year in review

January:
2009 came in with stillness, solitude, and a healing heart. I held this ornament in my hands and made a wish.




February:
I did something I had always been afraid of: appeared onstage. I played "Stacey" in the play "A Nice Family Gathering." It was soooo much fun!




March:
I celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a Guinness and took this self-portrait in my compact mirror.




April:
I visited one of my favorite cities: London. I've been there many times before and yet never get tired of it. Here I am by Tower Bridge.




May:
I took Leah Profancik's photography workshop, which was a life changing experience. Here is Leah's adorable daughter, Bella, who modeled for the class.




June:
One of my two brothers got married. Here he is with daughters Katie and Ellen.




July:
That wish I made in January? It came true. I met Paul.




August:
My other brother got married. They're expecting a baby boy in May!




September:
I spent Labor Day weekend with Paul and his friends and family, up on their property in Mesick, MI. So much fun!




October:
I finally got to meet Genevieve and her husband, Jon, my friends from Australia. We had such a fun time in Manhattan together, topped off by a fun day with Laura and Annabel in Chinatown.




November:
I turned 40. Goodbye, horrible 30's!




December:
I'm ending this year happier than I could have ever imagined. I feel so blessed and grateful. Here is Paul throwing a snowball at me during our first Christmas together.

a year in the life

I'm feeling reflective tonight.

A year ago at this time, I was faced with some distressing/depressing/heartbreaking/annoying news that made me sit down and take an honest look at myself and the way I was hiding from my life.

I did a lot of thinking and working on my inner self. In April I took a trip to a city I never get sick of: London, which was great. Then my friend died, and that was really awful. After her death, when the shock of it all wore off, I stepped back once again to evaluate things. Quit all the humiliating online dating. Joined a gym and hired a trainer. Began to put myself first and stopped worrying about what might or might not happen. Stripped away all the stupid fakeness and fear that held me back.

I began to plan solo trips and classes I wanted to take, made lists and started to form a picture of how I wanted the next decade of my life to take shape. I geared up for a summer where both my brothers got married within two months of each other, leaving me the sole single person in the family, and I made peace with that. By July, while driving 11 hours home from New Jersey after a fun visit with Laura and her family, I felt calm, free, confident, and balanced. I was single and completely okay with that, peaceful to the nooks and crannies of my inner Lisa. It's the first time in my life I could ever honestly say that.

And then two days later I met Paul.

Coworkers had set us up, and we had been emailing each other for three weeks or so. We met in person on July 9th at East Side Mario's in Livonia. Now, I am the queen of blind dates. I've tried it all - matchmaking, online dating, speed dating, every depressing and frustrating tool that was out there for singles. Unlike the commercials, I never met anyone to skip joyfully down a beach with. The 29 dimensions of compatibility matched me with men who collected buttons, believed the Great Lakes were man-made, wanted to move to Asia because they hated America, or, worst of all, were BORING. On the way out the door, on that warm summer evening where I just wanted to stay home and read under the walnut tree, I told Sophie and Sadie, "well, here goes another waste of an evening."

Except it wasn't. It SO wasn't. And we've been inseparable ever since.

I've been a bit silent on my blog, not really talking about things like I've done in the past. I thought that once I met someone, I'd be spilling all sorts of long, excited blogs, boring people with my nauseating joy. Instead, the opposite happened. I took private time to open up to and cultivate this new HEALTHY relationship. I needed that time away. But now I'm back, and here are a few fun facts: Paul is caring, hardworking, supportive, selfless, giving, and funny. We share a love of microbreweries, food, the outdoors, snow, family, socializing, and campfires. He's everything I've been looking for, and I hope he's in my life for a very long time.

But this isn't an entry about Paul. It's about me. I am proud of myself, of how I handled this year of ups and downs. This will go down in Lisa History as a hugely pivotal year, one which hasn't happened since 1991. I'm proud of all the work I put in, both mentally and physically. I am grateful that finally, FINALLY, the one thing that's been eluding me for so long is now really here. It really is! And tonight, as I sit here coughing up a lung with whooping cough, which I've had for five weeks now, I am truly happy. I haven't been this happy in a long time.

Who'd've thunk it?

chilly session

Check out this gorgeous family from a session over the weekend:

foggy morning

Here is my niece, Katie, again. She wasn't really in the mood to pose for me, but I begged and whined and told her how much these photos would look like something out of a Twilight movie. She finally obliged. I just love the eerie quality and the pale foggy light.

katie

one year, two hemispheres, 730 photos

Check out a new blog by Gen and me! Click on the graphic below to see our site.

evening in the meadow

View full size.

I was lucky enough to photograph this handsome young man while vacationing near Cadillac, MI. The light was perfect, and I talked him into posing for me. He kept saying "I'm not a model! I don't know what to do!" By the end of the session, he was already planning how he would pose next time, and kept asking to see the photos on my camera. I think a star is born.

strength

We spent the day laughing and telling stories. Playing with the dogs. Eating a big breakfast. Buying pajamas at Target. A day like many others we've had in the past, during our lifetime of friendship, nothing out of the ordinary.

Except that tomorrow Rosanne undergoes a double mastectomy at the age of 40.

I am concerned, hopeful, and a little sad. But mostly, I am proud.

katie's day out

More photos from Katie's vacation with me. These are from her day at Greenfield Village.

All photos were taken with my little Canon Elph, because I didn't feel like

lugging my heavy Canon 20D around.

Following a chicken.

At the working farm.

Standing on the tracks.

Using the old-fashioned printing press.

Upstairs at the sawmill.

Near the Liberty Craftworks district.

Having a root beer (while I have a Bell's Pale Ale).

On the carousel.

In the town square.

Petting a really big horse.

A gazebo.

At the Garden House.

In the Garden House gardens.

Standing in goldenrod in the Cotswold Garden.

Making a hand-dipped beeswax candle.

Holding up her tiny, barely-coated wicks. Candles have to be dipped 20-30 times!

Drying off the candles after cooling them in water.

At the IMAX theater, waiting for Under the Sea 3D to begin.

more ellen photos

On the carousel at Greenfield Village.

Here are a few photos of the elusive Ellen, taken on her stay at my house two weeks ago. She doesn't like her picture taken, but I managed to sneak a few in. These are my favorites.

Soaking her cares away after a long day of walking.

At the Artic Ring of Life at the Detroit Zoo.

Checking out polar bears at the zoo.