365 Days of Juniper...Give or Take.

I've come full circle with my 365 day project. I ended as I began, with the Big Guy on New Year's Eve.

I didn't capture one picture a day for the whole year, but I tried. I began to peter out once the kids were home for the summer. I ended up with 191 photos and each month was represented. Overall, I'm happy with the outcome. I think it really captures who I was this year. It captures the good, the bad, and the ugly. It captures my friendships, my family, myself. It sparked my creativity, emotion, and memories.

I showed the world who I was in the year 2009, and I leave this project satisfied, with a little time capsule for myself - of myself - for the future. I'm grateful for that.

This was a year in my life:

My 365, originally uploaded by hopestudios1.

My year page 2, originally uploaded by hopestudios1.

My year page 3, originally uploaded by hopestudios1.

My year page 5, originally uploaded by hopestudios1.

My year page 6, originally uploaded by hopestudios1.

My year page 7, originally uploaded by hopestudios1.

Here are my thoughts as I began this project in January last year:

Who am I? This is a journey lasting 365 days to answer that question.

It's so easy to lose yourself in your labels, responsibilities, relationships...who am I underneath all of that? Who is the woman who is also the mother, wife, sister, daughter, and friend?

This project forces me to slow down and spend time with me each day. I hope to learn to appreciate my face and body for what they are, not what they were or what they could be.

I want to reveal myself to myself as the days go on and see growth and progression by the end of the project, uncovering layers thought lost or never discovered.

I hope that if this project is discovered by my children later in life, they can look at it and understand who mom was as a woman, a person.

I am...

I found this survey on Whimsy Girl's blog and couldn't resist filling out the list for myself.

I am: a mom
I think: it’s time to get off the computer
I know: my boys love me
I have: three sons!
I wish: my family lived closer
I hate: second hand smoke, cleaning the house, orange veggies
I miss: my boys when they were babies
I fear: drowning, I can’t even watch a movie about a ship sinking!
I hear: Sponge Bob…always Sponge Bob
I smell: Tide, since I’m doing laundry…always doing laundry
I crave: cake
I search: for inspiration
I wonder: who is reading this
I regret: that I never had a daughter
I love: roller coasters!
I ache: after kick boxing
I am not: a great housekeeper
I believe: that every thing happens for a reason
I dance: “like no one is watching” that’s the only way to live!
I sing: most of the day, in the car, in the house, in kick boxing…
I cry: easily
I fight: for anyone that is being taken advantage of
I win: contests a lot, I’m very lucky
I lose: everything, because (as my husband says) I “never put things back where they belong”
I never: want to look back and wonder “what if”
I always: have music playing
I confuse: my kids names all the time, I usually have to try at least twice to get it right
I listen: to my kids play together, I sneak up!
I can usually be found: painting, on my computer, driving from one sport to the next
I am scared: when my husband is away over night
I need: a cleaning lady, but I can’t trust anyone in my house
I am happy about: my life, my business, my kids, my family
I imagine: what it would be like living at the beach