So, shall we look back at last year?
January
2012 started out with a bang. M and I were on the Charles Bridge in Prague, holding hands and taking photos of amazing fireworks together with thousands of other people. We spent the first few days of January in Berlin, where I got to take photos of some amazing places. We came back to Finland and Dani was kind enough to have us over the coffee. Later in the month we took young Yoda to the vet and had his balls removed. It was a big moment for him.
February
February wasn't a very eventful month. Young Yoda realized he had feet, it snowed a lot, M brought me flowers and my little brother and his band played some music.
March
In March I celebrated St. Patrick's Day with green nails, and had dinner at a very nice restaurant with some great friends. I traded my old camera in for a new, better one, and spent some time at the river, taking photos and trying to figure out how the camera worked. There was also some music to be heard in a cave.
April
In April of 2012 Michael and I decided to have a second go at a photography challenge and created 30 Days of Photographs II, and I spent most of the month taking photos of everything I could possibly find, hoping desperately it would fit one of the crazy themes. In April I also realized I'd promised to marry M, and I started looking at fabric for my dress and other wedding stuff. At the end of the month, we celebrated Vappu once again with crazy white hats.
May
In May Finland hosted the World Ice Hockey Championships and M and I went to see Finland beat Slovakia in Helsinki. Zelma had a birthday and a party, Daniela had turned into a bakery chef and made awesome cupcakes and I tried my best at making cinnamon buns. M spent the month trying to calm me down with flowers when preparations for the upcoming wedding got too intense.
June
June was a lovely month. Summer came visiting and I had a birthday. I spent every waking moment making things for the wedding, planning and travelling back and forth to Helsinki to my sister for dress fittings. Midsummer came and we partied and barbecued with friends.
July
July was all about the wedding, but we did have time to sit outside in the sun and listen to music in the park. Next, a wonderful bachelorette party with the greatest friends in the world. And Daniela, who had now started taking her baking very seriously, had made a fantastic piano cake with a cat on top. It was a beautiful day I'll never forget. The morning of our wedding arrived rainy and grey, but the day ended in me being a very happy Mrs. M, and the rain gave way to brilliant sunshine as we stepped out of the church. We spent a week at the end of July in Turkey on our honeymoon, and I was busy trying to forget about the stress of the wedding, absentmindedly stroking the new ring on my finger and smiling happily at my new husband.
August
In august life was back to normal and I spent a lot of time with friends while M was away in England. I made shark cupcakes for Zelma, played Scrabble in pubs and taught the cats some manners. Yoda, who wasn't looking so young anymore, took his meals at the table, and Darth Vader was very good about brushing his teeth. My mom got a little St Bernard puppy called Gucci, and I spent a lot of time taking photos of her.
September
September came and with it the fall. The smell of frost on the air and long dark evenings. The leaves turned orange and red and gold, and apart from a short road trip to Korpo, M and I didn't do a lot. I of course took some more photos of Gucci and the cats, because honestly, who could resist?
October
October brought with it the first snow of the winter and another insane idea from Michael and I. 30 Days of Photographs III saw the light of day and drove many good bloggers absolutely insane. I can't actually remember anything from October apart from dreaming about that damn list of themes.
November
November was a dark affair. No snow, no light. Luckily Zelma had a housewarming party, and her band, Rizzle, released their very first album at a fantastic gig. I tried to keep taking photos and aimed the camera at everything from brick walls to dead flowers. My 90-something Grandfather also made an appearance when we visited him on Father's Day.
December
December. Christmas. Winter. New Year's Eve. Snow. FOOD.
I love December. I look lots of photos of the snow, lots of photos of Gucci. We spent Christmas both with M's parents, and with my parents, received some amazing gifts and ate some incredible food. M took some time off work and we went to see movies and built a gingerbread house together. When Christmas was over, there was a fire next door that brought some excitement to our evening. Luckily no one was hurt, and I got to see some firemen. We ended the year at a spa hotel, soaking in a hot outdoor pool while the early evening fireworks coloured the sky. And so, the year ended as it began, with fireworks, and M and I holding hands. It was a good year.
Happy New Year Ziva! How did you deal with the intensity of wedding planning ( I need tips).
