Saturday, December 31, 2011

new year

hello lovely friends. thank you once again for the kindest words on the mountain posts. i'm hoping everyone had a wonderful holiday, celebrated with love and joy and even a little magic. i think i'm just now recovering. i cried when my children all came home and cried even more when they left again. i cried missing my mum who passed away last september. but when i had to hand my camera over for repairs, and was told maybe it would be back in six weeks ( my eyes filling with tears again), i knew it was time to find a way to step out of this fog i've been in. missing is okay, but it was beginning to feel like depression.

tonight i picked up my knitting needles, the first time in days. and made this post too. looking through the many photos i'd taken this year made me feel blessed and better already.

giving thanks for twenty eleven... 


january ~  spending our anniversary in the redwoods, big sur, california


february ~ camping in californias serengeti, the carrizo plain


february ~ visiting my youngest daughter in brooklyn, new york


march ~  fox encounter, carpinterias salt marsh


april ~  back to the carrizo plain

may ~ back to nyc, to the fashion institute of technology, to earn my knitting teachers credential


june ~ taking the train to anaheim, california to see u2 in concert


july ~ the royal couple visited carpinteria


august ~ home


september ~ my mother, paris 2001


october ~ paddle boarding in the pacific ocean


november ~ making big plans


december ~ the sierras, family and home

these were some of the things that filled our year in twenty eleven. it's difficult to choose just one photo and one line to describe a month, or even a day. and though losing my mom has been the hardest thing in my life, tonight when chuck and i went out to dinner we agreed it was indeed a year to be thankful for, with the blessings of good health, good friends, much loved family, one little dog and adventures too, we hope for the new year to be more of these things, for all. cheers and welcome twenty twelve.
love, lori xxx



41 comments:

  1. You are beautiful and inspiring Lori... may all your wishes for the coming year come true...
    Happy New Year and I am grateful for all that you share xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy New Year Lori!
    Beautiful post with those 12 highlighted pictures.
    I am happy that it was a good year for you overall.Wishing you a year filled with love and good things again in 2012♥

    ReplyDelete
  3. beautiful post, beautiful life, love and blessings in the new year lori .x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh Lori, I have a feeling 2012 will have wonderful things in store for you. Hugs to you Mama for your losses, changes and evolution. You are a dear friend Lori and I am grateful for this place of yours ... you have much to share. Hugs. Lyn

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Lori,
    I dropped by via kj,,and I adore your blog!
    These are some of the most amazing photos I've ever seen.
    I've now lived 15 minutes of 2012,here in Texas America, and I wanted to wish a Happy and Healthy New Year for you and your beautiful family.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy New Year Lori and family. I love all the photo's but especially December - the dog looks like he too is waiting for Santa!, so cute.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I noticed how your mom was looked at by the other people - she was sure someone to draw attention! Like you, my sweets! This will become a great year, another one to be thankful for, like all the ones before. May you have some extra-wishes fulfilled (may that African bug disappear before going to meet new ones... Oh, how lovely that you can go again!)
    I am hugging you, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Lori
    Wishing you all a marvellous 2012!

    I'm currently catching up on more than a month's worth of blogposts and yours are a joy as ever.. those mountain photos are incredible, and I can hardly believe Owen is two already!! Your 2011 retrospective is amazing, too..

    Hope that the knitting therapy is kicking in, and that your camera will be back soon..

    lots of new year greetings from the southern hemisphere xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. 2011, a year of great ups and so-sad downs, but a year you have made peace with, that sounds like a good start to 2012 to me (and much like the place I find myself in just now). And wow! at these photos Lori, especially December's, which has put a great big smile on my face.

    May 2012 bring peace, health and prosperity to you and all you hold dear x

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great pictures, love the last one!

    Happy 2012 :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Lori, I'm so sorry to read about the loss of your mom - sending you very big hugs and much love.
    I LOVE your photos, they are so beautiful, so evocative!
    I hope that 2012 will be a wonderful, healthy and very happy year for you! xx

    ReplyDelete
  12. you know... i really feel Blessed to have stumbled onto BlogWorld when I did. i have an incredible group of women friends through blogs, that i feel a connection with. i may have never met you face to face, but i feel i know you... you share beautiful photos & wise words. i cant tell you how much i appreciate the encouraging comments you have passed on to me. lori~ it has been an interesting year.. i pray that you, chuck, and your beautiful family have a Blessed 2012♥ love xoxo janis

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful. I can feel your sadness, I am sending many hugs.
    Happy New year!
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  14. A beautiful post, Lori...your pictures are so interesting and each one tells its' own special story. You do have a rich and varied and wonderful life, despite your understandable recent sorrow. Sending you warmest wishes for a happy and fulfilling 2012.
    Helen x

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wishing you a heart-felt Happy New Year! XO

    ReplyDelete
  16. I just warmed so much at the picture of your mother , so beautiful and kind looking. Always in your heart.
    Thank you for your exquisite blog, and your friendship
    xxx
    julie

    ReplyDelete
  17. lori, it warms me to think that in two of those months i was hanging with a special friend hotdogging on a rock and cabchasing in the rain. ♥

    i can close my eyes and see the photo of your Mother. she is so beautiful in this shot, wistful, maybe even alittle sad, so very very beautiful. that it is black and white makes it classic. how could any year not be chiseled in psychic stones just by the (physical) loss of your Mom?

    i wish you everything in 2012, lori.

    love
    kj

    ReplyDelete
  18. It is always a pleasure to vist your blog. Love the photos. I wish you and your family "A Happy and a Healthy New Year" Inge......

