I think I did more traveling and more drawing/designing in 2018 than ever before. I also had a few bizarre health issues. I had planned for this post to include sections for all of those, but since it’s gotten so long, I’ve decided to break it into several posts. First up, travel! Here are the the travel highlights broken down by month. 

I’m very fortunate to be able to travel more than my income should really allow, thanks to having friends and family who live in places I love to visit!

January/February

I turned 50 on December 10th of  2017 – and as a gift to myself, I planned a trip to Mexico for the first part of 2018. Thanks to some lovely friends, I had a beautiful house in Mazatlan all to myself for two months! I left for Mazatlan on December 30th with the intention of staying for 5 weeks.

I spent a lot of time alone in the pool and alone staring at the ocean. It was restorative. And I accidentally got ridiculously tan.

And I can’t end a post about Mazatlan without mentioning my favorite neighbor, Meliton – bringer of tamales and avocados, leader of tours and teller of stories!

march

Traveled to Dallas with my family to celebrate my uncle’s 80th birthday and see a lot of family I never get to see. I got to visit one of my favorite pieces of art that I ever made – a fiber piece I made in grad school that my uncle bought from me. 

April

Took two little trips to Louisville. Hung out with Channing. Ate chilaquiles. Ate tacos. Saw a new doctor. More about that under the Health post coming soon.

Went to Atlanta over my nephews’ spring break. Stayed with one of my oldest friends. Visited with another of my oldest friends. I lived in Atlanta most of the years between ages 1985 and 2003 and have now been gone for 15 years. I can’t believe how much it’s changed… how crazy busy and congested absolutely everywhere is now! And here’s a random fat pug.

June

Traveled to Park City, Utah for my cousin’s wedding. Wow, it’s beautiful there! Discovered shakshuka, my new favorite food. Saw magpies for the first time. They seem totally exotic to me, but are so common there.

The wedding was also beautiful.

July

Traveled to San Francisco for a 2 week business planning session with the WBBP, Mary Thorsby. Managed to squeeze in some good food, great art, visit with friends and have a day trip to Napa in between our work sessions.

September

Traveled to Kansas City with Melissa Hall to take her photography/encaustic workshop at Studio Joy. Great workshop, and always good to spend time with Melissa and Amanda!

December

Tagged along on a trip to Pensacola Beach with some friends who were renting a house right on the gulf. Nice relaxing time. Good company, great food, crappy weather. Still beautiful, fun and relaxing!

Whew! That was a lot more than I expected to say about traveling in 2018. Stay tuned for the next post or two about art, work and health stuff.