The Daily Pixel photo project- A year in review

I did it. Well, mostly anyway. The "it" in question? Taking a photo every day for a year. By my crackulations, I missed seven snaps in 2012 (1/17, 2/1, 3/27, 4/21, 7/4, 9/1 and 12/23 for those of you keeping score). Between you and me, I'm shocked the "miss" number was so low. Granted, there are a lot of crap, 11 p.m.-I-forgot-to-take-a-picture-today-Goliath-hold-still photos, but man... 51 weeks of a year recorded. Pretty cool.

The year kicked off with Death Star pancakes and ended with buttermilk biscuits, with lots of life in between. Here are a zillion links for proof...

January 2012
Ah, January. The halcyon days when I actually did daily pixels instead of big batches of snaps.
Early morning flight to Arizona. The school year started way too early for my taste what with the university cutting several weeks off of Christmas break. Waa, I know. The best part of January in my estimation? Going to Disneyland with my mom and sisters!
Arizona State University. The nerd highlight of January? Defending my dissertation proposal and becoming "ABD" which means "All but dissertation" in grad school lingo.
#1- Death Star Pancakes
#2- Double date in Half Moon Bay
#3- The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room, aka the scariest attraction at Disneyland
#4- The Wookie of my dreams
#5- Classic Disney
#6-Winter veggies galore
#7- Vanilla roasted pears
#8- Christmas waffles in January
#9 Curing the "Mondays" with a steak supper
#10- Seeing a man about some ankles
#11- A one-man walking protest in Tempe 
#12- First week of school at Arizona State University
#13-19- Diapers, dogs, travel and gardening, oh my 
#20- Attack of the 50 millimeter monster 
#21- Trying not to hate my winter garden 
#22- The best way to spend 1,000 calories
#23- Kale chips, a surprisingly superb snack
#24- California "winter"
#25-28- Hitting the wall, puppies, tulips and Ewok fashion
#29- Ewok Attack! 
#30- Sandals in January, don't mind if I do
#31- The Herberger Institute light installation

February 2012
February involved lots of travel for me, including the first of two trips to Albuquerque in 2012 and a really stinky airplane seatmate. 
One of my favorite February posts? The case for cooking.
#32-37-  A fast week in February 
#38-45 February reflections
#46 The view from my office (at 40,000 feet)
#47- The antidote to extended, puke-ridden travel
#48-54 A week and three states
#55- Dream peas
#56- My mother made me do it
#57- The most amusing Oscar pool ever
#58- Saucer Magnolia in Spring finery
#59- Betty the Ewok pug

March 2012
After ditch digging for hours last August, I can't tell you how excited I was that my little trees survived the winter. Pictured is one of two chanticleer pear trees. 
Life has taken me strange places since experiencing an emergency landing on Southwest Flight 812. In addition to appearing on Good Morning America and the Discovery Channel, I flew to Germany to "reenact" the flight. Pictured is a castle on the Rhine. Next time I fly to Europe, I'm staying for more than two days, dammit!
#60-66- Out and About
#67- Artistic expression at ASU
#68-74- A blink and a week
#75- French Onion fabulousness
#76- Cans, cans, cans

April 2012
April showers bring May flowers. And snails. Ewwww. I found this fella slurping up my leg while working on my front yard revamp. That experience got me thinking about my "Number one rule of gardening."
A procrastinator's dream fortune.
#77-97- All the pictures
#98-108 (Mostly) Domestic adventures

May 2012
This Spring I was slightly obsessed with hummingbirds, namely the ones who visited the Back 40. Check out my favorite hummingbird stalking snaps.
The best and worst birthday gift I've ever received? A Cuisinart ice cream maker, thank you sister Emily! The temptation for creamy, dreamy sweetness runs strong with me and I find myself thinking of icy concoctions often. My favorites this year? The no-cook strawberry pictured above, blueberry, and plain-old vanilla.
#109-126- Life in the sky and on the ground
#127-129- Snaps that make me smile
#130-134- Celebrations!
#135-139- Spring and things
#140-141- Weekend warriors
#142-149- Good things, thank you!

June 2012
Soooo, I started the front yard garden project in March and finally finished it in June. What can I say? Life in grad school is busy. (Before, during and after snaps here.) 
The year's travel highlight? Visiting Alaska, my 42nd state! We did some land adventures on the Kenai Peninsula for a couple days (see here, here and here) before catching a Princess cruise ship and journeying to Glacier Bay (pictured), Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. I saw bears(!), flew in a helicopter, walked on two glaciers and turned 30. Pretty damn cool.
#150-158- Early summer in academia

July 2012
July featured a boatload of flying- for research, for fun and for this beautiful wedding!
Congratulations again Max and Geeta! 
The flying for fun mentioned above included my second trip to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where Mr. T flew in a 40-ship formation! To see more airplane pictures and learn about KOSH, click here, here or here, or visit the Hopscotch Honeymoon archives here.
#159-191- A month of pixels
#192-200- Just a week in summer

August 2012
After a couple cool summers, Sacramento sizzled this year, so much so that I wondered if I'd accidentally brought Cactus Land home with me!
August felt up and down. Dissertation data collection reached a high point (yay!) and I spent quality time with fam and friends. But we also had to say goodbye to some good people including Bud Goodall. Still haven't quite made sense of that yet.
#201-214- The mostly airplane edition
#215-225- Domestic bliss
#226-235- Hot, hot heat
#236-244- Once in a blue moon

September 2012
Yep, that's Mr. T leading a 16-ship formation of West Coast Ravens in the California Capital Airshow. I felt SO proud to watch the guys fly in the same show as the Thunderbirds!
Birthday sushi! September is a month of birthdays for our family. 
#245-#263- Sweet September
#264-273 A week of "Fall"

October 2012
The sizzling summer continued into October and we found ourselves wearing shorts to an early Fall picnic. Weird.  
Despite the triple digits, I busted out the Fall decor. And yes, I, too, caught owl fever. October posts I liked most included this one about advanced directives/dying with dignity (super cheerful, yeah?) and some political confessions.
#274-290- Fun with filters (and a few other things)
#291-303- Gearing up

November 2012
November is always a nutty month thanks to holidays and the annual gathering of the National Communication Association. This year's conference took place in Orlando which to me (a Florida-hater) meant only one thing: Harry Potter World! I visited the park by my lonesome and had a simply magical time. Photos? Of course. Click here
November highlights included participating in National Novel Writing Month (as a dissertation-writing rebel!) and getting a monster head cold after not following my own rules for healthful flying (see here).
#304-318- The downhill slide
#319-329- Making magic

December 2012
Incorporated a little more color in the Christmas decor this year. And spent a ridiculous amount of time hot gluing beads in Christmas tree formations, thank you Pinterest. 
The highlights of December? Hanging out with loved ones, of course. 
#330-342- It's the most wonderful time of the year
#343-356- Ho, ho, holy cow, it's almost Christmas
#357-362 Holiday happenings
#363-366 Ending the year at home

xoxo,
shawna

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