This year end wrap-up took a lot longer than I thought it would. I’m my own worst critic and choosing photos I feel proud of was tough. That said, I do however think that I had a good year photography wise. I’m content with the progress I made this year. The following photos are my favorites from the hundreds I took during 2011. I hope you enjoy!

January

After I got out of the hospital my neurosurgeon said I should take daily walks so on weekends we’d drive to Washington Lake Park and walk to the duck pond. This photo is from what I think must have been our second visit to the pond.

February

Every year me, Chuck and my father attend the circus. We all love it and it’s become a yearly thing. This photo was taken on our way home from this year’s trip to the circus.

March

This photo was taken in Brigantine, NJ the Saturday before I went in for my second skin graft. I always go to the ocean when my soul feels low and I feel empty. This trip sured me up for the coming operation that Monday.

April

In April the pretty tree in my front yard comes alive with Cherry Blossoms. I spent a lot of time out front taking pictures this spring. The blossoms are only on the tree for a short while before the tree fills with green leaves.

May

I took this photo in the parking lot of Deptford Mall on the day the world was supposed to end. I was blown away when I got home and downloaded this day’s photos to my laptop. I had not seen the bird in the shot when I took it. If this doesn’t mean that God wants us to go on living and basking in his grace and glory I don’t know what does.

The sun set that day and another day came to a close. Chuck picked up his new glasses and we all lived on to fight another day. I didn’t know it when I took this picture but late in October I learned that there is no evidence of tumor and that I am right now cancer free. This year I’ve read a lot of blogs written by women who have cancer some are still here to blog and others have since passed on. That night I mused that it’s up to the rest of us to be worthy of standing in Lens Crafters’ parking lot taking photos of the sunset on the day the world didn’t end.

June

You just know the goose from the duck pond is looking at me like, “Bitch please get that camera out of my face.”

My father, who took me to many of my radiation treatments loves to sit down the lakes under a tree and feed the squirrels. On this day I tagged along and brought my camera.

July

I love this photo, it makes me laugh. We feed the birds and the squirrels in our backyard. It started out as something for the cats to look out at but quickly became one of my favorite things. I love that we feed the backyard critters.

August

I took a lot of full moon photos this year. This is one of my favorites.

September

This September 11th was the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11 tragedies. Normally I love the news and history and current events but I wasn’t sure if I was up to watching countless replays of the Twin Towers falling so we opted to turn off the TV and head to Cape May and the ocean. This photo was taken at the Cape May bird observatory. I very much like this photo. I think it’s one of my best of the year or ever.

October

We spent this day visiting the Laurel Hill Cemetery. We were actually meant to go to the zoo that day but 3 whole parking lots were full and so we decided on a less crowded venue. The historic cemetery is beautiful and peaceful. I recommend a walk through on a beautiful day. After leaving the cemetery we drove over to the new South Street bridge so I could take a few photos of the Philadelphia skyline on this gorgeous October day.

We were at the American Swedish Museum, which is located in Lakes for a meatball tasting event sponsored by the South Philly Review. The event ended and the winners were announced just at the right time, which allowed me to take a few photos at sunset from the Gazebo, which you see pictured in the June photos. This too is one of my favorites of the year.

November

On the night of the November full moon Chuck drove me to the city so I could take photos of the Philadelphia skyline at the blue hour. This and the photo that follows are my absolute two favorites of the year. They were both taken from the South Street bridge, the location from where I took the daytime skyline photo the month before.

In addition to my new obsession with taking photos at the blue hour I was also trying to take as many photos as possible during the month of November because I knew I was scheduled for surgery on December 1.

Our local duck pond has become my local place of solace. When we can’t make to the ocean I go to the duck pond.

December

This is the only photo I took during the month of December. I like it but it’s in no way in the same league as many of the others. It’s from the morning blue hour and it’s the first photo I took after my December 1 surgery. I wanted to include it so that I finished out the entire year.