Last year, I set up a curriculum of projects for myself. One of those projects was to be sure that the 4 of us (me, hubby, son, & daughter) had our picture taken together every month of the year. How did we do?
JANUARY- taken by a car salesman on the last day in January while we were window shopping for cars. I barely remembered to get a picture done for January!
FEBRUARY- taken by a photopass photographer in Disneyland. It was way too bright to be positioned where we were standing, but I guess it was worth getting the castle in the background?
MARCH – one of the worst pictures of me ever – I can’t believe I’m posting it here, but it’s my only option from March. Taken on the last day of the month (of course) by my brother while we were visiting in Albuquerque, NM. Another photo in super bright sunlight + a lot of wind.
APRIL- a very poor quality photo of us right as we arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada at our hotel (The Venetian). Taken with my iPhone camera by a random hotel employee.
MAY – Rats! It didn’t happen in May. I did get my photo taken with the kids, but I forgot to have us all pose for a family picture.
JUNE – at Oquirrh Lake on June 4, 2011. Taken by my Mom while my parents were visiting. We love to go sightseeing with my parents when they come to town so we go all kinds of fun places. It was a little windy so I have a crazy hair thing going on here.
JULY – at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in July of 2011. Taken by a random stranger (with my iPhone camera).
AUGUST – at the zoo in Salt Lake City, Utah. Photo taken by a random zoo employee in August of 2011.
SEPTEMBER – Oops! I forgot in September! How about we count a photo from early October and call it good?
– a rainy day in Yellowstone. Photo taken by my sister-in-law on October 5, 2011.
OCTOBER – Ghostbusters Halloween costumes. Photo taken by my sweet next door neighbor on October 31, 2011.
NOVEMBER – photo session for Christmas card pictures. Photo taken by Rachel of Remember This Photography on November 25, 2011.
DECEMBER – at the zoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Photo taken by my Mom on December 30, 2011.
I’m disappointed with about half of the pictures in this post and I really considered just trashing this entry, but I feel like it’s an important lesson for me and for any of you who also struggle with this. I don’t have a lot of photos of the 4 of us together in 2011, and some of them are not the best…but it’s WAY more than I had of us together in 2010. I obviously still have a long way to go with this project and I want another shot at it. I want to put more thought into the photos of us that will represent our year. I want to hand the camera over more often. I don’t want to wait until the last day of the month.
I’m still trying to get over not liking how I look in pictures. I’m sure that getting in better shape would help me with that. I do feel like this is one of the most important photography goals I could set for myself. After a dear friend of mine passed away last July, I suddenly realized how important it is for me to be IN the pictures and not always behind the camera. I love my family and I want to be part of the memories with them. I’m trying.
On a positive note, it was the most travel-packed year our family has ever experienced. It’s fun that we have pictures of us together in Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Cedar City, Yellowstone, and various parts of Salt Lake City. We were very blessed to have so many opportunities in 2011. It’s also kind of cool to see our family change from month to month. My daughter and I both grew out our hair. My kids matured in many ways. Hubby slimmed down, even though he wasn’t at all overweight. He’s super healthy right now. Both hubby and I added more gray to our hair, and more lines on our faces. We all laughed and learned a lot together. What a great year!
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