This is the third New Year I've rung in from Amman, and I'm happy and thankful that this is the most optimistic, and - dare I say it - stress-free start to the year I've had as a freelancer. 2017 was full of ups and downs, but I'm grateful that those down times were actually experiences that led me to something new and better. I spent a lot of time working on personal video and photography projects, got into grad school, and finished off the year working with some great new clients.

I won't make you read about my personal goals and ambitions for the coming year (hint: I may or may not exercise more/eat healthier), but here's a look back at some favorite images from 2017.

Tensions between Jordan and Israel culminated in ongoing protests after President Trump announced that he would move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, officially recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital in the process. Thousands marched, waving Palestinian flags in downtown Amman on Friday, Dec. 8, 2017.

First signs of fall and a view of a minaret from Rainbow Street in Amman.

Indian actress and UNICEF ambassador Priyanka Chopra visits UNICEF's Makani center in Amman, where Syrian children participate in after school activities, including art therapy.

A Syrian man who suffered a spinal injury undergoes physiotherapy treatment at the Find a Better Way center in Amman.

Protesters march in the funeral of 17-year-old Mohammed al-Jawawdeh, who was shot and killed at the Israeli embassy in Amman.

Children practice yoga at the Collateral Repair Project community center in Amman.

Sudanese women wait with their children outside a supermarket for their turn to purchase groceries through Collateral Repair Project's food voucher program for refugees in Amman.

Penang, Malaysia

Malaysians take part in celebrations ahead of their independence day in Kuala Lumpur.

Roman ruins in Jerash, Jordan.

Traveling for my master's program in Germany also took me briefly to Amsterdam in November.

It's been a little over two and a half years since I moved back to the Middle East, and two years since I'd updated my portfolio in a major way. I discovered my Visura.co subscription was up this month, and with me embarking on new projects and a new job soon, I figured now was a good a time as any to change it up. Hello Squarespace! (No shade toward Visura at all - maybe I'll be back someday. Squarespace just seems like the right thing for me now).

A lot has changed since I left DC: I spent half a year in Turkey, finding my feet (personally and professionally), wound up back in Jordan, I got married, there were a couple times when I stood on three continents in one day, and there were months where I didn't unpack my suitcases.

But in more recent history, I've been taking on more and more video work for clients, and have discovered it's finally no longer something I feel like I have to force myself to do in order to stay relevant and competitive. I'm excited about finding where those "decisive moments" lay in moving pictures.

And in a few short months I'll be starting a master's program in this stuff - one that combines visual anthropology and documentary film. At some point, I'll have to shoot and produce a ~30 minute film, so I'm looking forward to being in a space with critique and mentorship again.

So anyway, this website is a leaner version of the previous one. No more old projects or repetitive galleries that don't look strong anymore. ("Killing your babies" as an old photojournalism professor would call it). So I have a few simple photo galleries, and video is front and center.

I pretty much tend to blog when I'm excited about something (which is the case right now) or when I'm bored and not doing enough work and want to feel productive. But I think I'll try to make this a place where I talk about (hopefully) useful editing/organizational techniques, talk about how projects develop over time, cultural experiences, sources of inspiration, etc.

Onward and upward.