January 17, 2013

2012 round-up, part two

The second half of my big 2012 update.  It was a year of big changes, with editing squeezed in everywhere else.

The second half of 2012 started with the culmination of what dominated the first half: the wedding!  I was so happy with how it went, and I still can’t believe the weather cooperated.  (There had been storms looming for days, and even the forecast that morning called for thunderstorms.)  I love the rain, but all the decorations were planned for sunshine.

I was also really happy about how well everything came together in just 13 weeks.  It’s too bad this kind of major event planning isn’t something you can put on a resumé!   I had lots (and lots) of help, of course, especially at the end, but I still view it not only as a truly wonderful, magical day with friends and family…but as a day I’m really proud of, too.  I had so much fun, and I think our guests did, too, and everything ended up looking exactly as I’d dreamed it. 


A very small sampling of, oh, millions of beautiful pics from the day.  These ones are all by our  wildly talented photographer Dallas Curow, though I have many favourites that were taken by friends and family, too.

 
 
After the wedding, we drove to Boston before flying to Mexico for Honeymoon, Phase One.

A scenic drive through the beautiful White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire.

In Mexico, the program was love, margaritas, and reading.  

Honeymoon, Phase Two was a brief stopover in Boston with family before heading to NYC.  

A view from the Empire State Building.

Cuties at dizzying heights.

A quick break in Chinatown.

NYC pizza so good we had to bring it home.

Then there was K’s wedding in Nova Scotia, which meant a road trip, camping and visiting family.  

Small passengers on the road trip.

 A brief interval of clear skies along the drive.

When I came back, I had to start on the edits I’d been postponing.  I said yes to some freelancing and signed up for a class, and suddenly the fall was underway and it was terrifyingly jam-packed.  When I found spare time, I spent a good chunk of it unpacking boxes and trying to figure out where things could go (moving one two-bedroom apartment into another two-bedroom apartment = challenging).  The excessive caffeine consumption that dominated the first half of 2012 continued to be a trend. 

Then there was Thanksgiving, and P and M’s lovely wedding…


P and M's five-alarm wedding.

Then it was Halloween, which this year yielded three fun opportunities for dressing up: a work party, a karaoke night out with friends, and helping to chaperone trick-or-treating.
V in the stunning costume she put together with her mother.
  
 M. looking fierce as Wolverine, post karaoke.

Most significantly in 2012, I didn’t only move across town and gain a husband, but I also become a stepmother. This has been the biggest change of the year (and my life!).

V is an amazing girl and I feel really lucky to be in her life.  Baking is high on the list of her favourite activities, so that was something we squeezed in where we could.

 
Cheeseburger cupcakes.
Jam-filled peanut butter cupcakes.
Baking through the last third of the year.

V and her dad started piano lessons in 2012.

Multi-talented V doing some amazing face-painting for her cousins.

On the writing front in 2012, I did quite a bit of editing of my manuscript, and I finished up most major tasks related to Bone and Bread in the last weeks of the year.  I started a new story that forms part of a new project I dreamed up in the fall.  I stopped some freelancing jobs and took on others.  I applied for grants.  I read other people’s work and gave notes.  

Part of me wishes I’d managed to read and write more in 2012, but I also wouldn’t trade anything that did happen!   (And yet another part of me wishes I’d managed to find more time to spend with my friends and my family, so there’s no pleasing me, really.)

Let's see what 2013 brings...

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