2015 in photos

Better late than never, right? 

Sunset in Kavieng -- April

For each month, I've tried to just pick a couple of my favorite photos.  That obviously worked better in some months than others. :) 

January
I traveled to Kokopo in January to lead a workshop with a friend.  It was an extremely busy two weeks and I came away with just a few pictures.

How do you deal with 90-100ish degree weather and lots of humidity?  Wear bright colors of course. :)

February
Well, not much happened in February except arriving back in Ukarumpa and recovering from the workshop and preparing for a March full of meetings.

In the plane on the way to Ukarumpa.  The trip took more than 12 hours and two flights to go a distance of approximately 500 miles. 

March
I spent most of the month of March in meetings, working on an afghan project (see the finished result under November), and drinking coffee to stay awake in said meetings.

This tree grows near where I live in Ukarumpa.  I always love to walk past its beauty.

April
In mid-April, I went to Kavieng for about a month to work with some translators doing advisor checking on chapters from Mark and John.

This is part of Djaul island where I went in 2014 and where some of my friends now work.

Look at these incredible leaves!

Love, love, love the patterns on the coral.

Blue starfish!

Beautiful sunset

May
After almost four weeks, I returned to Ukarumpa and had three short weeks to prepare for returning to the U.S. in June.

One day while we were working on the porch hoping for a breeze as the power was out (again) and we had no fan, we saw this beautiful rainbow over Kavieng town.

Market in Kavieng -- I'm always happy to see vegetables! :)

Beautiful leaves

This is one of my favorite pictures of the year -- frangipani flowers!

A carpet of petals from the laulau tree.

Look at this starfish, isn't it amazing?

When I left Kavieng, we flew north to the northern-est islands in PNG to pick up some of my co-workers.  It was stunningly beautiful. 

The airstrip we landed on was the entire width of the very narrow island! You can't see it in this picture, but perhaps you can imagine it by seeing these.

When we landed, I saw a lady I had worked with in a workshop in 2013 (on the left).  She lives on these islands and works with my co-workers.

Do you see the arc of the rainbow?  Did you know that when the shadow of an airplane passes over clouds it is encircled in a perfect circular rainbow?  I was trying really hard to capture the whole circle, but the clouds where too small and wispy.  How amazing is our God?

We circled this lava flow from a volcano that erupted within the last couple of years.

June
Perhaps my busiest picture month, June was full of travel.  Three countries, three national parks, a state park, five states, and beautiful summer.

Orchids!

One of the best aerial shots I've taken of a PNG village -- Morobe Province

Brisbane!

View from the top of Diamond Head State Park in Honolulu.

With my parents when I landed in Seattle. :)

And the space needle.

Fuchsia growing at my Grandpa's cousin's house. 

And Clematis

This is one of my favorites because I love the contrast -- Glacier National Park, Montana

At Glacier

Part of Avalanche Falls at Glacier

At Glacier

At Glacier

At Glacier

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone

I love these patterns in the mineral deposits -- Yellowstone

This is such a picture of a Wyoming summer day in the mountains.  Yellowstone

Wraith Falls in Yellowstone

At Yellowstone

At Yellowstone

Beauty grows in the midst of unpleasant terrain -- Yellowstone

At Yellowstone

I love this place!  Yellowstone

Dancing water -- At Yellowstone

And of course, Old Faithful at Yellowstone

At Yellowstone

As we were leaving Yellowstone we stopped to see this waterfall and were attacked by tons of bugs!

Grand Teton National Park -- we got there at sunset and it was so beautiful although it made it harder to get pictures.

Columbine flower in Jackson, Wyoming

Beautiful flowers and pine cones at Vedawoo, Wyoming.

In late June in Laramie, Wyoming the yellow rose bushes exploded with blooms all over town.

July
In June and July I spent time with my Grandma, parents, siblings, and extended family.  It was wonderful! 

This was actually in June and the picture is thanks to Kimberly.  Drew and Sarah and their kids with my parents, my grandma, my uncle and myself visiting my Grandpa Mick's grave near Father's Day and the one year anniversary of his passing.

Freedom at the Park, July 4th celebration with my Grandma Lynn.

With Martha and our parents in Illinois.

Visiting Daniel at UT in Austin, TX.

August
Most of August was time I spent in Dallas although picking one of the hottest months to stay there probably was not the most brilliant plan on my part.

In Austin, TX.  I love this motto.

September
From Florida up the east coast to D.C. and across to Chicago and Minnesota and Wisconsin and Illinois, September covered a lot of miles -- mostly on small highways and scenic byways and a few interstates.

I took the scenic byway US 1 and A1A along the eastern coast of central and northern Florida.  It was beautiful.

Spanish Moss in Savannah, Georgia.  I've wanted to go back to Savannah since the first time I visited in 1997 and almost moved there in 2007, but it wasn't until 2015 that I returned.  It was wonderful.

I followed Highway 17 through most of Georgia, South and North Carolina and even into Virginia.  Along the way, I visited Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. 

In Chicago, my friend Christina and I took a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio and did a walking tour of his houses through the Oak Park area.  It was so much fun!  I love architecture.

In Chicago.

I found this in a small roadside shop in Wisconsin -- where they also sold delicious cheese and fudge.  I love this quote so much.

October
Oh, the colors!  I so enjoyed chasing Fall through the midwest and southeast. 

This tree is like a ball of fire.  Corbin, Kentucky.

Cumberland Falls with a double rainbow.  Corbin, Kentucky

The best color I saw was in North Carolina along I-40. 

So beautiful!

November
November was another full month of travel.  From Virginia to Maryland to Arkansas, Illinois and Texas.  And many more small roads to get lost upon.

What the leaf left behind.  Petersburg, Virginia

Petersburg National Battlefield, Virginia

Yarn bombing or urban knitting in western Maryland. :)

On a country walk with my friend Laura in western Maryland.

Light through the leaves -- at a rock maze in western MD

A butterfly with some beautiful bark -- western MD

Muddy Creek Falls at Swallow Falls State Park -- western MD

"Book love is your pass to the greatest pleasure."  A great quote at the library in Cairo, Illinois.

This picture represents an amazing opportunity I had to attend the State Farm Champions Classic in Chicago.  Duke vs. UK and Kansas vs. Michigan State.  So much fun!!!!  And it checked something off my to do list (seeing a Duke game in person), even if my team lost.

And I FINALLY finished the afghan I worked on so much in March.  It was a lot of work, but I love how it turned out!!!  A gift to my oldest niece.

December
Finally returning to Wyoming after five months on the road, I spent much of December doing as little as possible. :) 

Ice crystals covering everything in western Iowa in early December.

And a closer look at the ice.

Lights at the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie.

The Christmas cactus blooming near Christmas. :)

Decorations at my Grandma's house.

And that's all for 2015.  More to come next year, which is actually this year.  :)  Perhaps it will even happen in December rather than the following March.