2012 is finally here. After a year of fun and memories, another awaits us. Last year, I was so bad about my new years resolutions, I forgot what they were. This year, I'm going to write them down and remember to do them.
- Do my devotions everyday
- Take more photos
- Practice my guitar everyday
- Savor every moment
Jeremiah 29:11-"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "plans prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."What are your new years resolutions? To catch up on some posting, I'm going to post a photo from every month, and share a story to go along with it. Sound like fun?
January
This photo makes me laugh. I was trying to get everyone to jump, and nobody wanted to. I was trying to get their attention but I just couldn't. I accidentally took this photo and it ended up being one of the best candid shots this year!
February
In February I got way more interested in photography, I was trying out techniques, and having ten photo shoots a day! For this photo, my friend and I were out walking around ALL day photographing each other. We thought we should make an artificial puddle to splash in. We had so much fun going back and forth taking pictures. We got really wet and made lots of memories.March
March was a month of people photos. I got so into taking pictures of kids and fun. This photo was so hard to get. But this little girl was not the deal. The stinking hula hoop would not stay still! No kidding right?April
This picture was so much fun to make. We used the self timer and the boys and I went outside to get these shots. The expressions were fantastic and water splashes are pretty cool in pictures.
I had to do two photos for April because this was when I first started using manual mode! Only a few days after. The flowers were in bloom and the next-door neighbors tree hung over our yard. I pointed the camera upward, waited for the beep and snapped away, also capturing some beautiful bokeh.May
In our old house, a little bunny we gave our bread crusts to always came by. Finally I got out there with the telephoto lens and captured some great bunny photos. We claimed his name was Bun-Bun.June
We had so much happen in June, I also have to do two pictures. There's much to our month of June and I can't even share all of it. The cupcake one above is Toby's party. (It was a little late considering his birthday is in January)
My amazing cousins from Arizona came to visit us right after I came home from Summer Camp, where I got baptized. The second day they were here, we had a huge water balloon fight. Then for photos we squeezed water balloons over our heads. (You know, a lot of times to get the right photo, we get wet. If you haven't noticed)July
Fourth of July of course! And it was my first time photography sparklers! How did I do?
My cousin Selah came for a visit and oh...More water. We decided to go outside and play with the hose. We. Got. SOAKED.August
The same friend I mentioned before in this post came over again and we stayed out all day taking photos. She had a new camera and so I was teaching her about all the settings. Oh it was so much fun!September
We headed to California where my birthday, seeing redwoods, and camping took place. We also went to a few parts of the Pacific ocean. This particular day, I was standing back taking pictures. Maddy and Toby were standing by the shore and a huge wave came. Thank goodness Toby ran back, he would've been pulled in. No joke. It caught Maddy's legs and she fell to her knees. The power of the wave would've taken Toby in, we're thankful that it was Maddy. Because she was okay, just really wet.October
We headed off to go see the cousins in Arizona. They have a pool in their backyard. I swam 4 times a day, everyday. It was so hot, and the pool was so refreshing. Let me just say, I got 10x tanner.November
I am so surprised how well this photo turned out. I was lying on the ground with my shutter speed really slow and I finally got it. We were putting up our Christmas tree pretty early (not for us but maybe for you).December
Christmas of course! And I got my very own, laptop!We had an amazing year and we hope to have an even better one next year. Have a great new year everybody!
Halloween Haunt is now up and running at almost all of the Cedar Fair parks not covered by us previously. Here's what to expect at this year's scare-fests!
The king of Halloween, Knott's Berry Farm, is celebrating its amazing 40th anniversary of Halloween Haunt this year, with plenty to scream about. Trapped, an extra charge maze, forces guests to figure out how to escape the haunt on their own. Other new mazes include Dominion of the Dead, Trick-or-Treat, Pinocchio Unstrung and Evil Dead. Fun!
The Haunt at Kings Island is back and making lemonade out of lemons. Having to close their ride, The Crypt, was a bummer, but it gave them quite an awesome place for a haunt. They did just that with Madame Fatale's Cavern of Terror, a museum of wax figures and oddities that's sure to change visitors forever.
ValleyScare has returned this year with a new addition to the park's line-up of nine different scary attractions. Abnormal Alley is filled with some of the freakiest folks you'll find anywhere, including those who have succumbed to their twisted and deranged nature. 
The Haunt at California's Great America has really grown over the past few years, and in 2012 it will offer guests seven different mazes and three scare zones. This year Madame Marie's Massacre Mansion is the hot new haunt. Turns out that Madame Marie has mastered Voodoo, and there's a lot of evil lurking in her mansion. Sounds like a cool theme!
How do ten mazes and six different scare zones sound to you? If you said it sounds like fun, then the Haunt at Kings Dominion is perfect for you. This year you can run for your life in the new scare zone Primevil: The Kuru Curse, or check in for good at No Vacancy, a new hotel themed maze.
Our final Cedar Fair Haunt isn't opening until next weekend, and that's at Canada's Wonderland. Zombie lovers will be excited to try out Streets of the Undead, a world where hope, and pretty much everyone else, is dead. Also new this year is Iron Empire, a steampunk themed haunt where rebels fight for their freedom.