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Darling Ziva! Your 2012 was somewhat magical! I hope this year brings more happiness, health and prosperity to you and yours! I love Yoda and Gucci too! Your photos as always are breathtaking!
ReplyDeleteI loved your year in photos. Now I'm looking for my camera, putting costumes on the cat, and I seem to be hungry. I wonder why....
ReplyDeleteWe actually had a white Christmas here but that's long gone.
Happy New Year!
What a lovely post! I loved the way you added the pictures! Sounds like over all you had a good year! Best wishes for 2013!
ReplyDeleteFabulous photo montage and fabulous year. Absolutely, loved your year in words and pictures. I thought the shark cupcake was a FInnish delicacy until I saw the photo. Though, I still can't be sure.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
I didn't. I was falling apart. Never been so stressed in my life. Alcohol helped. Valium. I was comatose on our honeymoon. But hey, congratulations! :D
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you, too, Linda! I hope it'll be a fantastic year for you, with no half-eaten chocolate Santa heads. ;)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Reffie! Make sure to share the photos of the cat in costume. I can't wait to see.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Barb! It was a great year, indeed. Happy New Year to you, and may 2013 be a great year for you. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lauren, the photo montage was great fun to put together, looking through all my photos from last year. If you come to Finland, I'll make you shark cupcakes. Or not. Whatever you prefer. Happy New Year!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Z, just beautiful. I hope 2013 will be even more amazing for you and M. Indigo x
ReplyDeleteWow! 2012 was quite a great year for you! The photo review is fantastic. You should make us all calendars.
ReplyDeleteI hope that 2013 brings you and yours good health and much happiness.
Absolutely gorgeous, Lemmikki. I notice there aren't any pictures of salmiakki, though. I wonder why. Happy New Year, my love. I hope 2013 brings you much joy and a certain Canadian who is willing to do anything (including eating salmiakki) for you.
ReplyDeleteLove this recap, Ziva! You had a year full of wonder! May 2013 bring you more of the same!
ReplyDeleteSo wonderful to see one of your posts (esp. outside of the craziness of the photo challenge). Cheers ~
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Z! Great tribute. Now about the cats. They only seem to make an appearance in 5 of the months. 6 if you count the one on the cake. I think you need to increase your cat time.
ReplyDeleteI want to be snarky -- it's my nature -- but I can't be. This is a really nice reminiscence of your highly eventful 2012, and it reminds me once again what a talented writer and photographer you are. You combine humor, pathos and warmth with ease, and your pictures are outstanding, even the ones of cats.
ReplyDeleteI'm particularly struck by the photo of your grandfather, which seems like THE photo of every grandfather that ever lived since the dawn of time. I love the way his grey hair is swept back from his face, and how you caught him adjusting his reading glasses with his age-weathered hands so that he can see the open book on the table. It's clear you know him and are fond of him, and thanks to your picture -- perfectly exposed -- I also feel I know something about this man even tho we've never met.
Alcohol seems like a good start... Thanks! 1 month away!
ReplyDeleteI love your 2012 Recap! And Happy New Year, Ziva!! XOXOXO
ReplyDeleteHah! I thought about salmiakki, but decided I didn't want to alienate you, my love. I was even going to include some cheese, but I didn't have a single photo of cheese from the entire year. I'm going to make that my goal for 2013; take a photo of cheese.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Boom Boom!
ReplyDeleteHey Tami, the photo challenges always kill me and it takes me ages to start blogging again, but hopefully I'll be able to post a bit more regularly now. ;)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Mike! Originally I had cat photos for every month, but when I tried to upload the images to my blog, I got an error saying the internet has reached its cat limit. Silly thing.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Meleah!! May 2013 bring you fame and fortune and everything you ever wanted. ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Indigo, and I hope 2013 will be your year to shine. :)
ReplyDeleteI never quite know what to say when you go all nice and give me awesome and well-articulated compliments. "Who are you and what have you done to MikeWJ?" leaps to mind.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, thank you. :)
Awwwww!
ReplyDeleteSame to you, my darling!
This is delightful. Here's to an equally eventful 2013. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
ReplyDelete