2016 in photos

How do you narrow one year and 3500+ pictures into one blog post?  It's not easy.  However, I have selected eighty of my favorite photos from 2016 -- ones that represent where I have been this past year and all of the beauty that I've seen.

This year, I'm going to do something a bit different.  I want you to pick your favorite and leave me a comment.  At the end of two weeks, I'll randomly select one name from a bowl and that person will win a print of the photo they chose.   So choose your favorite and let me know before January 20, 2017.

January
Winter in Wyoming and a road trip to see family and friends in the Midwest.

1.  Sunset in Laramie, Wyoming.

2.  Passing through St. Louis, Missouri.

February
A week in Texas and a beautiful drive back to Wyoming.

3.  Lights at Fair Park in Dallas -- Hot Chocolate 5K with my brother.

4.  One of the parks in Dallas that it's fun to run at -- this time it was a good spot to meet friends for a walk.

5.  Sunset over the mountains just outside of Raton, New Mexico.

6.  Driving through Colorado is always a visual joy -- no matter what season it is.

7.  Look at those beautiful mountains!

8.  Highway 287 -- the sunset was so pretty I had to stop and take a picture. :)

March
Finishing my time in the U.S. with several weeks in Wyoming.  A beautiful snow, completing an afghan, and sorting and packing before meeting a college friend for a week in Rome with a layover in Iceland on the way. 

9.  What a lovely snow!

10.  A snowy street in Laramie.

11.  The afghan of many colors almost complete.  I finished it on the way to the airport. :)

12.  On the coast in Keflavik, Iceland

13.  Iceland in March -- sunny one hour and snowing the next.

14.  A fun lighthouse outside of Keflavik, Iceland.

15.  The Colosseum in Rome.

16.  The Colosseum -- the largest amphitheater ever built!

17.  The Bocca della Verita at Santa Maria in Cosmedin.

18.  Twelfth century ornamental mosaics at Santa Maria in Cosmedin.

19.  A drain at the Capitol.

20.  The green doors!  I love all the green, greenish-blue, and blueish-green doors in Rome!

21.  We happened upon a wedding in Santa Maria in Aracoeli -- a church at the top of 134 stairs!  It was stunningly beautiful, one of my favorites in Rome and well worth the climb.

22.  March in Rome means lots of flowers.  I particularly enjoyed all of the wisteria blooming around the city.

23.  Caffe Greco, founded in 1760. 

24.  And the coffee was delicious!

25.  The Spanish Steps.  Most of them were closed for renovations, but that meant you could get a picture without hundreds of people on the steps.

26.  On a side street in Rome.

27.  Fontana di Trevi -- it was so much bigger than I anticipated. 

28.  The Pantheon, which was first built in 27 BC! 

29.  Inside the Pantheon -- one of the greatest domed buildings, the dome has the same diameter as height.

30.  Vatican Museums.  There is such an incredible amount to look at!

31.  Lovely flowers at the Vatican, just after Easter.

32.  St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

33.  I believe these are blue delphiniums, but I might be mistaken.  They are so beautiful!

34.  Beautiful Tulips and Grape Hyacinth outside St. Peter's Basilica.

35.  One of the fountains in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.

36.  St. Peter's Basilica and the Egyptian obelisk which was brought back by Emperor Caligula in 37 AD.

37.  A fountain in Piazza Farnese.

38.  My personal favorite gelateria on Via Nazionale.  The pistachio gelato was incredible!

April
From Rome, Italy to Ukarumpa, PNG in 42 hours.  So what do you do when you have a long layover in Singapore?  Visit all of the gardens in the airport, of course! 

39.  Some stunning orchids in Singapore.

40.  More orchids in Singapore.

41.  Sculptures in another garden.

42.  In the cactus garden.

43.  In the cactus garden.

44.  In the butterfly garden. 

45.  In the butterfly garden.

46.  Flying over the coastline in PNG -- in a Kodiak airplane.

May
Settling back into life in PNG.  The big news of the month was finally getting a new water tank!!

47.  New water tank at my house -- what an answer to prayer!

June
Helping with workshops and finding bugs.

48.  A lace wing bug on my front door.

July
Working on some craft projects around the house. 

49.  Colorful curtain ties to match colorful curtains.

August
"Winter" in the tropics means some cool going on cold nights and I'm often thankful for socks and jackets and even a scarf some days.  The literacy workshops kept me busy for much of the second half of the year.

50.  Some of my favorite socks ever!

51.  The road out to the training center where the literacy course takes place.  It's a beautiful walk to work.

52.  Beautiful Zinnias outside the classroom.

53.  Learning to write 'S'.

September
Flowers and walks around Ukarumpa.

54.  A sunny Dahlia from market.

55.  I have no idea what kind of flower this is, but it looks like it has been painted!

56.  Dahlias in the sunshine. 

57.  A common highlands style house not far from Ukarumpa.

October
Walks with friends and a goat for a neighbor.  October is spring in the southern hemisphere and even as close as we are to the equator we see a difference.

58.  These are some of my favorite orchids that grow here in PNG and I've been trying for years to get a good picture of them.  Finally, I was able to do so this year.

59.  The Jacaranda trees were in full bloom.  This spot looks like a perfect spot to stop and enjoy nature for a spell.

60.  Bananas grow year round here.

61.  All the shades of green!  Whenever I go for a walk, I am constantly amazed at how many greens there are.

62.  I love this gate!

63.  Flowers (Roses and Cosmos) on the edge of Ukarumpa.

64.  Peeling bark and new sprouts. 

65.  Sweet William growing in my neighbor's yard.

66.  A butterfly on a Dahlia at a neighbor's house.

67.  I don't know what kind of flower/plant this is, but I sure love the contrast of colors.

68.  Looking out over the Aiyura Valley.

69.  This goat lives(d) nearby.  I haven't seen it in a while.  One day I was sitting at my desk and I thought I heard a goat.  Sure enough, this goat was prancing down the street making a ruckus.  It ended up in a neighbor's yard chasing their dog in circles before its owner came and carried it home.

November
November was spent mostly indoors in a workshop, but there were a few pockets of time outside between classes.

70.  I mostly love living across from a small park.  Green.  Trees.  Sunshine.  Lots and lots of birds that sing 24 hours a day.

71.  Sometimes the creatures blend right into the walls.

72.  Lone Tree -- with more than one tree.  The view from one part of Ukarumpa.

73.  Beware of spiders falling on your head when you stand beneath a tree and look up.

74.  An Agapanthus (also known as Lily of the Nile) in the rain.

75.  Bark of many colors.

December
Christmas.  Birthday.  Kitty sitting.  New Year's.  It's a busy month and yet also not as everything here shuts down for two weeks at the end of the calendar year.

76.  A beautiful Dahlia from market.

77.  Holiday socks! :)

78.  Beginning a new project for a friend.

79.  Why, oh why can't I go outside?

80.  Look at that adorable face!

What a year! 

That's my collection of favorite photos from 2016.  I'm sure the rest of my favorites (I narrowed it from 330 to 80 for this post) will show up somewhere at some time.  Don't forget to vote for your favorite to win a print of that photo.  And happy picture taking in 2017!