Happy New Year!

Last night was not just New Years Eve, the celebration of winding up 2012 and heading into a brand new future in 2013, but it was also my step-daughter's engagement party, a masquerade one at that!

I'm a bit sad to see 2012 finish, it was the year where I started to rediscover myself.  I weighed in on Monday so I could know exactly how much weight I had lost last year since the start of May.  26.1 kilograms gone (that's 57 pounds).

That's 26.1 kilograms of frustration, sadness, embarrassment, pain, and a whole lot of heartache.  And funnily enough I don't want to forget any of it.  I want to remember it so I know that I have a bright and shining future full of health and vitality and I never have to go back to those feelings due to my weight.  They are there, they represent my past, and are something I do want to remember so I can compare it to how amazingly good I feel right now.

So last night was Miss T's engagement party.  We are usually sooooo boring on NYE, stay home, watch a movie, see the fireworks on TV, go to bed.  I've said to Mike in the past that one NYE I want to dress up and have a fine time and watch fireworks.  Last night was the night.

I had planned to wear the dress I wore to finale to Miss T's engagement party, and yet, it was a tad too big.  I delved into my wardrobe and still on the hanger, still with tags, was a beautiful red dress I bought absolutely YEARS ago.  It never fitted.  It was one of those dresses that was a classic and I hoped that one day I would fit.  Yesterday was the day.  It fitted perfectly.   A quick pic in the front yard before we left.

I FELT A MILLION DOLLARS !!!!!!!!!!!!

So glad I set up the tripod and took this photo, because when you hand your "big girl camera" over at a party, you never know what you're going to come away with.  ENOUGH SAID RIGHT?

It was such a fun night, Mike just lights up getting to spend time with the kids and on such a special night of the year.  Here are some of the other photos from the night that I really loved, and yes we did get a couple of nice photos taken even when I handed the camera over.

Oh did I mention, it was a masquerade party!!  Funny thing was we didn't know the colour scheme of what they were wearing, and we matched perfectly.

How amazing is that cake, white chocolate mud cake in four layers - red/white/red/white.   I had a very very small piece and it was incredible, made by Tabby's mum.

Red braces, I forgot I gave these to him years ago

Now I must explain about the black suit with the gold pinstripes.  Dare I even admit, they are actually pyjamas!  Number one stepson wore them for a bit of a laugh and NYE fun.  They are actually thicker than silk pj's, and were a total hit.  Obviously he didn't want to get any of his dinner on them!

Step-daughter number 2.  Miss B gets more beautiful each day.

And as for youngest step-son, it's really hard to get a photo of him looking at the camera, so this is what happens, a stack of profile shots!  :-)

Love this photo of the two of us. 

Here's one of the four of us without our masks, I'll treasure this photo.

This girl deserves everything good in the universe, she is a bright and shining light full of goodness.  A bit poetic perhaps, but so true.

At midnight we went to watch the fireworks, it wasn't a long show of them, perhaps 4 to 5 minutes. I've never photographed fireworks before and I had done my homework on a number of sites and was thrilled with this shot.   I had the camera set up on the gorilla pod on the top of the car roof and it was hard getting the timing right, so this more so was probably a fluke than anything.  But I'll take fluke any day!!

It was the perfect end to the most magical night of the perfect year.  And I'm looking forward to seeing what 2013 will bring.  Happy New Year everyone.