photography by elisa sherman

Wow, that title sounds a little dramatic, no? Well it was that kind of year. If you’ve been following me on instagram, most of this is no surprise – though, the social world, as you can see, likes the fun stuff most – unsuprisingly And, I mean, sure, there was some awesome stuff like a 2+ week euro tour, with images that are still pending backlog editing. and well a new house(and new car) – yay! But, there was also crazy things like: thyroid cancer, broken ankle and the surgeries that came with each…Not to mention awesome treatments of radioactive iodine that had an accompanying diet of well, unexciting food, along with a get out of jail free paper to carry around with me lest I get flagged for radiation at a government checkpoint. Oh and an abscessed cyst in an unmentionable location. So health wise, yes, it was a crappy year. That said, hey, I’m still here, and I have photos of everything, the pretty, the ugly, and the pretty ugly, or the ugly pretty?! not sure.

Anyhow, am I glad to see 2017 in the rear view? You betcha! My goals for 2018 – to be healthier – which has gotten off to a rough start – but I am hopeful! And to finish processing images in the backlog from the euro tour before we hit the year anniversary – I am guessing I will blog each location separately – so much to look forward to! As well, an upcoming Alaska cruise where I will be revisiting these awesome sights and more

So 4months gone, here is my final adieu to 2017: don’t let the calendar hit you on the way to the recycle plant – lol – and, oh, never lose your humor!

Starting with the good, parts of what made the ugle pretty if you will…one of the most interesting parts of our euro tour was our Berlin visit, and specifically the Berlin Wall, or rather what remains of it. The most interesting part was, to me, near the Bridge of Spies: the portion of the wall that was re-appropriated as art installations. To keep the concrete there, so we never forget the sin, yet use it now to make statements worth future consideration. So smart, and beautiful, from something so ugly.

And while we are talking ugly – how about a post surgical selfie? Because, why not…The story about how this came to be, is interesting. I was told that I had some small nodules on my thyroid found as ancillary findings on a CT scan of my neck from late 2016(was scanned for unrelated issue). And, that I should have a follow up ultrasound to baseline them, no rush, as they were very small. I eventually got around to it in March ’17, just before the order was to expire, and oh lucky me, at least one looked larger than thought from the CT, and suspicious, so needed a needle biopsy. At that point, the surgeon doing the biopsy, luckily head of the department for such things, knew pretty much as he was doing the biopsy, that this was a bad nodule. So it was no surprise when I got a call the following day, confirming the results. I mentioned we had a trip planned to europe in less than 2months…and doctor said, well, just had a cancellation for the following week – and I’m like sign me up! This gave me just enough time to have a full 6 week healing period, before our trip…see, upside. Other than it being a major pain in the neck. And moral of the story, follow up on doc recommendations, even the random ones.

Given the sore neck, I used this as an excuse to buy a new fangled mirrorless camera – ha ha! I chose Fuji, because it was cutest (j/k)… The camera and I got to know each other up in Skagit Valley this spring, ahead of our euro tour…

Rewind a bit, to the beinning of the year, I did get to get my fashion on, at the Yves Saint Laurent exhibilition at the SAM – so gorgeous. And the iphone did well, as the camera I had with me at the time!

Fast forward, back to summer, I so awesomely scheduled a group baseball game on day one of my low iodine diet (required for aforementioned radioactive iodine treatment).

Hey, who says, beer, rice cakes, and apple slices don’t go perfect together. Oh well, friends are the best!

The summer ended well, I mean, we did buy a HOUSE! It’s perfect for us: it is a one story ranch, around the corner from where we were living in Duvall, Washington…And we closed on our anniversary, because, we are: those people…lol

Thankfully, the house was one story, since that is when the other big downer happened, about 2wks post move in – I broke my ankle – awesome. See my now franken ankle…and hey the pretty decorations on my new scooter, because you gotta make this shit fun!(the latter, my husband decorated )

With that, I bid goodbbye to 2017…and a final goodbye to our two adopted kitties: Thelma & Louise…xoxo miss you always.

Signing off with a random 2017 collection of photos…