2010: The Year in Pictures
January
O NOEZ MY CAT HAZ ATTACHED HERSELF TO MY FACE!!!1!
February
February was the month I went to the big gay conference (MBLGTACC 2010) in Madison, Wisconsin, which was awesome for about a billion reasons, but since I can only pick one picture, I'm showing off this one, which I don't pimp out very often. It documents my first time eating at White Castle! Pictured: Anthony, Nicole, and Stacy.
March
Working at Meijer is often hell, but this was a fun time wandering the aisles after work taking pictures. Of course, since Meijer is hell, this almost got me fired (Meijer is a covert CIA operation and picture taking is strictly prohibited on the premises under penalty of death) but still, fun. Lookie, bunny ears!
April
April contains the Day of Silence, and something about the combination of these two signs gets to me. This is Sam holding the signs on the campus quad at Ferris State University.
May
This is Arionna playing kickball with her auntie Jennifer at the DSAGA end of the year picnic in May (she's running with the ball because she kind of misunderstood the rules...hey, it works). This is one of my favorite pictures ever. Jenn is laughing, Arionna is laughing, and it's just really cute and a lot of fun.
June
Adorable. Of course, no one could just comment on the picture, everyone had to ask me eleventy bazillion times why I was wearing an arm brace, even though I explained over and over again that I sleep in the braces to help with the carpal tunnel, but still, all else aside, this is a cute picture, me curled up with my kitkat, watching "Glee."
July
On July 19, 2010, at a little after 6:30 AM, in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, Jozalyn Michelle Baldwin made her appearance in this world. Squirmy little bundle of joy that she is, she gives me a reason to smile every day. I keep her pictures with me on my phone just in case my soul is getting crushed at work and I need a reminder that there is hope in the world. Thanks, kiddo. I love you.
August
Michelle and her son Aiden on my balcony. He tries to frown during pictures, but I caught him giggling here.
September
I turned 29 this year (30 is rushing at me at warp speed) but my birthday party was awesome, thanks to some great friends and two little girls that I love to pieces.
October
October was a rough month with a lot of death all over, tragedies that hit nationally and some closer to home. But there was hope. there were people willing to reach out, even in the midst of the blackest darkness. When I made a video collage of all the pictures from the celebration of National Coming Out Day in October, one of my oldest friends told me I was being hypocritical for using a biblical quote and a "Christian song" to "promote homosexuality." She looked at all the messages of hope and togetherness and reaching out and supporting and loving, and all she saw was homosexuality. If you wonder why people lose hope and kill themselves, how they could have such tunnel vision, there's your first clue right there. The fear that people will only see one aspect of your personality and hate you for that. But still, we keep going, trudging through, moving on, trying to hold each other up. We're all in. Together. And in spite of it all, we do believe it gets better so we're trying to make it better everyday.
November
Hours of cooking, hours of planning, hours of shopping, hours without sleep, and this fudgy smile makes it all worth it.
December
When Jozalyn was first born, she was pretty shaken up. She was born in the ambulance, hooked up to a lot of machines for awhile, and her daddy was away and he didn't even get to spend time with her until after she was a month old, so she was pretty clingy to Mommy and she didn't trust strangers very much. She wasn't one of those babies that just grabs your finger and holds it even when she barely knows you. I couldn't get her to hold my hand when she was first born, and she's only started doing it more recently. I love this picture because she's holding my hand in it and she's not terrified of me like she used to be, and that means a lot to me. This is how I want to remember Christmas this year. Adults, we're too cynical. Kids see everything with a wonder and a fresh enthusiasm that's been snuffed out in a lot of adults. I don't want to forget that. Hope was the best Christmas present I could have gotten this year, and I got it in spades thanks to some kids that helped remind me what Christmas is all about. I don't have a lot of good Christmas memories, but this one is up there with the best.