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a beautiful look back, and a great way to see all the good, despite going through some hardships (sorry to hear about your mom).

    I think my fave photo is the last one :-)

    ReplyDelete
  20. happy new year lori!

    i think my favourite posts this year were your pictures from visiting your daughter in brooklyn :)

    and of course anything with owen in!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Holidays always make those emotions run amuck. Tears of joy, tears of joyful memories--may they both bring you solace in the new year.
    Wow is all I can say about your year in photos. Here's hoping that they were overestimating the time your camera will be "hospitalized" and you'll be soon behind the lens!! We all look forward to new photo adventures.
    Blessings in the new year!!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Lovely moments , Lori. So blessed to have met you here in this space. I am sure our Mothers are sharing a bench somewhere, reading our blogs. Love to you and your beautiful family. xxx

    ReplyDelete
  23. Loved looking at your year in pictures just as much as I've enjoyed your blog through this past year. I wish for you much love and happiness in 2012.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Looks and sounds like a very blessed year, despite the great loss. I pray you recover from the blues swiftly and enjoy another happy and blessed year. Happy new year, Lori! ♥Julie

    ReplyDelete
  25. Happy New Year, Lori! Once again, inspired by your thoughtful post.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Your pictures are so pretty. I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. I can't imagine much harder than that...

    ReplyDelete
  27. Dearest Lori,
    a beautiful post remembering a year filled with so much life, so much love!
    I look forward to many visits here in the coming year.
    Sending you, Chuck and Owen all the best!
    Much love.

    ReplyDelete
  28. hello my sweet friend from afar...
    you are one of my blessings of 2011. I cherish your posts, each and every one, and I cherish the friendship we have formed along the way. You are grace personified plus a million. I wish you and your lovely family (Owen included) all the best in the new year, especially good health, because when we have that we can conquer most obstacles.

    With love always,
    lo♥

    ReplyDelete
  29. Beautiful recap of 2011 ♥
    Wishing you a Very Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Happy New year Lori~ I love your photo of your mom, she is beautiful!! May you have a very blessed 2012 :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. It;s a tough time of year, sometimes the melancholy creeps in though there is much to give thanks for.

    I miss my parents at family gatherings too.

    Continued healing and moving forward in the coming year, counting the blessings we do have, too many to realize.

    xoxox

    ReplyDelete
  32. I only recently discovered your blog - I adore your beautiful photos and the air of calm that comes with your posts. Happy 2012. claire

    ReplyDelete
  33. beautiful post lori! i'm glad you found all that you have to be grateful for, because obviously you do. i tried to do the same - a picture for each month of 2011 - and it was too difficult for me to choose. esp. those first four months of still living in st. maarten. so much beauty! your mom is so elegant and i see such a resemblance between kim and her it's amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  34. What a gorgeous tour of your past year Lori, especially for those of us only recently discovering your space. It has been a full year, and somehow I always feel surprised when I discover this. Thank goodness for cameras, and blogging, and blog friends that help us remember that life is expansive and full, that we are all very very fortunate and full.
    cheers and happy new year to you friend!
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  35. if you think you're suffering from depression...it's definitely temporary, looking at these wonderful pictures is making ME feel great!

    {hugs}

    love the photos from your mountain trip...the snow is lovely...we got snow here today!!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. lori this is so beautiful and poignant and full of hope for the new year. glad that you have started knitting again. happy new year and thanks for your inspirational blog xx

    ReplyDelete
  37. What a beautiful post and a beautiful and full 2011 you had. This time of year is always hard when you've lost loved ones especially if it's your first Christmas and New Year without them. Here's to a even more beauteous 2012 full of hope, love, good health and great fortune.
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  38. Happy New Year Lori. I have enjoyed visiting your blog and I look forward to seeing all your adventures in 2012.

    Thanks for all the inspiration.

    Andee

    ReplyDelete
  39. Much much love to you, Lori. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Happy new year Lori. I'm so happy to know you. I could spend hours looking through your photos. Wishing you a fantastic 2012 xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  41. Today it's Mother's Day May 12th, 2013. My Mum left this world 2008. My life went silent. Mother's Day is always the hardest for me.
    Today I will smile as my two daughters are taking me out for a picnic.

    I love your photos and enjoy looking at them.

    ReplyDelete

xoxo lori