The photo365 recap

It's over!

I did it!

And that is really how I feel. Mostly happy it is over. I'm really happy I finished this project. I learned a lot about how I work on things this year, doing this project and doing actual work. I'm not particularly thrilled with the results of the project, e.g. the photos, but I have to admit that it was always more important for me to finish than to produce something I was proud of. I have trouble finishing things. That is what I wanted to happen for me.

What I wanted to happen for you was to show you what my life looks like to me. My motivation came mostly from the people I don't get to see very often but I want to stay close to somehow. I think the photos I took were mostly for the people I've known for a long time but I don't get to see very much. I think most of time the words were for the people who see me all the time but haven't known me very long. (And, like always, everything was for me.) So, I hope you got something out of it.

And I hope you keep in touch. I will keep posting here like I've been doing since I moved to London, but obviously not as often. I'd like to keep it restricted to better quality photos and meaningful updates about my life, but after this year maybe those will be fewer and farther between. You can subscribe to my posts using RSS, there's a link on the right. You can find me on Facebook, and on Twitter and Instagram I use the handle @pghintl. I hope to see you around.

Thanks very much for sticking with me. I couldn't have done it without you.

December Top 3

It was a tough month for this project, even tougher than the last one. I have a lot of excuses. One is that I got really sick. Another is that I was already behind when I got sick. A third is that it was the holidays, and I wanted to see all my friends and have fun with my family before the year was over. And the last reason is that I felt really behind on this for all of these reasons so I only used my phone to take photos, which made me feel sad about not giving this my full effort which made me work less hard.

So now you know all of that!

31 December

This is it. This is the last day of the year.

Katie, Jeffrey, Jay and I spent it doing "Last-Chance Pittsburgh" all day long. We did every little thing we wanted to all in one day. We went all over the place to do different things, and Jeff and I ended the snowy afternoon in Awesome Books.

Then all of us walked to have dinner in Bloomfield before coming home to the annual New Years bash at my parents' place. My friends came over and met us there. It was as great an evening as ever, as a year ago when I started this silly project. We played games, we laughed and laughed, we ran into the street at midnight banging pots and pans. No one else in the neighborhood does that, but it's so loud and echoes off of everything so it sounds like the noise is coming from everywhere, all around us.

366 days later, I am still so lucky to be surrounded by all of this love.

30 December

Light-up night at Kennywood. Exactly one million lights.

29 December

We spent the night at the lake and woke up in the winter wonderland.

28 December

Skiing out at Hidden Valley with Katie and Jeff.

27 December

26 December

A lovely snowy walk through the neighborhood for a visit to the shops and bars of Shadyside.

25 December

On Christmas Day, we waited around all day watching old Christmas movies (Miracle on 34th Street, White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life) and not opening presents until Katie and Jeffrey arrived to celebrate the holiday and announce their engagement!

24 December

A nice start to a sunny Christmas Eve. Jay and I had a big old breakfast down at Ritters. The waitress kept the coffee coming, everyone was talking over the Steelers game, and the pancakes were fantastic.

23 December

A great day out at the Steelers game with Mary and Cory. Really gorgeous day. Shame we had lose to the freakin' Bengals.

22 December

Fireplace DVD in the living room.

21 December

20 December

Day out shopping in the neighborhood, getting ready for mega-family day.

19 December

First of many stockings of the beer fridge.