Looking Back ~ 2013

It's time once again to look back over the past year.  2013 was a year of adjustment for me ~ getting used to being back in Colorado, in a new home and with a new job ~ a year of adjusting and finding new normals.


I did less handwork in 2013 than I think I've ever done.  Not one completed knitting project, only one small crochet project completed and one crazy quilted pincushion.

Instead of handwork, I focused more on painting!  Some watercolor sketches, but mostly oil paintings!  I'm so glad to be painting again, but after looking back over the year, I find I really miss the handwork, so need to incorporate a bit more in the coming year, while continuing to paint.  

I managed a few trips, which included: five days Boston and Cape Cod during super-storm Nemo, five days in the Tetons, a week in South Dakota with my Aunts and Uncles, shorter trips to New Mexico,  Rocky Mountain National Park and the Indian Peaks area in Colorado.  All the trips were lovely!  

The camera goes with me everywhere and as always, some of my favorite photos of the year are of flowers and plants!  What fun it was to discover all the new things growing in our yard this year and to observe the seasons of Colorado once again!


Another thing I loved this year was watching the birds and taking photos of them.  My mother was a terrific birder and took many wonderful photos over the years.  It's nice to have that connection.


Every year, I find that certain photos become my favorites.  These are a few from 2013 that I'm especially pleased with.

Looking back, it doesn't really seem like I accomplished all that much this year, at least not in things that are easy to share via photographs.  So here are a few of the things that took much of my free time this year.  Finishing the kitchen remodel!  Creating Blurb books about my travels in 2012 and putting several years of my blog into Blurb books as well.  Organizing the family archives of photos/slides and genealogy.  Starting and making huge progress scanning slides.  (Between scanning slides and making Blurb books, I think I spent the majority of my time in front of the computer, often with both the laptop and desktop computers running simultaneously as well as the scanner and a bank of external hard drives to keep all the information organized!)  Taking my first ever Plein Air Oil Painting Workshop!  I also started my nursing job in Denver, worked on many small but necessary projects around the house and yard and continued to work toward downsizing the vast quantity of possessions we have ~ that never seem to dwindle despite my best efforts!  So, while I don't have a huge amount to show for it, lots DID get accomplished!  

 Now it's time to turn my attention to the New Year, to revisit goals and make some new ones.  But that is best left for another post!