This is my big "View from my Phone" catch up post. You know when you think things in your life are finally settling down and you sort-of, kind-of have stuff under control? And then a wrench gets thrown into all your plans and totally changes everything. Well that happened to me at the end of this year. It made it difficult to stay on track and on schedule with my blog. But even though I wasn't posting these updates I was still taking the pictures, so here's a big photo dump for you!

From top to bottom and left to right:

• Marshall helps me paint and I try not to drip on him.
• Beautiful, bright poinsettia from a friend. (ps. I never knew how to spell poinsettia until I just looked it up now for this post!)
• I decided to learn to knit and even managed to struggle through a scarf!
• Pretty flowers from the same lovely friend.
• Marshall butt.
• Drinking coffee and looking through knitting books. My friends need to start having kids so I have someone to knit for!

From top to bottom and left to right:

• This guy has quite the face.
• The most beautiful sunset I've ever seen in my life. No filter!
• A certificate my mom received for completing a typing course in 1969.
• Oooh racy matchbooks! The one on the right says "Short on sails" Ah jeeze...
• The caption in my head for this photo has always been "Santa + Baby Jesus = BFF" but that's probably in poor taste. Much like this scene of Santa looking in on sleeping Jesus on a neighbour's front lawn.
• My mom's first wedding photo. I love her crazy veil!

From top to bottom and left to right:

• A small army of watercolour christmas cards.
• Barney tucked away in his favourite cardboard box. I swear he has a real kitty bed, but much prefers a box.
• Yummy, yummy blueberry pancakes.
• A little peek in my sketchbook. I'm hoping to do much more of this in the new year. (There's a little hint at my next 52 week project!)
• Holiday party apparel Canada-style. Gotta stay warm!
• Things are coming along on my whale painting. Been at this one for a while now.

This was the week I went crazy and only talked to plants? Yes, it appears so. I don't have names for them all yet because they're still new and I don't want to get attached in case they die. I've only owned 1 plant before in my whole life so I'm very excited about keeping these ladies and gents alive. I think I might call the one on the top-left Spike. Also, I got a guitar for christmas!! Right now the sounds that I make don't resemble music at all, but I'm working hard on it. Got the sore fingers to prove it.

Thanks for following along with these posts all year. I actually finished all 52 weeks!! I have a completely new 52 week project planned for 2013, but I think I'll still occasionally post some phone pictures now that I'm in the habit of taking them. Thanks again for reading. Have a happy new year everyone.

From top to bottom and left to right:

• Been working on this painting off and on for a couple months, just added some new colours and a whale!
• A snowy day.
• This Casablanca poster was an odd departure from the Virgin Mary paintings that usually cover the hospital walls.
• Out for a walk on a nice quiet and foggy night.
• Best picture I've ever taken. I love nosy kitties.
• I was trying to get this photo of the coffee we ordered from tonx.org

From top to bottom and left to right:

• This is the chair I sat in for almost 11 hours waiting for my dad during his surgery.
• A pensive, thoughtful kitty enjoying a foggy morning.
• The first accumulation of snow! It was very pretty... I'm already sick of though. :P
• Scored some awesome knitting supplies from my mom's basement, including a few issues of Stitchcraft from 1968! Not pictured: An issue of Vogue Knitting from 1985. It's hilarious.
• More hospital waiting rooms! I practically live there now.
• Late nights.

So this week has definitely not been my most favourite week ever, but I made it through (mostly) sane. I don't have a lot of time for blogging, or really anything, lately but I'm trying. I can promise you this, I'll have a new desktop and iPhone background for you to download just in time for December! Thanks for hanging in there readers, sometimes I wonder who you are. I wonder what kind of people like to read what I have to say. Well, I'm thankful to every one of you for stopping by!

From top to bottom and left to right:

• The first snowfall of the year!
• I was all cozied up in my cashmere robe that my huband got me for my birthday... best present ever!!
• Found in my dad's apartment building, I think someone missed their calling as a graphic designer. Clip art FTW!
• This is what it looks like behind the camera during a shoot for a blog post.
• Recognize this? Probably not. I started hating hard on the painting I was working on a completely covered it up in new stuff. It's getting prettier now!
• My fat friend in his favourite spot, the bean bag chair.

I'm not sure how much I'll be blogging over the next week or so, my dad is having surgery on Wednesday. It's something that I haven't been looking forward to, but it has to be done. So send good vibes this way if you happen to be thinking of me on Wednesday!

I've been trying to get a tad more personal on my blog (telling you about the surgery is one step). I love to read blogs that not only have pretty posts but give you a chance to get to know the blogger. I'm not talking about mundane details like what your toddler ate for breakfast or that your cousins' friends' car broke down... I just like to be reminded that bloggers are human beings.

So I leave you with this, a reminder that I am human, five things you may not (probably don't) know about me:

1. I have the worst memory for tv shows and movies. As soon as I finish watching a movie, every detail flys out of my brain.

2. When I was about 7, I sang in a live show with Sharon, Lois and Bram. Are they Canadian? Probably nobody knows who that is. And nerd alert: I was in a girls choir for 11 years.

3. I have a sister who is 10 years less 1 week older than me. She's also a half sister, so when I'm with my dad it's like I'm an only child.

4. I got married when I was 22, which is young I guess? I didn't notice. We've been together for over 10 years now.

5. I wish I went to art school, but I wasted 4 years in college for Accounting. I guess it comes in handy running my own business, but I still have huge regrets about that. I worked as an Accountant for several years before one day it hit me, I totally hate this!