting family and just spending time together.
15// We went to the ABQ balloon fiesta.
16// We also visited Elephant Butte.
17// In November Rachel, my dad, and I went to visit an orphanage in Mexico.  It was such an incredible blessing to go down there!
18// I actually cooked for Thanksgiving!
19// Our first snow for the year was absolutely beautiful.
20// Chloe and I dressed up for our church's Christmas Eve service.

And, last but not least, the male in my life:

Jonah

How could I forget the friend who has stuck with me through thick and thin, who's been my shoulder to cry on, who's...?

Haha.  Not.  I just couldn't leave the little guy out.  I really am very happy I got him as a birthday present to myself.

Hope you enjoyed reviewing my year with me!  I'll be posting about my 2013 goals within the next few days, as well as a new series!  I'm really looking forward to it.

Happy 2012!

new camera

Now that I actually own a camera...I will probably be posting a lot more.  Because my life is just that fascinating.

Haha. Not.  But I do think I'll be posting more pictures.  I'm going to try to do a 365 photography project over 2013, and document my progress on here!  I think it'll be fun.

For Christmas I got a Fujifilm FinePix S4250.  It's Greek to me too!  I went to Walmart on Thanksgiving night to stand in line for this baby because they had it on sale for Black Friday.  I think my favorite things about it is that it can record, it has a macro setting (!!!), and it's mine.  Basically, those are the top three.  Anyway, here's some pics I've taken in the first couple of days I've actually been able to use it.

out on the town : : ABQ river of lights

Last night my family and I went to the River of Lights in Albuquerque.  We went there once, a long time ago, and it was so nice to be able to go this year!  I was able to take a bunch of pictures since I actually have a camera!!!!!  Hope you enjoy the pics!

I love that I can do panoramas with this camera--it's amazing!

girl behind the blog : : Christmas traditions + merry Christmas!

Hey everyone!  So today I'm linking up with Ashley and Kerrie for The Girl Behind the Blog: Holiday Traditions.  I'm kind of late getting on this band wagon since it actually started last week, but I didn't have a camera until today!  It's awesome; I'll be posting some new pics from it within the next couple days!  Anywho, now I can finally join in to this link up.  I hope you enjoy hearing about my Christmas traditions--I had such a good time thinking about them!  I thought it would be really weird to film myself, but it actually wasn't so bad. :)


It took a mere four hours for this video to publish...needless to say, I was a bit upset.

Here's the ornament I mentioned in the video.  Merry Christmas, everyone!

and then there was a party : : kids these days

I hope everyone's having a great Christmas Eve so far!  Mine's been pretty ordinary--I just cleaned up the house.  Tonight we're having a Christmas Eve service that I'm really looking forward to.  I really enjoy gathering as a church family for these special events.  It helps focus my mind on the real meaning of holidays and what is taking place.

I found this retelling of the Christmas story today and love it!  It's so cute.  I hope you enjoy it. :)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Adam

This week my sisters and I, along with my mom, all went to the mall to do some of our Christmas shopping.  Chloe got to get some pictures with Santa!  I was really surprised she wanted to since she's usually pretty shy, but she had a lot of fun.  While she was in line there was one of those mirrors that distorts your reflection; she had SO much fun with it!

 Ellie and I laughed at Santa's shirt--it is so New Mexican.

Afterwards Chlo got to go ride on the merry go round.

Happy Christmas Eve eve!  Or, as Chloe says, "Christmas Adam".  She finally explained this to me--it's because "Adam came before Eve!"