2010 in Retrospect

It's always amazing to go back at the end of the year and look through all the photos that show what I've done and where I've been. Each year I take more and more photos and it gets harder to choose what to share!

2010 Stitching, originally uploaded by ivoryblushroses.

To start off the look back for 2010, I thought I'd share a mosaic of the stitching that I've done primarily for myself. As you'll see, it's quite a contrast with the stitching I've done on Round Robins over the year!


The Round Robins for 2010 involved lots of color! They forced me to work in a much brighter palette than falls within my comfort zone, but each one ended up being wonderful to work on! While 2011 will also include some round robins, I hope to focus a bit more on my own work this year.


Between April and November, I made 9 trips between Flagstaff and my folks home in Colorado! It was lovely to see the desert southwest through the seasons as well as the mountains of Colorado. I was blessed on several occasions to be in the right spot at the right time for some fabulous photographs.


Along the way, I've loved taking photographs of the flowers and fauna of my surroundings, whether that be the bulbs blooming in winter in my home or the amazing wildflowers to be found, each in their own season, no matter where one travels. Often, these end up being my very favorite photos!

But as I look back through the year, I have two ultimate favorites. They aren't the photos of grand landscapes of or delicate flowers or even of beautiful stitching, but rather they are the cherished photos of my family.


My Mom and Dad, taken this past spring in the back yard of their new home. My Dad has advanced Alzheimer's and my Mom has been taking care of him at home this past year. I love this photograph, which caught them on a day when my Dad was alert and aware!


This photo of my kids was taken at Thanksgiving. From left to right, my oldest, Jonathan and his girlfriend Becca, Jessie, Stephen and his fiance Amanda, my youngest son, Zach. (my foster son Gary was with his family, so isn't in the picture) It was so wonderful to have all the family around the table, to sit and laugh and have a wonderful day together along with my folks, my sister and her husband as well as Amanda's Mom. Even taking pictures, the kids were laughing and teasing (mostly about me, taking hundreds of photos!) and it was such a happy day! One to live in the memory for a long time.

So 2010 is leaving us, with lots of memories behind and photographs to help remember the year by. 2011 is almost on the doorstep. Like Bilbo Baggins, I think about the road to come.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate;
And though I oft have passed them by,
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

I wish each of you a wonderful journey through the coming year, filled with blessings and joy and beautiful surprises. I wish you the warm love of family and friends to sustain you along the way!

Peace be to you my friends!