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See more from this set here.

On January 3, my roommate Danielle and I flew from Phoenix to Denver, then from Denver to Seattle, then we took a bus from Seattle to Salem, then we flew from Portland to Phoenix. We came back to Tucson on January 12.

My mom asked me why I didn’t take photos that documented things a little better—maybe the outside of Pike Place Market, or of Danielle’s grandmother in Salem, or a picture of me with my cousins. It’s not like I didn’t take my camera everywhere that I went, it’s just that I couldn’t take pictures of conversations I had or things that I learned, and those conversations and thoughts were the things that were important on this trip. The photos of my friends and I in the turquoise room in Boulder, Colorado, exist because we talked until 4am there. I took photos of a white birch tree in Bothell, Washington, because I talked to God when I stood by that tree. And this 7-foot wall of dried tea? I found that in Seattle and it reminded me of my friend in Boulder who would be able to appreciate it.

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See all of the photos from the trip here.

I spent the last few days of 2008 in Mexico with my family. I’ve also spent the last few days thinking a lot about New Year’s Resolutions. I always make them, and usually they are so subtle that most people would never guess them. Some are lifestyle adjustments, others are just things that I want to think about throughout the year.

During the summer my Project-mates and I talked a lot about what it means to live an open and honest life with others. It stretches beyond telling the truth. I think that it also means living out what you say you believe in, and making what you value in life apparent to others through how you live your life. I’m not exactly sure how measurable that is, and living an open and honest life is something that we as humans must continually work at, but that’s my New Year’s Resolution.

That, and read a little more. George Bush beat me in the amount of books he read this year (source). And he’s the president of a first-world country.

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See more photos from my trip here.